There were many frantic/crazy postings on my end, and everyone's feedback helped so much. Shanghaimom in particular helped me so much and was so patient, and also boxerpups, kateskurous, rhome410, dianalo, aokat15, and many many others patiently offered sage advice and insight. If I never acknowledged this in the threads, please know that you kept me sane and I so appreciated it. There are some details to be finished (I plan to trim in the fridge a bit tighter on top) but for the most part, we're done.

So here is the old kitchen:

And now the new:

The details:
We have a 1926 stucco house in Minneapolis, and really wanted to honor the time period and details and have it be congruent with the rest of the house. I call this my "new old kitchen." So, we went for a cottage feel with some industrial, contemporary finishes. I devoured details in peoples posts when I was planning, so I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Counters: Reclaimed elm from an 1860s Wisconsin barn, finished with Waterlox. From Minomin Resawn Timbers in Hugo, MN. These guys are awesome, and the counters are breathtaking.

Appliances: LG counterdepth French Door fridge (love it), gas range, and steam dishwasher, with Faber hood in Diamante

Lights: Barn Light Electric radial flute pendant in galvanized above the penninsula; Sinclair white enamel pendant above sink. I love these!

Cabinets: Custom, painted in "Mourning Dove," a Martha Stewart color mixed in Sherwin Williams oil laquer

Floor: Marmoleum Click in Walnut and Silver Birch

Sink/faucet: Kohler "Cursive" undermount farmhouse sink in Earthen White, Vinnata faucet in Vibrant Stainless

Pulls and Knobs: Restoration Hardware 1.25" Aubrey Knobs, and 6" Ephram pulls in ORB

Stainless Wine Glass Rack and Spice Shelves from Pottery Barn online.

Wall Color: BM Monterey White in eggshell

Beadboard walls and ceiling, shelves, and crown: BM Simply White in Semigloss

Curtains: Ogee Ikat in Clay/Oregano from West Elm

Stools: Overstock 24" Tabouret Metal stools

Now do tell...what show? And when will it air? Share the experience of THAT with us too!

Love the grey.... will be waiting for the program info.

Your kitchen looks lovely - I love those open shelves and the beadboard.

Thanks for the nice comments. When I was picking out the finishes and colors I had no idea what it would look like and had this sense of impending doom that it would be ridiculous. My husband had a lot of opinions that I didn't see coming (insistence on not having white cabs, for instance). But in the end, we're pretty happy with our choices.

Congratulations -- stunning kitchen!

So when can we see the show? What was it like, how did you go about organizing everything or did they do it? We need the details! LOL!

You'll have to remind as the air date gets closer so we can set DVR's/VCR's for your episode.

Now, my weird question: what is that little opening in the bottom of the small cabinet to the right of your fridge? Is that a heat vent?

And your kitchen is gorgeous!! So much more fitting and I absolutely LOVE the counters and the beadboard :) Great job!

As for the show, it was a really good experience. Everything happened really fast; basically, three weeks to plan and then three weeks of construction. Because we had such a short time period, our choices for cabinets was limited to either IKEA, custom, or stock. I would have really loved to use IKEA, but our layout was funny and we needed a lot of custom sizes and were able to find a really reasonable cabinet maker who could work with the timeline.

As for the design, a lot of it was ideas we had coming in to the show, and then made better by the show designer. As we went through the process, we'd check with her if she was okay with our choices, and normally she thought we were on the right track. I think the one thing we didn't see eye to eye one was the floor - I wanted wood. She wanted to use natural linoleum, which I begrudgingly agreed to, but wanted checkerboard. She wanted the stripes, which I again relented to but crybabied about to my DH nonstop. And then it was done - and it totally looked right. Which I guess is why she is a designer.

I think one of the reasons we were chosen is because we wanted to do something that was a little atypical; they avoid having a season of similar kitchens, and want to show different styles and products.

The reno took three weeks, and during that time we had five half-days of shooting with projects each day (demo, floor install, etc). We also filmed segments picking out counters, appliances, etc. And yes, companies do sponsor to have their products included, so yes - we received breaks that significantly reduced our costs, but it was by no means free.

I think all of these shows are different, but it wasn't one that had a "reveal" at the end. We were involved in the whole process. As they would tell us, "It's your kitchen - you have to live with it."

I am a planner, so much of this was on the fly, making decisions on the spot - which nearly drove me to a breakdown. But the producer and contractor kept saying, "It'll work out! It always does." And it did. Though at the end, I needed a nice big glass of wine and slept for 12 hours.

Enjoy every minute in your beautiful new kitchen.

Eliz

Hey, mind telling us your dimensions? Do you have floorplan online?

LOVE: the lighting, the sink, the floor, the cab color, THE COUNTERTOP! and the beadboard. Excellent choices. Enjoy enjoy enjoy!!

Ditto what everyone else said...

KA:)

And if you're not already tired of answering all my questions, I'd love to know about your open shelves. I want to do this in my kitchen. Where did the brakets come from or were the shelves ordered as is?

Thank you for humoring me and for sharing your kitchen. I can't wait to see the episode!
Kathe

This is just so exciting. I am so happy for you.
Congrats on your famous kitchen.
~boxer

Like kathec, I wanted to ask about your open shelves too. Would love to know the depth of them and the weight they'll hold, and also manufacturer or where purchased. And brackets too! Thank you! I see you have lights underneath the shelves too - did you add a light rail or is that a separate trim that you added to the shelf?

