Great job. Unself-consciously gorgeous. And under budget! You are my idol!

I had to scroll back up to see that they really were the same cabs! Great job!!!!

How absolutely beautiful.
Clean lines, lovely materials. Nice flow.

If someone thinks you're a hard*ss? Screw 'em.
Let them settle.
Once again (and again and again and again......)
Who is paying? Who is living with this?
So let yourself off the hook and don't worry a diddly squat about "people might think I'm a harda*s or a nitpicker or too demanding".
The people here aren't 1/2 *ssed contactors.

I wouldn't have let the "dining room table" thing go, nor the appliance garage's wonky shelves go. I just couldn't.

But I've been thru much more hell than most human beings. It's my way or F-you get out. Of course, that would be my inner voice, since I would die of embarrassment if I said that outloud to someone. That's loss of control and I can't do that with any one I save to pay $$ to do something! [LOL]

I love your kitchen.
Great job.

So beautiful and thanks for the words of encouragement to people like me who are just beginning. I often wonder if I could just live with the golden oak cabs and vinyl floor i have now because going through the new kitchen process is stressful. It's so great to see a lovely finished kitchen and to know that it is possible to make it to the other side!

You did a great job!

I love your kitchen! Looks great! Can you tell me what color you painted your walls... a nice complement! Great job!!

Hi, guys! I was already starting to miss you!

To mtnrdredux - staying under budget is my religion (Depression-era Mom) - and it isn't that hard to do - really! - you just can't have everything. This is what I tell my kids - if you spend it here, you can't spend it there. So think about what you want. We went big on the appliances, and saved on the cabinetry. It's amazing how much you can economize when you think it through in advance.

To catmom - the best compliment - you couldn't tell my old cabs were old! These cabs must have been top of the line for their day (they were here when we moved in), they have ball-bearing drawers and one set of doors hides a stack of hand-crafted drawers where I keep all my linens. What helped make the decision to keep them was finding out that I could only afford the bottom of the line if I replaced them with new.

CEFreeman - you and I are getting the t-shirt Rooney Mara wears in "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" - "F*ck you you f*cking f*ckhead." But don't remind me about the island top. I knew it was wrong to settle, but... I had to move on.

Stop apologizing for having a(n) OTK! It's beautiful!

I must admit that when I saw your before picture, I was getting panicky, thinking that you took out that lovely white kitchen. So glad you saved the cabinets!

Congrats! Everything looks excellent! Love the appliances especially.

Great job!! So funny how you say that your old cheap faucet was better than the Perrin and Rowe. You can really go crazy over faucets, when you really don't need to spend that much. I wanted a bridge and looked at faucets from $800-$1200. I ended up with an American Standard Bridge faucet that I love, which was $450. I was worried that it wouldn't be good enough!!

Love your version of the OTK. And your blue kitchenaid is fantastic! Glad you got a lovely kitchen under budget in spite of the drama.

Your before kitchen looked lovely. So glad you didn't rip it all out to create something totally different.

Interesting observations on the ovens. Most owners love them. What did you have before?

I'm sorry your GC was such an incompetent. Forget him and enjoy your new kitchen!

Just wow....I too couldn't believe that the first pic wasn't the finished kitchen...that long view is so pretty. But them I scrolled back and forth...

You did great. I love the island top and in your pics , at least, you can't tell that the boards aren't the proper widths. Everything looks so fresh and lovely. I am so glad you are enjoying it. And I admire your philosophy. c

Really beautiful! Love the island top. I would have thought you had the cabinets replaced. Did you have to repaint them? What color are they painted? Also, can you give more details about your backsplash? Enjoy your new kitchen!

What a great kitchen! I really like the "flow" of it for lack of a better word...it looks so well-made and substantial. And no apologies here for a "OTK"...I'll be an OTK lover until my last breath! Clean, bright, lovely...you've got it all. And can I tell you that I am having serious fridge envy? I bet you have enough room in your lovely, LARGE, SZ...I swear, I am about to put my stupid, FD KitchenAid out on the curb! :)

Just beautiful!! I love the wood top - I don't notice the issue you mentioned. I LOVE the appliance depot - IMO worth the wait to get that done - it must be working out SO well for you. I am thinking of the Elux wall ovens too, but it sounds like you can't overwhelmingly endorse them. I love all the windows in your kitchen and the bright and clean feel to it (which I think is directly related to your OTK choice!!... good for you!).

I don't think anyone goes through a renovation without some sort of anguish or saga - you came out the other side pretty well, it seems!

Your kitchen is gorgeous!!! Love the appliances and good choice to keep old cabinets and upgrade appliances. It looks great. Looks like your doggie is enjoying his new kitchen. Can I have your old hood? lol... : ) just kidding!

