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rookie_2010

Kitchen progress pics (70ish% finished)

rookie_2010
13 years ago

All,

I'm posting some pictures of my not-quite-finished kitchen. I'd like to show all of you how my cabinet color turned out after I "cooled" down the wall color. I love the result. For those that weren't tuned in, the off-white has pink undertones and my previous wall paint colors weren't helping.

You all have been so helpful, I love this forum!!! I've been inspired by so many kitchens here. In the pics, you'll see our appliances aren't in yet. Also, the corbels on the hood piece are being replaced with the ones I actually picked out, I chose very simple corbels, not the carved masterpieces that are there! The faucets aren't in yet either. Also, not in (maybe I should have started this out with what IS done...) is the behind the range backsplash. That should go in this week coming up, it's more marble, with a frame, you'll see...... I decided to take pics today as I had the place cleaner than it's been in weeks. The basket was there to convince DH that it can be "warmed" up with all the cool colors.

Thank you again everyone! So far, I'm really in love with the way it's turning out. But it sure was rocky there for a while!

Cabinets- Candlelight in Victorian White

Countertop- Black leathered granite

Island top- Honed Calacatta

Backsplash- Honed Calacatta 3/4x3/4 mosaic squares

Floors-Red Oak

Wall color- SW Dried Thyme, custom lightened

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Comments (61)

  • Gena Hooper
    13 years ago

    Absolutely gorgeous! What scrumptious marble, and I love your cabinets.

  • boxerpups
    13 years ago

    Amazing. I love your backsplash and wall color.
    It all looks wonderful together.
    You are almost done, enjoy the beauty!

  • morgne
    13 years ago

    I love the backsplash. Could we get closeups and some information on those?

  • cat_mom
    13 years ago

    It looks beautiful so far!!!

  • beekeeperswife
    13 years ago

    It's yummy!

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you everyone for the kind words! Kitchen designing takes so much more effort than I ever imagined. I also never imagined that I would literally have dreams about cabinetry and backsplashes! I knew NOTHING about kitchens and really, really studied this forum and spent many, many hours on houzz.com.
    Jsweenc, the black granite is leathered cambrian. I really wanted soapstone but won the marble debate and didn't want to push my luck..... I'll take a picture of the toekick for you and post it by or before tomorrow.
    Firsthouse, the backsplash is going to have a marble frame that is the remnant of a sink vanity cutout. More squares in the middle because I don't know what else to do back there and don't think my nerves could handle introducing any new shapes or materials at this point!
    Pinch_me, the door is a chalkboard panel door that's covered in plastic. My 4 year old is chomping at the bit to draw on it but I have to wait until it's clear-coated.
    The backsplash is just honed calacatta gold 3/4x3/4 mosaic squares. We used snow white grout. I'll get some closer-ups to share tomorrow.

    Thank you again for all your kind comments and interest. I tried to wait until we were 100% finished but I'm so excited and wanted everyone to see where their good advice lead me.

  • sw_in_austin
    13 years ago

    Really wonderful. I love the wall color and think the cabinets look creamy and luscious next to it. Not to mention that island marble. And the backsplash. I look forward to seeing the finished kitchen.

  • julie94062
    13 years ago

    Rookie, it's beautiful...one of those kitchens that gives me a sharp intake of breath...like...oh...I want it! The backsplash is amazing. Cab color is perfect. Wall color is perfect. Fabulous! I'm so glad everything is coming together. :-)

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you so much! Hopefully, my next picture post will be of a finished kitchen. Then I'll have to pester everyone here about what to clean it with and how to cook in it!

  • shelayne
    13 years ago

    Holy cow, that is spectacular! I love your marble and am completely in LOVE with your backsplash--it's perfect!

    I see absolutely no pink undertone in your cabs--they look absolutely beautiful.

    I can't wait to see your finished kitchen!

  • karen_belle
    13 years ago

    Love love love your wall color. The marble and black leathered granite are so wonderful together, and the cab color is just perfect. Well done!

  • chris45ny
    13 years ago

    Love the peace and serenity that comes from your kitchen. Really beautiful!!

  • iceqween13
    13 years ago

    I absolutely love your backsplash! I too found the green went best to take the pink out. I'm sure having trouble now deciding on my backsplash because of the off white cabs. We have a cream type granite.

    Thanks for posting because it gives me an idea of what I could do with my backsplash too.

    Maria

  • jsweenc
    13 years ago

    Hi rookie,

    Thanks for answering my previous questions. I hope you don't mind a couple more.

    How are/will your floors be finished? And is your granite sealed?

    One more -- are all the corners on the granite radiused, and what is the distance from the corner of the sink bumpout to the corner of the counter that covers it (i.e., what is the overhang at the corner)?

    I'm going to enjoy watching your kitchen get finished almost as much as I am enjoying watching mine get closer to the end!

