We took down the wall to our dining room, bought a new table that extends as large as our old dining room table so we can use it for holidays but now we use it for everyday dinners, and replaced our kitchen table with an island with 4 barstools that gets used every day for breakfast, lunch, homework, hanging out, etc.

Custom, inset cherry cabinets with a cinnamon stain and coffee glaze, full extension glides with soft close drawers and hinges (Blume) - local cabinet maker Mike Santa

Knobs and drawer pulls by Top knobs

Seeded glass door inserts from Emerald Glass in Pittsburgh

Granite - St. Cecelia from Blum’s

Floor - Distressed Maple in Butterscotch color from Ark

Backsplash - 4x4 durango limestone with driftwood grout, ½” pencil molding and basket weave pattern above range top.

Under cabinet outlet strips (maybe it’s plugmould) and xenon lights - to allow for an uninterrupted backsplash

Appliances -
Wolf 36”gas range top
Independent brand range hood
Sharp microwave drawer
Miele Dishwasher
Kitchen Aid standard depth refrigerator KFIS27 (recessed to look cabinet depth)
Kitchen Aid double convection oven
Kitchen Aid garbage disposal and air switch
Franke Sink
Delta touch faucet

Custom made, distressed, wood-topped island - made by local cabinet maker, Jim Haugh, Haugh Woodworking

Tigerwood island top from Grothouse Lumber

Niche with computer monitor/tv screen, pull-out keyboard tray with wireless keyboard & mouse, drawer for laptop and charging station

Window seat with cushion

Table, chairs and hutch - Canadel

Barstools - sawhorse style, much larger seat area than saddle seat, only came in brown stain, repainted by Jim Haugh who made the island

Chandelier - Restoration Hardware

Light switches - maestro

Glass pocket doors to separate living room from kitchen

Appliance garage with doors that recess

Window treatment - would like to put something up on the double window by the table

Area rug - from Target

Favorite things about the kitchen - computer screen recessed into wall to save space on 18” deep counter, love to use the pullout drawer with wireless keyboard & mouse for the computer - it uses the laptop as a tower (laptop can be unplugged and taken elsewhere,) I always pull up a comfy stool from the island, computer screen also can toggle to a tv screen to show what’s on the tv in the adjoining family room, love my vertical storage slots built in above my double ovens, love how my silverware tray from the dishwasher and silverware drawer pull out to within 3 inches of each other - I easily can transfer the silverware from dw to drawer, love to cook on my gas range top (used to have smooth-top electric), love our standard depth refrigerator that looks like a cabinet depth due to recessing it just a few inches into the wall and building out adjoining cabinets to give the look of a cabinet depth, love my drawer storage for pots and pans under my range top (instead of getting a range with a large oven below,) love having the drawer micro in the island instead of in the wall across the room where my double oven is located, I love the natural light from the windows.

Thanks for sharing.

We love our 2 islands, we thought about 1 long island but didn't want to have to constantly walk around it to get to fridge, oven, front door. We always use the wood topped island to scoop ice cream, fill cereal bowls and drinks, as a landing spot for baked goods coming out of the oven. There is 49 inches of clearance between the 2 islands. If you look at the slideshow, you can see how the spacing looks from a different angle.

Congrats!

Ginny20, I forgot to say that we have paint next to the cabinets except for at the height of the backsplash where the tile is left to extend up to finish the row of tile instead of cutting it off at the same height as the light rail or bottom of the cabinet.

I cannot load the album in the link provided; hopefully it will work later. I would really love to take a look at your floorplan. Your concept of two islands is fantastic!

Tracey_b, we have our laptop plugged into a laptop cooling mat that goes to a USB port. It has a fan that runs when the computer is on so it never over heats in the drawer. It has worked out really well for us because in our old kitchen, the laptop remained open and turned on for long periods of time. It collected dust and sometimes got splattered so it didn't look so good sitting out. This works out for us to just push closed the keyboard drawer when we get up from the computer and the area doesn't look messy.

We don't have any areas where the wood has chipped and you see a lighter, unstained color. I love the width of the planks, the color, the very slight bevel but I believe there is just no way to avoid scratches on hardwood floors.

So, yes I still am happy with my Ark flooring!