Kitchen Before and After with thanks

last year

last modified: last year

After 18 months of planning and work, our total gut job kitchen renovation is finally finished. I spent many hours scouring the discussion forum for suggestions and answers and learned a lot. So here are some before/after photos as a thanks for all your help.

It’s a relatively constrained 13x13 space in a 1920s Dutch Colonial. We removed a badly placed partition wall and moved the basement door to an adjoining room. That opened things up a lot.

-Homecrest shaker cabinets in alpine white. We went lower-middle range for cabs to save money for the counters and appliances. They’re…fine. Would have been nice to have the flexibility of a more custom line but couldn’t justify the expense.

- Hanstone Montauk quartz counters. We are really pleased with how they turned out. The most depth and translucence we found in quartz. Looked at everything: granite, soapstone, marble, and this is where we ended up. No regrets.

-Sonoma Dakota tiles. We really like the rustic edges. The grout is a bit whiter than anticipated but getting used to it.

- Red oak floor. So much nicer than the old tile.

- Kohler Whitehaven sink + Artifacts faucet (both great!)

- 36” Wolf DF range with griddle (I am completely smitten) and speed oven, which works really well as convection oven and micro, although it’s a bit quirky. Really wanted double wall ovens but didn’t want to give up the counter space in such a small room.

ETA update on speed oven: I've been using the 24" Wolf speed oven for about 4 weeks now. There were virtually no reviews when we purchased (apart from the few comments in this thread), but I've been pleasently surprised. In terms of aesthetics, it looks lovely although the touch buttons can be difficult to see--have gotten used to that. I'd prefer knobs, but it seemed that most other SOs were likewise touchpads or screens. It's surprisingly spacious inside (same interior dimensions as the 30" model I believe)--can easily fit 2 9x13 trays/pans. As a micro, it's excellent, fast and efficient. As a convection oven, I've found it works extremely well *provided* you precisely follow the somewhat quirky interface: select temp, select time, allow to preheat, open door, insert items, close door, press start, etc. Fail to do one of those things and it just sits there. Not sure why it's designed that way. It took a few weeks to get used to it, but now that I know what to expect, I find that it preheats quickly and cooks really well. I use it all the time. Haven't used the combo micro-convection modes and not sure I will. We really wanted a second oven but didn't have much room, and wanted to avoid taking additional space for a separate micro. For our purposes, this was a great compromise. The rotating glass platter did crack in half last week, seemingly spontaneously--no idea why. Wolf immediately shipped a replacement.

- Broan vent hood with inline blower in the *basement*. Also incorporated a Fantech active MUA system. Ventilation was the most complicated part. Had to vent through the wall down to the basement and then out. Ducting needed to be bigger than anticipated (10”) so had to make the wall about 3.5 inches thicker. The setup has worked well so far, even with high smoke cooking, and is amazingly quiet.

- Bosch fridge and DW. Love them both.

ETA update on the Bosch 800 series counter depth fridge (B36CT80SNS): I have nothing but good things to say about it. Spacious inside and the organization (esp. in the freezer) works really well for us. Seems efficient in its temp regulation and is completely quiet. Love the internal water dispenser (no issues with leaking). And no issues at all with the stainless finish. All in all, we couldn't be happier...at least 6 months in.

Now on to the pics: