Beautiful! What wonderful color and a fabulous change from the white! And OMGoodness, you did it all yourself!? Incredible!

I'm trying to figure out how the layout changed - did you close off that door or is the kitchen moved around to different walls? Also, what is the color that you painted? It's great!

Congratulations and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

How warm and lovely. The granite is so interesting. What a great job! Congratulations.

love that granite, and it is so not *my* normal style! You should be so proud of a job very well done!

Wow, that is impressive and quite lovely! We are DIYing ours too and so far it's taken 3 years. Ugh.

Got a couple of questions:

1) What is the dimension from the countertop to the bottom of the micro? We also have a Sharp exactly like yours and I'm trying to decide on the mounting height. If you had it level with the bottom of the cabs would that have been too high? In our case we'll have the built-in frig to the left and the corner wall ovens to the right so we can mount it at really any height and it should look good... I just don't want to go too high.

2) Love the pendants. Brand and style?

Congratulations on a wonderful transformation.

Tom

Gorgeous!

Love the granite and boy does it shine as a backsplash behind your range!

How do you like having a short backsplash on the countertops?

Did you have a laundry room behind the window wall? Trying to remember?

Beautiful kitchen. i really love your cabinets. You did a great job doing DIY.

Wow, it's really eye catching. What a great transformation, you did a beautiful job. Best of luck with it!

VERY NICE kitchen! I'm preparing to do a U style kitchen with pennsiula just like yours! You gave me some good ideas. Enjoy!

Barb

That is amazing! I keep looking back and forth at the bfore and afters thinking it can't be the same house. You had great vision creating that beautiful space.

Congrats!

Looks fabulous!!! Love the skylight. The colors all look great together. Very dramatic looking. Would love to see a pic of the wall you have next to the refrigerator. I'm thinking of doing something like that as well. Is it on both sides? Again...terrific job and especially that you did it yourselves. Bravo!!

Oh wow!!! Are you sure that's the same kitchen? What a difference (and a nice one)!!!!!

Holey Moley- that is one gorgeous transformation. I need to study it some more and will no doubt have a few questions for you. But really that is most impressive.
As you all know, the kitchens on here are truly noteworthy but this one just takes the cake for me. (Also, not typically my taste but sooooooo well done).
ENJOY IT!!

I'm joining the chorus of approval here. What a FABULOUS job you have done! Love the skylight,granite, paint and leaded glass windows in the cabs in particular. Can you tell us the room dimensions please?

That is a gorgeous kitchen. I especially love the warm colors and the backsplash. Congratulations on a job well done. I'm sure it was worth the wait.

Gorgeous - like everybody else, I just LOVE the warmth of the combined cabinets, granite and colours. It looks like a beautiful space to spend time in!

Absolutely beautiful!!! It doesn't even look like the same room. You should be so proud that you did this yourselves. I love everything about it!

That's a beautiful and unique kitchen :) I love that particular granite.

Did you put a *skylight* in yourselves? I'm in awe. I don't have the nerve to do that, although I know it's done...

Your kitchen is absolutely beautiful. I love the wall color. I used an orange as well and it's great to see how it looks with another color scheme. Congratulations on a job well done.

My husband and I are also trying to figure out how the layout changed. Did you enlarge the kitchen? Also, who carries Somersby cabinets? They're gorgeous.

Laurie

Wow! You should be so proud of yourselves. Your granite is fascinating and if it were mine, I would totally lose myself in it ....

I was esp. excited to see your microwave -- that's the one we purchased sight-unseen, and with your pictures I've now seen it!

Congratulations on your beautiful new space.

WOW! Ohmygoodness, that is gorgeous. You have every reason to be proud of yourself. I hope you love cooking in this new space.

Emmie

Yowza! It's a dream kitchen come true. You've done a terrific job. Having done 2 DIY bathrooms, I know what is involved and didn't want to do our kitchen too. You should be so proud.

Thank you all for your comments and praises. Now I try to answer your questions:

- Regarding to the layout changes: We did close out the door (to hallway) and pushed out the wall on the right side (sink) for about 5', enlarging the kithen to 14.5'x10.5'. Outside was not laundry room but a porch and entry.(btw, we also opened a new entry on the other side of the house to make the space more useful, but that's out of topic.) We did hire a contractor to do the rough framing work. (When I look at the before picture again I found the laundry basket - no wonder people think there is a laudry room behind!:)
- Skylight: we hired a contractor to install the 2x4 skylight on the roof, but I built the tunnel after that.
- Wall paint: My wife and my ten year old picked the orange color (HomeDepot Behr color "Indian Paintbrush") to match the cabinet and countertop. Initially I worried it could be too bright but it turns out nicely.
- Pedent lights: I found them in lightinguniverse.com to meet my wife's criteria, and the brand is "Forte" but dont remember the model no. I pay arond $100 for all three. Cheap.
- Somersby cabinets: I ordered from buycabinet.com and saved thousands of dollars compared to Diamond brand (virtually identical product)
-Short backsplash: We prefer it over full backsplash since we want see softer and warmer feel of painted wall with a custom color.
-Sharp Microwave: It have been working so far so good. The height is ~14", and the wall cabinet above it is 24" high while the ones beside are 36" high. since our wall cabinets are 18" above the countertop, so the microwave is 16" above, or 2" closer.
-Granite: Indeed this is quite unique but not for everyone. To us it feels like the riverbed of a Yosemite stream in spring. We first saw it in Expo design center and my wife fell in love with it right the way, but their price scared us away. Lucky my wife she found it again in a local store for a much lower price for the even thicker stone (1 1/4" vs 3/4") We are all very happy with it, especially my wife - She is the cook, and it's important to keep the cook happy!
- The wall next to the refrigerator: here is a picture:

I hope I have answer all the questions so far, otherwise feel free to ask again. Thanks again!

I can only echo what's already been said: what a transformation! Love the cabinetry. Everything looks great - congrats on a job well done!

I just tried buycabinet.com and didn't get a real website. Can someone else try it and see if you can access it?

Laurie

msrose, that link should be buycabinets.com (with an "s" after "cabinet").

tuckturn, your kitchen transformation is amazing--and that you DIY is especially impressive!

holligator - Thank you!

Laurie

VETY NICE. I really like your backspalsh. We are planning things now and like a small backsplash except behind the range. This gives us something to really contemplate

What a beautiful kitchen!
How do you like the function of your prep sink? This is where I'm thinking of putting one.

Hi txcat,
Thanks. We have two sinks - the main prep sink under the window and a small bar sink at the opposite corner. My wife insisted to put on the second sink so she dosn't have to fight with me for sink to prepare fruit after dinner while I am doing the dishing. It turns out to be a great idea.

Very nice!
May I archive your kitchen in the Finished Kitchens Blog?
If so please submit the Category Checklist so I can easily categorize your kitchen.
Thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: FKB Category Checklist

I missed this when it was first posted. It looks great. Its such a total transformation, its hard to believe its the the same space.

I remember reading that some fabricators don't like Verde Marinace because its so hard it wears out their cutting tools much more quickly than other granites. Did you also put the Verde Marinace on the sill of the bay window?

Congratulations and enjoy.

Your kitchen is absolutely gorgeous.

WOW!

From a fellow DIYer to another-you did an amazing job! I love the glass doors and paint color especially.

Holy smokes - how did I miss this one when it first posted!? What a gorgeous transformation! And as another DIYer to another, all I can say is, "Job WELL done!" It gives me great hope that we may someday actually finish ours! :-) We demolished in October and I've been without a kitchen since then, but if I keep looking at lovely pictures like yours I'll stay positive and stay encouraged! Again, you did a great job!

Very nice. What brand and model kitchen faucets did you use?

YAHOOO from one DIY'er to another... Absolutely beautiful. Great design. It is refreshing to see a unique kitchen. Great all around job A+++++A+++++

Just really beautiful. I would like to know about the window. Is it a bay (I think it is) or a bow? How far out does it go? Manufacturer? Dimensions?
One more thing - where is the warming drawer? I don't see it in the pictures. How do you like the Kitchenaid?

You should enjoy this kitchen for many, many years.

Inspiring! Just starting a kitchen project and I really like your use of space. The Somerbsy cabinets are timeless! Thanks for great ideas and suggestions about saving!

Zowie! Stunning. The space looks HUGE now, I love the lighting, very well thought out. Congrats and enjoy!

- D

Thank you all for all the good comments. Sorry for the late response but now I am trying to answer all the questions here:

starpooh - You are more than welcome. Have just submitted the form.

bob_cville - Yes I do have the same Verde Marinace granite on the bay window sill. Good to know this stone is particularly hard but my frabricator didn't complain about it - they have done such a great job.

cleo_2007 - The glass doors were custom made by a shop in Ohio (found in internet, forgot the name) We chose the green inserts in the middle, trying to match the counter top color.

mo_sgal - Thanks. We demolished kichen in July and barely finished it before Christmas. Now I am still working on the master bathroom... True DIY takes more work and time but on the bright side you got to enjoy the whole process and get everything the way exactly you want. Have fun!

roserx - Both faucets are Danze in brashed nicle, but I forgot the models. They seem to be well built.

helou - The window is a Milguard vinyl bay window, size 6'x3.5', about 18" deep.
Warming drawer - The lower right drawer in this picture is actually the warming drawer - it's hidden behind a regular wood drawer front. It has been working well. We chose Kichenaid because it's a lot cheeper than the top of the line brands like Thermador or Viking ($650 vs $1000) - It's hidden anyway.

Your kitchen is beautiful. I love the color of the paint, especially the warmth that seems to radiate from it where the lights hit it. Well done!