I was also confused that the 1st pic said "before" - but what you did looks great, and the appliance garage is a really good idea - enjoy!

Thank you, all. Strange - how did my photos shrink? Since I posted last night, they're all half the size they were in the preview window. Not sure how that happened. Sorry a lot of the details are lost. Should I repost them?

mamadadapaige - I don't HATE the Elux, I just have that 'settling' feeling - for what I could afford, they were the best choice (we were also constrained to only 27" models which eliminated many brands). Honestly, if I loved the way they baked, I would ignore the superficial stuff. Nothing is perfect. They're good enough.

nini804- I can't tell you how close I came to buying the KA French door, for a lot of reasons. But like my ovens, I guess you have to 'love the one you're with.'

kitchenkrazed09 - I was afraid people would ask about the backsplash. All I know is they are handmade tiles from California and they took FOREVER to come in, because we needed to special order the bullnose pieces. I will try to get the manufacturer for you and repost. They have a very rough edge. A little texture. If you're sitting down, I'll tell you the price. They really had me worn out by the time we got to the backsplash, otherwise never. Not in a million years ($14.00. Per tile.) We repainted the cabinets with BM high gloss latex in white.

trailrunner - I often look at Before pictures on this site and think they're Afters! We WERE lucky, we did start with good bones. I admire everyone who plans a kitchen from floor plans up. That's why I thought our job was just a 'small' job. Is there any such thing?

breezy - yes, I know everyone loves their Electrolux - reading all the good reviews is what inspired me to buy it! Our oven choice was probably the most difficult - started out with a Wolf dual fuel range and ended up with wall ovens. That journey was a saga in itself. What we had before was an 80s-era GE wall oven-microwave combo - in the Before pictures it looks like a double oven, and everyone mistook it for that, but it had a giant microwave on top, very snazzy for its time, I'm sure. The regular oven was so small I had to put cookie sheets on a slant, but it ovened like a dream - steady, intense heat, super fast preheat (the Elex takes forever, even on Rapid), I think the small size actually helped (I don't understand oven technology, but I got the crispiest roasts and potatoes). But it was definitely on its last legs.

mmhmmgood - I LOVE my blue KA mixer! It was a 40th birthday gift from my husband (and it still works!). One of my girlfriends dissed DH for buying me an appliance for a big birthday present, but I was ecstatic! To me, the KA mixer was the sign you were a 'real' cook. I know it sounds quaint, but back then, in our youth, you know, back in the stone age, it was a big purchase for us. I was just as thrifty then as I am now, and I would never have bought such a luxury item for myself. I love, love, love that thing. I polish it like a car!

EMH107 - I don't 'get' the faucet thing - but in my last house, when I renovated the bathrooms, an architect friend of mine said, "Spend big on faucets, you use them every day, you won't regret it." So I've always followed his advice. Faucet hardware is a fricken fortune!

Thanks to all - let me know if you want to see the bigger pictures!

Eugenie

Gorgeous kitchen! What great features, and I really love the appliance area. So sorry you had so many issues with contractors, but good for you for hanging in there. Also appreciate the honest evaluation of your different choices/purchases. Enjoy!

Very pretty kitchen!

You menioned having some useful interior fittings that store your linens ... any chance of a few snaps of the arrangements? I am working on my plans for that type of storage. Thanks!

L.

Too funny - I'm looking at my pictures, trying to figure out how I managed to turn them into postage stamps without meaning to, and I realized - wouldn't you know it? - the shelves that my contractor put in the 'appliance depot,' the very last thing he had to do ... are crooked.

He gets the last laugh!

It's really gorgeous. OTK, a good thing. Diane Keaton will pop out and say, "Can I make you an egg?" It is so spacious and bright and light. The wood top is lovely. Me, too induction. So clean and works so well. Paint colors are wonderful. I love everything about your kitchen. Great job.

I love how it came out and that you did not replace the current cabs. It says warm and friendly to me because it is not at all stuffy and trying too hard.
Your wood counter looks like that was on purpose since you have the cutout for the cooktop. I would have guessed there was a reason the cooktop area had narrower planks, lol. If it was a solid counter, then it would bother me.
There is a reason that OTK is popular here... it is because it is pretty and classy. I don't see so many IRL so it would not be common in our area.

Lovely. I think your new vent hood suits the space so much better. Enjoy!

Amazing. When I saw the first picture with the beautiful glass cabs I thought that must be your finished kitchen and did a couple of double-takes re. your "before" comment.

Continued scrolling down, thinking you were a perhaps a little crazy to replace that, and then I saw it. ..... WOW!

