Wow Stinky-gardener, thanks so much for the compliment! I've posted pics of our kitchen before but I guess they are lost in cyberland now. We have waited (ok, "I" have waited) for this kitchen for a long, long time and we just love it! I was in there baking last night and when I was done I thought to myself, I just love being in here. My DH said the same thing last night before he went to bed, so I guess it was all worth the wait! We still need to have our backsplash installed, but time and money both ran out, so it will have to wait until after the new year.

The cabinets were custom painted BM Simply White
Counters and sink: Green Mountain Original Soapstone
Faucets: Waterstone for the big sink, sprayer and insta-hot
Prep sink faucet is by Rohl
Appliances are all GE Profile, except the Bosch dishwasher
Flooring is 4" quartersawn white oak

Here are some pics I've taken over the last 5 months or so.

Dish and glassware pantry, the middle part has doors that slide back and the microwave is hidden behind them.

This is how the kitchen looked when we first moved in, the wall with the windows is now the sink wall, we raised up the windows, added more windows and boxed it out to make a deep sill.

Another before shot, we took out the wall with the sink and moved the sink to the window wall, added a doorway in the corner and moved the fridge over, added a pantry and the island. We also added a dish pantry for all the dishes I got from my Mother, and there are 3 girls and 1 boy and we ALL got dishes...my Mom clearly needed a 12 step program for dishes and crystal hehe!

Hope this helps, if you have any other questions let me know.

Kat :)

I love it too!The best part is I get to sit in it if I come down your way!!!

Just beautiful! Haven't seen inset doors with hinges on the outside of the cabinets in a long time and I like it! I'm tired of those goofy hinges that have to be adjusted all the time.

And, so nice to see a stove without a microwave over it. I don't like having the microwave staring me in the face while I'm cooking.

You did a great job! Can't wait to see the backsplash but it looks great without it. Thanks for sharing.

Oh wow! Wow, wow, wow! Your additional kitchen photos exceeded my all-ready-high expectations! Thanks for these great, inspiring pics.

Mine will never be so fantastic, but it's helpful to have a reference point that really excites me. In my estimation, you have THE perfect kitchen. Glad to hear you are really enjoying it too!

Everytime I see your kitchen I notice the wonderful detail - just lovely.

Now..... I always ask this after people have had their kitchens for a while.....would you change anything, big or little? Is there anything that isn't functioning as you'd hoped or something that is particulalry wonderful? It's so helpful to keep track of real life hits and misses. Thanks

Hi,

Love your kitchen, couple of questions,
-what is the height of your ceiling and what is the height of the tall windows in the sitting area?

Also, where can I get the lights pendants?

Thanks

Good questions, Dlm. Oh, & while we have your attention Lesmis, I'm dying to ask, is your screen name paying homage to the wonderful musical, Les Miserable? I'm a huge fan...have seen the show 4 times & know every word to every song. If your screen name has nothing to do w/the show, ignore this extraneous, irrelevant detail of my life. Merry Christmas!

Thanks everyone for all of the kind words!

Dlm, we really wouldn't change anything except maybe get a different brand for the stove and refrigerator. The GE Profile appliances we had in our last house were great, but these have been less than stellar. One of the burners doesn't always work properly and the ice maker on the fridge gave out right after we bought it, both have been serviced but the ice went from bad to worse and is now completely defunct and of course out of warranty. We purchased the new appliances before we did the remodel, but they are still only 2 years old. I also wish we had put a light inside the upper part of the hutch. We thought about it, but it was going to be a big hassle because we didn't plan for the extra transformer so it was left out of the final plan.

I love having the dish pantry, it's so nice to have everything right where I can get to it for entertaining and we love having the microwave hidden. I wasn't sure I would like having to open the doors to use the microwave, but it's worked out great and it's not a hassle. I also LOVE our insta-hot which we use daily to make tea, or to clean a yucky pot after cooking. I'm also glad that my husband talked me in to doing the wood hood that I wanted but "cheaped" out on as we were considering budget. It cost more but it works so well at removing the steam and odors and I love having a place to put my display plates and other stuff throughout the year. The soapstone is wonderful, it's so nice to be able to put hot pans and cookie sheets directly onto it and not worry. It is soft but I like the patina that a few scratches bring. I also love the deep drawers in the island and the pull out shelves in the pot cabinet and pantry. We had so little storage in our other kitchen that this one would be a dream simply from a storage standpoint alone.

All in all we love it and really wouldn't change much at all, but then I had 23 years to design it in my head, all I had to do was make it fit the space we had once we bought this house 2 years ago! :-)

Cgin, our ceilings are 8 foot ceilings and the windows in the FR are each 38" wide by 64" tall. There used to be two windows identical to the old ones in the kitchen in that room and you could barely see the water outside. We expanded windows everywhere we could to take in the views.

The pendants are by a company called Troy Lighting and they are from the Owings Mill collection. I got them through Bellacor.com.

Sinky-gardener, yes my screen name is for Les Miserables! We have seen it twice, once in London which was incredible! We could sing the songs together! ;-) We love musicals and have seen Phantom numerous times as well. Our daughter went to see the Nutcracker all by herself in the city where she lives, because she said it just wouldn't be Christmas without it, so we have passed our love of theater on to the kids as well. I was in London a year and a half ago and really wanted to see Billy Elliot but we ran out of time.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Kat :)

Oops I forgot to mention, Cooperbailey you need to head down this way for a cup of tea!