And speaking of undercabinet lighting - what brand and type of lighting? It looks like a warm light.

Thanks and enjoy your new space!

Congrats on a great story & a GORGEOUS kitchen.
I am in love with those shelves and those counters!!!!

Enjoy it!
Katie

That kitchen is crazy gorgeous!!!

The undercabinet lighting is just 2 GE 18" florescents from Home Depot as well that are hardwired. I was all worked up about lighting but I read that Sabjimata has florescents and was reassured and just went with it. Price was good, too.

Alison0704 - your gray island with the reclaimed top was an inspiration. Rhome410 - your gray cabs, marmoleum and wood counters also inspired me! Artimes78's gray cabs and marmoleum also.

No problem on budget questions - it will be in the show - it was 30K and we came in at 28K. We found a semi-retired guy who did the cabs, shelves, and installation for about $6000 (though he didn't paint them). Painting the cabs was $1500. The shelves saved money, and though he'd never made anything like that before, but he really like them when they were done and his wife wanted a set!

Your countertops are absolutely beautiful! I think that is the same company that I see at the Home and Garden show every time we go-they always have a stunning booth.

Love the backsplash, too! I have been to, it seems, every tile store in the twin cities, and I think we are going to end up with beadboard or v-groove planks. Yours looks great!

Enjoy your new kitchen!

Your choices were perfect!

Congratulations on your new kitchen!

One thing, I'd love the discount and adventure, but if anyone took my picture during this process, I'd just die. I am so sleep deprived/stressed and it shows. I got hit hard by the flu and on day 12, am finally starting to feel better.... only we had some setbacks, so the swollen eyes don't help from my crying. Being camera ready was not on any of my to-do lists, lol... I am so psyched to see your episode when it airs. I will make it a favorite for the dvr asap ;)

Your Marmoleum is so fab! Ours may or may not start to be installed tomorrow. We are short by a bunch, so it may be a while before we have completed pix. Our kitchen will get done but it continues into the den which is where the shortage will be. Our supplier is in IA and seems to not answer the phone because of their storm. I sure hope I like mine as much as I like yours! The stripes are fun and sophisticated. I like our pattern, but yours is making me wonder if we should have done yours instead....

Your counters are perfection.. Love, love, love the rich color and grain.
The open shelves are beautiful and functional and make your kitchen seem so much bigger.
Love your lights, sink, faucet, hardware and anything else I forgot to list. This is truly a "dream" kitchen!

Enjoy every minute in your new kitchen.

The countertop is just i n c r e d i b l e!!! And I will be emailing you for the cabinet guy's info...(-8

So many of your choices are "out of the box" which is really hard to pull off, when we see the same things over and over and assume we need/want them. (It is rare to see a new kitchen with no backsplash but I SO LOVE the beadboard and simple stainless behind the range!!)

The very best part is that you were able to raise the ceiling. Makes me go, "Ahhhhhhh, I can breathe in this kitchen!!" Seems SO much more spacious than with that dropped flourescent ceiling.

Fantastic kitchen!!!

and how you (as a planner, likely control oriented :) ) were able to deal with having it all on camera to boot!! Making all those decisions for Your Dream Kitchen in 3 weeks is an overwhelmingly scary schedule.

I do coach DH whenever he goes to a big box store, that he's getting some stuff to work on the bathroom *and* the kitchen, just in case there are Crashers about and we have both rooms covered! well, that's as likely as winning the lottery for us, since we live in New Mexico and not Minnesota, but we can dream :) .

PLEASE, PLEASE give us a head's up when the time draws near for the show to air, I would love to see that episode. I've seen that show a couple times, and yours is the best yet! Congratulations and Enjoy!!

I love everything about it! Those open shelves are gorgeous! I love the crown detail that makes them so appropriate for your house. Those counters are droolworthy! The lighting, that sink--everything!

Are you just constantly pinching yourself? I would be totally purple by now! :^D

LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

Congratulations!

I can't wait to watch the show to see how the process went.

As for the counters, they are reclaimed elm barn wood treated with Waterlox. So far, so good! We don't cut on them at all, but we wouldn't have regardless of the material. I think the counters we under 3K - cheaper than granite. As far maintenance, I just wipe them with a towel or rag. I don't let water sit on them, but I didn't before, so I don't consider it more maintenance. I realize they'll scratch and develop a patina, but I'm cool with it, and Waterlox is easy to throw another coat on. They really are beautiful, and I'm sure there are places that do this kind of work all over the place.

joyjoyjoy - I live very close to IKEA (and NBH), I'm in south Minneapolis! Are you in northern Iowa???

If you want specific or close up photos, let me know. I plan on doing some additional ones of the shelves since some people had questions.

as they say, it's not the size that counts... congratulations!

Thanks for reference in Hugo!

Thank you!

trudymom - the dishes, glasses and serving pieces are from Crate & Barrel, the Aspen dinnerware open stock. Inexpensive & sturdy.

There have been many comments on the flooring - which we have about 80 s.f. left of in the lighter color. We love the material.