What a gorgeous kitchen!!
New to GW, yet to post on my doom and gloom kitchen project but when I see such pics, it gives me such hope!!
A potential future kitchen design for my next house.

Love the pendants, love the window, all the detailed panelling and moulding and a huggable little creature on the floor!

I hope this kitchen brings you great joy :)

I fall in love with your kitchen a little more each time you post a photo of it, shanghaimom. And I love your new pendants! Somehow I missed noticing these in caliwendy's kitchen. Details, please!

I just found caliwendy's post about her new pendants.

They fit your kitchen perfectly! I love them in your space. Enjoy them and most of all, enjoy turning them on!! ;P

Gasp! I think I'm in love!

Shanghai Mom,
N and I are here drinking a glass of wine and looking at our new, but not quite finished kitchen, after a day of tiling the backsplash. When we opened this thread, both of us simultaneously said "Wow, now that's a nice kitchen."
Really, beautifully done. Is yours on the finished kitchens blog? We'd love to see more and know more about your house. It looks urban. Are you in a brownstone?
Of course, the pendants are lovely too...

Shanghaimom,

These pendants look great in your space too! I think your son was just "helping," don't you think?
Your kitchen is another favorite! When my trim carpenter started my wainscot, your kitchen was one of my "do" examples... they gave me "don't" and I came back with your pics. With my proof in hand, they couldn't ignore me and I now have the trim I envisioned.... thank you!!!!

I am so happy you got this final touch that you wanted... I think they are beautiful in your kitchen as well as Cali_wendy's.... must be some great pendants!!! Congrats and enjoy!!!

Thanks, all. Mythreesons, I'm glad the wainscot pics helped! Sandn, yes, I'm in the FKB somewhere--maybe "coming soon" kitchens? There are puhLENTY of pics. Or, you can find the same thread if you google "Finished! Vintage Cream in the City". (It dropped off the forum a long time ago.) Yes, our house is old and urban--1889 Colonial Revival. We are never, ever without a project but love it. (-8

Those pendants look meant to be in your space. It would be hard to scold your son for being reckless when he did you such a favor ;) I think they have the exact right aesthetic for having a little edge and looking elegant at the same time.

shainghaimom --

On the anniversary of its posting, I am taking the liberty of linking to your original reveal, so that any newbies can see how magically you worked your magic over thousands of miles. I cannot, however, find the thread that included the before pictures.

Meanwhile, you and caliwendy should each be gratified to see that someone else with exquisite if somewhat different taste has chosen the same pendant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Remote control renovation

I'm glad you put up that link, Honorbilt, because I found the original post via Google, and commented, but although my comment appears on that post, the post itself didn't reappear on this board.
Shanghai Mom,
Your kitchen is so lovely and well designed. I'm amazed that you oversaw everything from afar. Our house was also built in 1889, but is a Victorian in style. We have similar door hardware to yours throughout the house, and many of our choices for our kitchen are similar (including even the proportions of our double hung windows). We can only hope ours will be similarly successful.

Hey honorbilt, you're right! It's my anniversary!!

To clarify, we were definitely living here for the reno--all six months. Just did my planning from afar so that demo could begin the minute our plane touched down. I'm sure the carpenters WISHED I had NOT been here, hovering and peppering them with GW-inspired questions and concerns.

That thread does indeed have a pic of my exquisite "before" kitchen...here's another (okay, two)for fun. I love before and afters:

Thank you, Sandn.

I hope you've enjoyed your kitchen project. I think that having such an old house gives us very interesting parameters to work within. Ours is sort of a Victorian/Colonial Revival Mutt. I honestly can't imagine trying to do a kitchen in a new build--overwhelming!! How do you decide ANYTHING?

Would love to see photos of your kitchen! Can never get enough old-house kitchen pics!!

I am going to stick with the Remote Control story, on the grounds that it makes your work seem even more amazing.

You had webcams installed throughout the house and chips implanted into your work crew's brains. That's how you made a nuisance of yourself from a continent away and how you achieved contextual perfection.

Cheers.

Ok, fine it was Nannycams and required 24-hr earpieces.

"That is NOT zero-reveal!! It is at LEAST 1/24" showing!! Rip it out!!!"

"D'ya think because I'm a girl I don't know you should not have put that many 90-degree turns in the hood vent duct??!!! Gimme a break. Rip it out!"

"Stop NOW!! You're overtightening the disposal flange!! Sheesh, you people don't know crapola!"

LOL Shanghaimom! Your pendants are as lovely in your kitchen as they are in Wendy's. I always love seeing pics of your space! Am-a-zing!

OT
Thanks for the (inadvertent) validation. I flirted with a lot of pendants and ceiling lights for my own much less traditional kitchen and flirted with a number of clunky clear glass babies. We ended up with matte-finish slightly seeded/swirled pendants. It was a good decision. Now, thanks to ShanghaiMom, I can lay to rest one of my "what-ifs."

Florantha, indeed, one reason why I posted this is to serve as a gentle warning. Almost all my favorite new fixtures have an exposed bulb--Anthropologie, Curry and Company, Pottery Barn....

For me, they were hard to live with. I still like the LOOK of my old fixtures, they just didn't function well for me. I had suspected it might be a problem but chose them anyway! Lesson learned.

Will continue to occasionally buy shoes that look much better than they feel, though.

Shanghai-

They look great- what are the dimensions of the "shade"? Also where did you buy...Layla Grace like Wendy?

Thanks
Maureen

Maureen, they're on the big side for a "mini"-pendant. 10"x 6" dia. Also, they have a nice hand-wrought look. The finish is sort of a rustic silvery/bronzy/goldy iron. Truly, they would go with any finish! Yes, I got mine from Layla Grace. Bellacor has them, too. Closeup:

Oh, oh, oh! I almost missed your post! They look sooooo beautiful in your kitchen! I'm so glad your son put the others out of commission for you. :)

I gasped when I saw your "before" pics again. It is just so hard to believe how amazing it turned out.

Thank you again for suggesting them for my kitchen. I'm loving them in our space too.

And, I have to respond to your comment, "Will continue to occasionally buy shoes that look much better than they feel, though."

I celebrated my 40th birthday over the weekend. Bought these as a little birthday splurge. Wore them out Saturday night. My big toe hates me today. ;)

Oh, la la!!! Happy Birthday!!!

The cake stand in the background needs some cupcakes in it for this photo. 'Cause that shoe is screaming "Hot Cupcake"!!! With the platform they're actually only about a 2" heel--very sensible shoes. Practically Birks. (-8

Ah ha ha ha ha ha...practically Birks. Totally.