Kat ;)

I just think your kitchen is so fabulous. I could look at all day. (Might have to keep it as my screensaver.)

Merry Christmas!

Lesmis, that is a sleek kitchen! I love the floors! What are they? I love the sink and the countertops look so classy with it. You must love the finished job!

That's one of my favorite kitchen and you have great taste in music, too. :)

DLM, if I had to do it over, I would never have a microwave over the stove. I just hate it there. It makes it so hard to stir anything on the stove. Think I'd rather have a clunky one sitting on the counter.

What I do love is the walk-in pantry and the pull out garbage bins.

Here is a link that might be useful: Colm Wilkinson

Fabulous kitchen, lesmis. It is so nice that you were able to get it the way you wanted. Love the soapstone-that is what I would like to have with my white cabinets. Someday before I die, maybe-lol. What color are the walls? They look green on my screen and exactly like what I've been looking for.

Parma, Colm Wilkinson, as you must know, was the original Jean Valjean & so fabulous, yes? Thanks for the link to the video of him! While I have him singing on CD, I didn't get to see him in the show.

Saw Les Mis twice on Broadway & two wonderful touring productions. One of the touring companies was actually better than one of the Broadway productions I saw. Such incredible music & a great story.

Saw Phantom (which doesn't have much of a story line, but fabulous music) at the Pantages Theater in Vancouver, Canada, & once on Broadway. Beautiful. The Phantom is such a sympathetic, endearing character, & Webber's music is beyond amazing.

Lesmis, I love musicals too. My whole family does. My sister just saw Angela Lansbury on Broadway last week in A Little Night Music (co-starring Catherine Zeta Jones.) She said the show & the ladies, were great. She also saw South Pacific at Lincoln Center & said it was a very well-done revival. Oh the talent to create such masterpieces!

Kelly, you are always so sweet! Your kitchen is to die for, we should be neighbors, then we could hang out in one another's kitchens and our herding dogs could run all around!

Peytonroad, if I lived in your house I would spend ALL my time in that amazing new kitchen. I would lay on the floor and just look up at that beautiful ceiling! Our floors are 4" quartersawn white oak and they don't show the scratches that our dogs make as bad as a darker color would. I love the color variation in the wood too.

Thanks Parma, and we should all find out where each other lives and plan a NYC trip to see a show! Buses run from DC to NYC for only about $25 I think. I haven't done it before, but I have friends that go every year.

Thanks Cyn427! You'll get there, just be patient, I know I had to be for a LONG time! The walls are BM Heather Gray and they look green sometimes and gray sometimes, but always with a hint of green. I love the color, I say that it looks like the water all churned up before a big storm. I guess most people wouldn't find that an appealing color, hmm wonder what that says about my personality?! ;)

Stinky-gardener, I wish I lived a little closer to NY to go to Broadway more. The traveling productions that come to DC are very hit or miss. When we saw Les Mis at the National Theater a few years ago it was not like in London. I've seen other shows though that were great, so it just depends on the cast. The theaters in London are so small and intimate, it really does make the show that much more special! My all time favorite though was the King and I with Yul Brynner at the Warner Theater. I went to see it with a friend in high school and it was truly amazing, he was such a great actor!

Kat :)

Kat your kitchen is Gorgeous!!!! Love everything about it.

Lesmis, I saw Yul Brynner in the King & I when I was in high school too! Saw him on Broadway, at the Broadhurst theater, I think. Yes, he was amazing & the music in "King" is just some of the most beautiful ever written.
You live near D.C. I take it? I live in Southeastern VA. I should venture up. There is so much to do in D.C.! Strangely enough, I just have a real comfort level with NYC!

Wow what a beautiful kitchen Kat! Just beautiful!

I just also wanted to pipe in on how beautiful Kat's kitchen is!! The cabinets are gorgeous! Classic...love it!

Your kitchen is absolutely beautiful!! Don't remember seeing it before, I would not have forgotten!! Gorgeous!

I love your kitchen especially the light fixtues-gorgeous!!!

This is a great kitchen! Of course we have so much in common with our kitchens that it makes sense I'd love it...right down to proudly displaying our paper towels... lol.

My micro is also hidden behind the same doors and those pendants from Troy were in the final running for over my sink. I also had initially designed brackets under the cabs but later changed my mind.

Great job...it's very warm and inviting looking. :)

Love your kitchen! The details are striking - the cabinet hardware is a great accent to pick up on the black countertops. Maybe the "old" will become "new" again because it's a wonderful look. There's something about your kitchen that just draws you in... beautiful.

Wow, thanks so much everyone! We do love our kitchen and we use it constantly now that it's nearly done. To bad everyone doesn't live closer, we could have a big tea party or brunch!

Jant that's so funny that we had so many of the same choices, I love your kitchen as well!! The brackets have been the bane our my existence lately! When the cabinetmaker brought them to install he asked if we wanted to wait until after the backsplash was installed to which I promptly said "no it will be fine". Then when the tile guy came a few weeks later he said we needed to remove them to do the tile because he was afraid it would break the tile because it's so narrow between where he would need to cut and the bracket. So here we are months later with tile stacked in the spare bedroom and the cabinet guy not wanting to remove the brackets for fear of messing up the cabinets. It's my own fault, but I sure would like my backsplash, which I agonized over, installed and my kitchen totally finished!

Thanks again everyone for the wonderful comments, it's always good to know that even though we love our kitchen, others think it looks pretty nice too!

Kat :)

What a beauty!