Wow!

This kitchen is spectacular. I love everything, but if I had to pick my favorite, it's the backsplash.

Love the colors! That is a cheerful kitchen and I would be happy cooking in it!

WOW!!!!!! What a well thought out and lovely space!!! Job well done!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy cow I LOVE the open window aspect of the porch area!

Beautiful and fun / useful kitchen!

More photos / story about that Chambers!

Wow and more wow!!! You did a FABULOUS job with this space! It's beautifully thought out and reflects LOTS of planning. Just perfect...

Everything's beautiful and the pass-thru to the deck is genius!

Stunning - & so clever - love it!

I started out wanting to hug your old adorable kitchen, and telling it that I wouldn't like the new one, no matter what it looked like. ;)

But that is one amazing kitchen! One of GWs finest, and so many features that most folks don't even know exist. I think I'll be using several as example pics!

Great job!

Just beautiful. I love your drawers as much as I love mine. Thank you GW for showing both of us the value of the drawer.

I am in love with the Neolith. It's just scrumptious.

Fabulous job. Such clever use of space. I love all the little touches but the indoor/outdoor aspect is my fave!!

WOW! What beautiful, wonderful kitchen with so many great touches. Love it. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for sharing! I, like others, can't list all my favorite things. So well thought out and good looking! I've already noted 3 things I am going to add in my kitchen!! I love the grocery bag shelf!

Love 90% of your before (after just isn't my style,) but that stove is gorgeous. Thank you for mentioning who did the resto- I cook on a similar O'Keefe and Merritt every day and would like to make sure it stays in great shape. I need to have the griddle replated and would like new knobs. They did a great job on that!!!

One of the best remodels I've seen here. You managed to create the perfect mix of form & function. It's "just right".

That floor is so gorgeous! Everything about the kitchen is stunning.

Absolutely one of my favorite reveals in the 4 years I've been here! So many great ideas, and pulled off and pulled together totally at home in the house and environment. The insulator lights are so cute! The cutouts under the sink, the floor, the doggie area, the cubbies above the phone and toaster, the "mud cubby"... I could go on for a page. Thanks for sharing, AvatarWalt!

This is so not same old, same old! I loved the old kitchen, but the new one is just fabulous! The details are well thought out and give the kitchen character, color and a sense of joy. This is my favorite kitchen on this site!

LOVE IT. Others have said it, but it bears repeating: Everything is so well thought out -- you've achieved both form and function! I also love that it has personality, yet it also has wide-spread appeal.

Question: Are those cut-outs on the front of your sink pull-outs?

(outlets low and horizontal, per GW mandate)

I didn't even see them 'til you pointed them out.

Silverware and dish drawers perfectly meet the dishwasher. Whew!

This is a great detail. I also love that you have lights pointing straight down into this constantly used area.

Space for coats, shoes, hats, gloves, towel for wet dog feet, etc. right
by the back door.

This is exactly the design I've drawn for my garage door entry. I'm glad to see it works so well.

Recycling, grocery bags, bike panniers, etc. under the back sink, and a
tip out that currently holds the roll-up drying rack for the main sink:

You've convinced me that I need a tip-out.

Wow!!! I liked the before kitchen too and thought oh no what happened to
the cute kitchen - and then it was a grand, beautiful bunch of after
pics. Well done.

I liked the before as well, but the after is fabulous!

I have cabinet envy big time.

Me too!

Thanks so much everyone! We're very happy with the final result (though I was just now wishing I'd stuck to my idea of having a small on-demand water heater for the kitchen faucet :) ), but it's great to get the collective GW seal of approval, particularly from you folks whose kitchens--and advice--I've admired for ages.

To (over)respond to some of the individual comments:

• we liked charm and look of the original kitchen too, but after ten years of living with only two outlets in bad locations, a countertop of 2" tiles with deteriorated grout that could NOT be wiped clean, a small work area that was completely filled up when the portable dishwasher was hooked to the sink, sticky drawers, an old fridge in a cutout that wouldn't accommodate current sizes, no landing space by the stove, no real connection to a good sized and quite private deck, a vent hood that made the dining room light dim ominously whenever it was turned on, etc., it was time to move on. I sometimes wonder if we shouldn't have kept more of the old-time feel though . . .
• bpathome: I'm not an engineer, unless adding the TKO letters after my name counts as some sort of qualification. With extra emphasis on the O!
• opening the kitchen to the outside was a big motivator, and we extended the room a little bit to square it up (basically the footprint of the rear peninsula). Living in Seattle makes it work, as summer weather is generally wonderful with almost no bugs.
• I hadn't planned to keep the wooden table and stools, since I thought there wouldn't be room. It IS a little cramped, but I put the table there when we were moving back in while deciding how to get rid of it, and I now I like it.
• pipdog: we're liking the Neolith a lot. It looks fantastic and is very easy to keep clean, which is good since we're not especially careful about keeping coffee, wine bottle rings, olive oil drips, forgotten raspberries, etc. off of it. We do have a small chip on the edge that neither of us remembers doing. Oh well.
• mgmum: you've reminded me that I have one of the malt makers from my grandfather's drug store (1930s?), but it's in storage in a small central-Minnesota town with other things I inherited when my mom died. I guess I need to address that stuff one of these years . . .
• oldbat2be: photo of shelves as requested. We don't have them tarted-up very well yet.