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you again for the kind comments.....I'm so glad to hear no one is seeing pink! I'm not seeing it in person anymore but I was afraid I became so used to it that I stopped noticing. Now, I'm hoping I don't mess it all up with all the finishing touches! I'm pendant shopping today, the ones I'm now returning were so large, they looked cartoonish. Ugh.

    Jsweenc,
    Hope you're still following, here is the toekick. The opening goes back about 3 inches until it hits shoe molding (is that the right term?). Oh, and please excuse the dirty floors. I cleaned them and then tracked my saw-dusty shoes right back over them :)

    {{!gwi}}

    Morgne, a closer up of the backsplash......
    {{!gwi}}

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Jsweenc,
    The floors are finished, they're Shaw, red oak, slightly hand planed or something like that, the color is called Countryside. We got a great deal on them, they're 5 inches wide. The only drawback is the short length of the planks. It's a new construction house and I wanted wood floors almost everywhere so I had to go with more economical choice.
    When I run back over to the new house, I'll measure the toekick area and get a picture of the way the granite is cut around it. I sealed the granite, the fabricator told me I didn't have to bother but I did anyway since I was sealing the marble and it was right there.
    Since you're paying attention, do you have a recommendation on pendants? I'm sticking with brushed nickel for hardware but can go with BN or black/oil rubbed bronze for light fixtures. The house is a shingle-style, sort of.
    Thanks!

  • jeri
    13 years ago

    Another inspiration kitchen for me :-)

    So the pink was caused by the reflection of the other paint color?

    It sounds like your DH wasnÂt sold on the marble  did he like the idea of white? My DH would prefer wood, I want white. My DH would prefer granite, I want marble. I actually think IÂm wearing him down a bit thoughÂ

    Enjoy!

  • rhome410
    13 years ago

    Oh, my....That marble on the white island is just amazing. I can hardly take my eyes off of it, but also love the floor and stained door to be a rougher and warm counterpoint to the sleek and elegant whites. I think the leathered granite is a great 'compromise' for the soapstone (without being much of a sacrifice), and I think I prefer it, since the soapstone would demand some attention and your marble island backsplash deserve all they get.
    Wow, the mantle is great, too, and I can't wait to see what range you've picked out for that place of honor.

  • bostonpam
    13 years ago

    Beautiful - I love the backsplash and marble.

  • remodel-mama
    13 years ago

    Gorgeous! It looks great so far! Can't wait to see it when it's finished.

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you so much, anyone want to weigh in on pendant choice? In need 2 of them. I already struck out once and will be visiting the post office tomorrow to return. I have to stick to a tight budget now that 20% of it is going to the restocking fee. Even still, this process just became fun again!

  • altagirl
    13 years ago

    I LOVE everything! Great job... can't wait to see the finished pics!

  • jsweenc
    13 years ago

    Thanks so much for answering my questions.

    Here are my pendants (Edison by Hudson Valley), just installed today, along with the granite (Impala Black leathered, sealed without consulting me, but seems to be fine) and range. They are a pretty common style, but you sound like me -- play it somewhat safe, nothing too fancy. They are BN with 12" glass, but also come in 8" and 15". They came with two other stems, one shorter, one longer, which can also be combined to make addtional lengths. I have 8' ceilings, so the medium length seemed best. The island is 8.5' x 2.5'. I have two over the island and one over the table.

    Do you have anything you've seen that you like?

  • kellykath
    13 years ago

    Your kitchen is beautiful - I was wondering if you could tell me how high your ceilings are and how tall are your upper cabinets with the glass. I'm doing my kitchen as well and am trying to figure out the right dimensions/proportions for lower, upper and boxbean ceilings. It is sooooooo nice having this group to share ideas with. Thanking you in advance and YES that marble is awesome. Kelly

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Jsweenc,
    Thanks for sharing! Your kitchen is looking fabulous! Is that an open shelf at the end of the far left cabs? I LOVE the ribbed glass pendants, they're perfect! RH has some that I was considering. I'm afraid my lighting budget is blown though. I'm going to try pendants I purchased for another room and see if they work in the kitchen. They're mini arch top lanterns in black. If they don't, I'm going to price yours out or look for something similar.

    Thank you for weighing in! I still owe you some sink bump-out dimensions. I'll measure them after work.

    Kelly, thanks for the compliment! The ceilings are 9ft (I'll double check that though...) The upper glass cabs are around 12. I'll measure to be certain and post the details.

  • jsweenc
    13 years ago

    rookie, no rush on the bump out. Really more curious than anything because I expected mine to be rounded and they ended up squared (though they did radius the island corners). I'm picturing myself with multiple hip bruises. They could round them if I insist, but not sure I want to go to the hassle.