A transformation from a very nice kitchen to a STAR kitchen. Classy and sophisticated, yet a space that looks fun to be in and work in at the same time. You nailed it. Congratulations.

So gorgeous!! Love your countertop selections, glass cabs, fridge, everything! Love the kitty and pup, too :-).

Lovely. I like frugal people. What is sitting on the side counter? Does it hold spices (I can't quite make it out on my small monitor)?

eugenie1, perhaps after a period of rest and admiration of your lovely kitchen of course :), you could retrofit the Blum soft close on the cabinet doors if you and/or DH are at all handy. A link showing what it looks like on Amazon is below. I'm not all that handy but installed these just fine throughout my kitchen.

HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: example of Blum hinge adapter on Amazon

Your kind comments are making it all worthwhile! Thank you!!

mtnfever - thank you for the link to soft close - I almost wish I didn't have it on the appliance depot drawer -then no one would know how nice it is!

motodetroit - I inherited the piece on the side cabinet from DH's mother (I couldn't believe his sister didn't want it!). She got it in Norway in the '50s, and it's a great piece of vintage kitchen ware that sat on her counter for years and always makes me think of her. It has glass compartments (some are broken now) that I assume were used for sugar, flour, spices, etc. We fill it with M&Ms, almonds, popcorn kernals, tea bags and Emergen-C.
Here's a better picture:

Madeline616 - do you know how long I've tried to get my dog and cat to pose for pictures? Forget about it. And then they just wander into the photo shoot... I'm glad I got a picture of Zelda, our airedale. She's old now, and she doesn't like having her picture taken.

taggie - comments like yours remind me that we did the right thing keeping the old cabinets. Two KDs I talked to, but didn't hire, immediately wanted to rip them out and I couldn't understand why, they were classic, worked fine (I realized later that both KDs work for cabinet makers; I don't know, maybe they all do). And keeping them saved me from making all those thorny layout decisions everyone struggles with here. I really had it easy, but thank you for your compliments.

dilly ny - I wish I could take credit for the range hood, but it was the only one that would fit our specs. My ceilings are low and, if you notice, the ceiling above the cooktop is lowered even further (there is an upstairs bath above, but no one seems to know why the ceiling descends seven inches above the cooktop) - it narrowed our options in range hoods to this one - sorry, I should have ID'd it - Electrolux 36".

dianalo - you are a better man than I. Actually, I know you aren't a man. I have followed many of your comments on the forum. You always have the best attitude. I have to say - cranky and demanding as I am - one of the things I love about reading GW commenters is how MELLOW you all are. In the midst of hair-curling disasters! How do you do it? I want what you're having!

westsider40 - "Something's Gotta Give" was on TV in our area today! I ran in and said to DH (who loves that movie) - there it is! What I've been telling you about! The OTK! I had to explain the whole thing to him. But honestly, that kitchen is so completely SWOON-worthy. The whole house. Diane Keaton's turtlenecks. I wish!!! At least we have our easy-care induction, right?

liriodendron - here are some pictures of the built-in drawers. I don't think they're anything special, but I'm sure if I were replacing the the cabs, I would have had to pay quite a bit extra to have a set of drawers like these installed. Helped us decide to keep the cabs we had. We keep container lids in the first drawer, the matching containers in the second, napkins in the third and table cloths in the bottom. Great storage. Keeps everything nice and tidy.

Congratulations!

Your work triangle looks to be very snug. I would guess it works really well for one person. How many cooks?

Thanks, Eugenie. If you do find more information about the backsplash, I'd appreciate it.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!

I am in lust with your fridge :) Wow, that's one attractive slab of stainless there. Hubba hubba!

The whole kitchen is beautiful but the fridge made me stop breathing for a second. I hear you on the E-lux oven & those darned dashboards. I hate dashboards on ovens with the fire of a thousand suns. Not to be a luddite, but I learned to cook on a range with KNOBS and a mechanically-operated timer thing that buzzed loud enough to wake the dead. I thought I'd have to sell DH's soul to get another oven without a dashboard!

It is gorgeous, though, and if I walked into my house and saw your kitchen magically installed ... I'd be eternally grateful. Enjoy it!

Really nice! Your before wasn't bad but your after is wonderful.

Your kitchen is so classic and beautifully but easily elegant. I, too, had to go back and see that the cabinets weren't new. My SIL has all new Elux appliances - they work great, but they are certainly not easy to use at all.

Congratulations on finishing up with your GC!!

I remember your other thread about what to do when the job had dragged on so long (and his excuses about having a baby, and all his other idiocy). I'm so glad to hear you've got to The End.

--Lee