• friedajune: we're very happy with the backsplash. The tiles are slightly concave so the way they catch the light adds interest, even though the color isn't especially flashy.
• Vedabeeps: in addition to the stove restoration store I mentioned, I've also stopped in at Antique Stove Heaven in Harbor City, just south of L.A. and they were really helpful too. The OKM factory was in L.A., so there are a number of restorers in the area, and GrapeVine Sally on eBay has parts too.
• Russ: not a lot more to tell on the stove. I was set on induction before DH started getting "ideas" and had to have a vintage range. We were going to take a deep breath and pay for a restored one, but I did one final Craigslist search and found this one about a mile away from us. It was cheap but not pristine:

• mrsPete: those are indeed cutouts in the four pullouts under the sinks. The cabinetmaker gave us black things to put inside, but, aside from the one photo where the flash shows the compost container, they're dark on their own and I like having the ventilation there. As for lighting in the dish and dishwasher area, the dishwasher is a Miele that has lights in it--an unnecessary and somewhat decadent extra, but I like it!

Two other items. First, I don't want it to sound like I did this all by myself (with GW help of course), since we worked with an architect (we remodeled much of the rest of the 1915 house too) and an excellent contractor, as well as with someone to help with colors since I'm a bit colorblind and was overwhelmed at having to make the whole house work together.

Second, another recommendation in case anyone finds it helpful. I had the contractor put Sillites (which I read about here) on a couple of the open shelves in case I wanted something electric there. Currently used for a Sonos speaker, and I'm very glad to have them:

Gorgeous and perfect. role model

Lovely!! Thank you so much for posting...I thoroughly enjoyed every pic. Have fun in your beautiful new kitchen!

Beautiful kitchen, so carefully planned! And that's from another color lover and O'Keefe & Merritt owner : ) .

Speaking of which, would it be possible to get a "full frontal" of the range plus the red lights overhead? Thank you in advance!

beckysharp- Happy to meet (well, 'meet') another OKM owner. What kind do you have? In my heart of hearts I long for one of the huge Town & Country or Aristocrats--not sure what the difference is--but it's hard to complain about the one we have.

I was looking at the paint instructions yesterday and noticed that the shelves were supposed to be the gray base cabinet color. I can't remember if I said to paint them the tan upper color, but now I'm wondering if they'd look better gray. Argh.

Avatar, that's beautiful, thank you for indulging me : ) .

A Town & Country/Aristocrat -- I know the dream! Mine is, I think, a 420 -- fairly similar to yours, 1950s, with four burner and one oven, a non-working clock, salt and pepper shakers, griddle in the center. We found it 23 years ago just before we got married, for $25 Canadian in a neighbour's basement. It hasn't been professionally restored because there's no place around here (rural western Canada) to do that, but we've done our best to clean and maintain it. The burners and oven work beautifully and get a constant workout -- we usually cook at least breakfast and dinner every day, I do a lot of canning, and my three kids love to cook and bake too.

I do feel like a traitor because we're building a new house with a 48" cobalt blue 8 burner Bluestar, which I chose because it was the only new brand that I figured could come close to my workhorse OKM.

I think the shelves look great as is, and echoing the countertop, and with the range hood and tiles.

Wow, just gorgeous! So many smart and attractive choices.

Do you have a link to a design thread, i.e. size of your kitchen?

Wow, wow, wow!! There's so much I love about your kitchen! I am green all over. So envious! What I love most is how it flows so beautifully onto your deck and how gorgeous your views are out the multiple windows. I could live in your kitchen all day long and be utterly content. Sigh...

Thanks so much for sharing your gorgeous and thoughtfully designed kitchen.

I just bookmarked your kitchen because there are so many things I love about it. What a wonderful job you did.

Wow, you are a rockstar! (Or your kitchen is, maybe both...) I love how it's chockfull of custom touches that gardenwebbers swoon over and that I'm sure will be referenced at least once a week on this forum:) Bookmark, bookmark, bookmark!

Oh, and enjoy your new kitchen:D

Bookmarked!!! absolutely stunning., love the door/window combo.... wish we had weather where we could use that!!! Enjoy !!!!!

I think we've all been waiting for this kitchen reveal. The Neolith, the range, the hood, the backsplash - WOW!!! It seems you've incorporated every great GW idea into your kitchen design. Very happy for you.

Further thanks for all your kind words!