    RH has some very gorgeous pendants at very gorgeous prices. Mine were ~$185 each. I don't know if the smaller glass would be less. We had planned to put 3 over the island but when they arrived they were much bigger than I thought (guess I forgot how big a ruler is, duh) so we just used the third for the table. Lots of companies make similar ones so you shouldn't have any trouble finding the right one for you if you go that route.

    But your mini lanterns should work and I know it would be nice to save at least that expenditure if possible.

    It is an open shelf on the end, next to the back door. I intend to put cookbooks there but I'll have to see what the kitchen tells me when it's finished. It will definitely not be manuals and wires and granite samples!

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I really, really love that open shelving there! That's such a clever way to keep the cookbooks off the counter. I wish I would have thought of that! I came up with a thousand ideas AFTER I ordered my cabinets, of course :)

  • jsweenc
    13 years ago

    Same here! I had to decide at some point that I couldn't possibly incorporate everything I saw that I loved. In fact, there were a number of times when I tried really hard to fit something in and then had to let go of it. More emotional than I'd expect it to be, but at least I feel like I couldn't have overlooked much. The shelves were because I had just a little space but not really enough for anything else.

  • aokat15
    13 years ago

    Hi rookie_2010 - your kitchen looks gorgeous!! I'm just wondering how you are liking the leathered black granite? As of now, we are going to go with a marble island and I love the marble/soapstone combo as well but I don't think my husband will go for both either and also I think the leather granite will be more affordable. Do you like the combo as much now that you see it in and are living with it? Any pros/cons so far? Thanks so much!!

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Hi aokat15,
    My kitchen isn't complete yet, so I haven't cooked in it or anything like that. I can say that IMO the leathered granite looks great with the marble. Every male that has walked into the house has bee lined right to the granite and they all gush over it! I think it is the next best thing to soapstone, it's slightly rugged appearance seem to be an easy sell for the guys. The tile installers and our painter have spilled and dripped stuff all over it and I just wipe them off and all is fine.

  • jsweenc
    13 years ago

    Males... gushing... very very funny picture! That would make a great SNL sketch! No, it reminds me of that Heinekin commercial where the girls are all visiting the hostess in her girly, to die for WIC, screaming and gushing and making a huge fuss, and then they are silenced by a louder commotion in another part of the house. Cut to the gaggle of guys, in the huge walk-in fridge filled with Heinekins, screaming and gushing and making an even bigger fuss. An oxymoron, but that tells you how great the counters are!

    The tile guy just left and though cleaned up pretty well left some grout streaks, which came off nicely. The counter installers left bits of silicone on the surface and it came right up. I'm loving mine too!

  • aokat15
    13 years ago

    Thanks so much, I'm glad to hear that you're liking the leathered granite!! Did you find that more affordable than soapstone?

    Thanks!!

  • plumberry
    13 years ago

    Beautiful combinations! Enjoy!

  • jsweenc
    13 years ago

    aokat, I'm sure you're asking of rookie, but I can answer too. I have leathered Black Impala, and I love it. It cleans up easily and hardly shows anything and looks great. rookie's marble looks great with it, but I just have the granite on the perimeter and main island. We have ordered a walnut edge grain butcher block for our small island.

    To answer your question, yes, it is considerably less expensive. It was more than the level 3 quote but less than the custom pricing quote for one slab. Apparently, for whatever reason, the leathered is more expensive than the polished. Don't know about honed or other treatments. The soapstone quote we got was about $6800, and our total for the granite was just under $5000, including a leftover 70x30 piece that they are holding for us until we are ready for it. YMMV.

  • aokat15
    13 years ago

    Thanks so much for the info!! I'm glad to hear that may be an area we can save on... I'm butting up against our budget every day!

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    The quote I received for soapstone was similar to jsweenc's. The granite was much less, about $4500 for 3 slabs. I thought the "leathering treatment" was done by the fabricator but we bought the slabs that way so that was no extra charge.
    Jsweenc, It's just like that commercial! Guys around the granite, girls around the marble! haha. All the contractors working on my house walk right in and start feeling on the granite and saying stuff like "huh, this is kinda neat". They love it, I can tell. Only a few of them are secure enough to actually gush openly. lol

  • jsweenc
    13 years ago

    Sounds like you did well on the granite, rookie.

    I am still laughing about the guys and your granite. I guess I can say that mine made my contractor gush as much as he ever has, which is zero, though he's very likeable and we've known him for 15 years. DH really likes them too.

  • aries61
    13 years ago

    This is a question for Rookie 2010. Is the house you are building a Frank Betz design?

  • sc_kathyc
    13 years ago

    rookie 2010, your kitchen is gorgeous. jsweenc, yours is also gorgeous.

    Now I going to have to figure out where I can see the leather granite. I didn't quite understand from the posts above. Is this something that the fabricator does?