Nosoccermom, the kitchen is 11'4" by 19'. I didn't really have a single, comprehensive design help thread, but there were one or two where we considered shoe-horning in an island and where people suggested some other arrangements, including putting both the stove and sink along the outer wall. I may regret ignoring that advice, as it would be more functional, but we liked the stove as a centered "place of honor," and I'd be embarrassed to admit how many times I paced back and forth across the measured distance from sink to stove to convince myself it's not that far. It isn't; it's three easy steps, but we admittedly put form over function in this instance. I did have lots of specific questions on other aspects though, from cabinet layout to lightbulbs to appliance cords, and it was kind of fun to look back over them just now--my first cautious inquiry was August 2014. I can't believe it's been that long.

Congratulations AvatarWalt! Just stunning. Love love love the Neolith. So many great ideas, and it just looks like such a happy place. Wishing you much peace and joy in the new kitchen!!!

Wow, what a well thought out kitchen. I love all your choices.

It's gorgeous. It's perfect. Even the tan shelves flanking the range. Perfect. I don't think gray would look as nice there. I love the colors. I love color! We're going fully saturated teal marmoleum in our kitchen and I'm even more excited about it now.

So many details that really make this a custom kitchen. Brilliant ideas, too. I love the flip-down doors with outlets above the cubbies. I wish I'd have thought of that! The window blind retracting into the small soffit - love it. Thanks for reminding me to place my outlets low and horizontally. I had forgotten that GW recommendation.

Lovely eye candy. :)

AW, about that window blind...is it a solar shade? The trim above my window is going in tomorrow. Can I leave a generic gap for the shade (which I don't have) or are the measurements tricky? Is there a cord on the shade?

Thanks!

Gardener-- I did get the blind ahead of time, but I don't know why you couldn't just leave an appropriate gap. Hunter Douglas has a "pocket" that fits up into the opening and includes a little lip that the pocket bottom hangs from (see Page 2). This may not be the most current product literature, but it gives you the general idea.

In my photo with the blind part way down, you can see the piece that's the removable pocket bottom--the roller blind fits up inside the pocket, then the pocket bottom, painted the ceiling color, was attached. There's a cord on the right side, which is why you can see a bigger opening there. I don't think the booklet I linked to has the pocket dimensions, but I searched back through my e-mail, and the dealer told me it's 5 1/4" by 5 1/4", by whatever length you need.

I'm 99% sure the blind is one of the Hunter Douglas sunshade materials, but I can't remember which one. I wanted to be sure that the roll would fit into the pocket, given that it's a relatively tall window, and there was no problem with that.

Hope this helps!

Extremely helpful!! Thanks so much for the quick reply and for taking the time to sift through your email. It's brilliant, and I hope I can make it work!

So unique and inviting! Thanks for sharing! Have you posted details of that amazing window and door structure that makes it like an outside room? I would love to see the details of how you did that!

Your kitchen is just fabulous, one of my favorites ever. Love the overall feel, the stove and floor are true favorites. Thank you for sharing!

Wowza! This is one of the best kitchens I've ever seen. Personality AND function galore... congratulations!

One question for you: How are the tray dividers above constructed? I need to figure out that cabinet in my new kitchen right now, and I'm not sure what my options are. I like how yours are solid, instead of open wire.

Thanks Kim-- do you mean the dividers above the fridge, deep drawers, or utensil drawers? I think you mean above the fridge? There, the cabinet people drilled little holes every couple of inches along the top and bottom, front and back. There are little clear plastic guides that you mount in the holes where you want, and then the panels just slide in. Cabinet people provided the guides and panels too. It's nice that you can put the guides where you want, as it makes the openings adjustable for different stuff.

Scrappy-- sorry for the slow reply. I only found one not-very-good in-progress picture of the back door and window, but the manufacturer is NanaWall. The window half was an addition (we bumped the kitchen wall out a couple of feet to square up the room--actually the left part is an addition too, but much older), and the contractor put a structural beam across the whole span with a post in the corner down to a new footing. The window has a track along the top and bottom and slides in that, locking into place with a couple of levers that put pegs into the frame top and bottom. It's surprisingly solid and draft-free.

Yes, I did mean the dividers above the fridge, thanks! Are these the little dividers they used?

http://www.leevalley.com/US/Hardware/page.aspx?p=50304&cat=3,43648,50655&ap=1

Those are indeed the ones! They seemed a little flimsy individually, but once in place they've been fine.

Can you provide details on the folding window? I've seen a few of these and love the idea.

Lowes-- It, and the door, are made by NanaWall. I can't tell you much more than that, as our contractor handled all the ordering and installation. It seems like a very solid product, however, and we like it a lot.

Thanks so much for sharing your kitchen remodel photos. It looks great!! The NanaWall couldn't look any better. We love that you went with a KitchenTransition system.

Really one of the best ever! Love it.