  • jsweenc
    13 years ago

    sc_kathy, I have followed your posts and saw your kitchen in the latest one. I'm sorry about the problems with the cabinet guy, but it's shaping up to be a beautiful space and I know once it's done, you'll enjoy it. I hope he makes everything right!

    Most suppliers just have what they have in the finishes already applied. I assume that typically the finish is done by the quarry. One supplier I talked to sent all slabs that needed a different finish to a quarry about 2 hours away. I didn't even ask how much that would cost.

    There was a supplier nearby that had Jet Mist (which is what I first wanted after ruling out quartz), but in polished, and I wanted honed. They had the capability to do that within their shop at their headquarters in another city, but it would have taken longer than I wanted to wait.

    The only ones I ended up considering were already leathered. This supplier (a Daltile company in Raleigh) had several slabs of mine, and several of the other colors I was considering. I assume that suppliers do just that, supply what others have provided, and fabricators fabricate, though there may be some who are able to put a different finish on it.

    There have been a couple of posts recently about honing in the field, and I know it's been done at least once here. But the best thing is just to find something you like that doesn't need to be changed.

    Where in SC are you (or is that SoCal, or something else)? There should be several suppliers around Charlotte that have them, maybe a few around Spartanburg, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Atlanta if you're down that far.

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Hi Aries,
    It's a slightly-modified Don Gardner design, the Evangeline. I'd say it resembles Frank Betz designs more than the other DG ones. I really loved a lot of the Betz designs too. The one we're finishing was the only plan my DH and I both really liked. It's a craftsman but I pretty much turned it into a shingle style so I could get away with a little arts and crafts and a little casual victorian. The kitchen according to plan was pretty awful and really boxed in by a peninsula.

    sckathyc,
    The granite I have, leathered cambrian (I think), was already leathered when I found it at the stone yard. I assume it was done by a quarry. When you're making your phone calls to try to hunt some down, ask for either leathered or antiqued granite. Depending on who you talk to, you'll hear either term but they're the same thing.
    Good luck!

  • aries61
    13 years ago

    Hi Rookie,
    Thanks for the information.Might be building a Don Garner or Frank Betz plan later this year.Like some of the DG plans, but they seem to have smaller master bedrooms then FB plans. Like the architectural features of both with there arches and columns.

    If the rest of the house is coming out as nice as the kitchen, you'll have a fabulous house. Would love to see other pictures of the house.

    Thanks again for the information. Curious, what part of the country are you building in?

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Hi Aries,
    Thanks for the compliment! I think I put the most thought and effort into the kitchen and baths. I'm building in southern NJ. My husband and I are the GCs and we both work full time so we're already 9 months in and should be finished up before a full year, I HOPE! I'd be glad to share some pictures of the rest of the house as soon as I get some of the debris and dust cleaned up. The DG plan we chose has smallish secondary bedrooms and baths. I wasn't too keen on that and had planned on expanding them during the framing but we ended up doing a walkout basement instead so we'll have some extra space to store toys. That was enough to get me to drop the whole bathroom expansion obsession. I also like the architectural style of the DG and FB plans. I beefed up the size of the exterior window trim on ours and it made a world of a difference. Seems to make more sense proportionally compared to the columns.
    I noticed a lot of discussion on the Home Building forum if you search for Don Gardner and Frank Betz, although I didn't see many pictures.

  • vampiressrn
    13 years ago

    WOW!!! Great coordination of products...that is certainly an inspiration kitchen. BEAUTIFUL. :-)

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you! The combination of products is mostly accidental though, lol.

  • michellemarie
    13 years ago

    Your kitchen is just gorgeous! Thank you for posting. I love the way you trimmed out your windows and door frame too! I am going to print out the pics and copy what you did!

  • Andrew
    13 years ago

    Hi -

    Do you have any more closeup pictures of the gap between your cabinets and ceiling? What are you going to do there?

  • rookie_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Hi michellemarie,
    Thanks for the compliment! I can't wait to pass it on to my trim carpenter! The trim is a somewhat basic arts and crafts style, I'm so happy with the way it all turned out! My carpenter is really talented and shares the same taste in houses as me.

    Atct86,
    When the pics were taken, the ceiling had only been primed. We were waiting for the final coat of paint to go on the ceiling before the crown molding went up. Then, we needed more molding because there was still a bit of a gap there. All of the crown should be up by Saturday. I'll take a close up as soon as its finished.
    Thanks for your interest!

  • davismom
    13 years ago

    Hi Rookie2010,

    WOW, your kitchen is gorgeous!!

    I am having Antiqued Cambrian Black counters installed soon. Could you please tell me the brand/type of sealer you used on it? Was it an enhanser,a sealer or a combination of both?
    I would really appreciate your help!

  • joann49
    8 years ago

    Rookie i am having the exact same problem at the moment i want to cry! I can't see the pics in this post and desperately want to see them! Is there a way you can send them to me or send a different link???