Kat! That looks so pretty! I so wish I had chosen a wood like that for my hutch top. Mine scratches so easily!

Your cabinets are beautiful from what little I can see! What brand are they? Got some more photos?? Would love to see more!

Erika

Kat - that hutch is the cutest thing!! And I love that tiger maple - it adds the perfect touch, along with the glass/crystal sugar bowl you'll get of course :)

It's so true - we'll just move from one obsession to another after the kitchen. I for one will have to force myself off here after my kitchen is done (assuming it's EVER really done!), because I won't be able to stand seeing all the things I never thought of doing - haha! I'll be so jealous of all the other kitchens that I'll want to do mine all over again - actually, that couldn't possibly happen only because I know what torture it is to remodel now :)

Gorgeous! Oh, I love that tiger maple slab. I can't wait to see more of your kitchen.

Lovely!

Fantastic! What a nice touch!

STUNNING! What a beautiful piece of cabinetry. I love the tiger maple.

What took you so long??? If I had this picture a week ago things would be different here! I too have the fridge, a speck of space, and a doorway.

Not too late, come to think of it. Consider your hutch STOLEN!

(PS--I really like it!)

I love this! I'm another one with a doorway, a sliver of counter, and a fridge. Your photo headed directly into my inspiration clippings directory. The tiger maple is amazing. What a gorgeous detail.

Lesmis~
Wow, looks lovely!
And love that Emma Bridgewater.
My dh is from Dublin so I understand the enjoyment of a great cup of tea, believe me.
What a great design that you'll enjoy everyday. Good for you!

Katie

Kat
What a nice piece - lovely enjoy

Glad to see the ply under the refrig -

So pretty! I also would like to know about your cabinets, and your wall paint color. Must feel great to be so close to being finished!

Wow everyone! Thanks so much for all of the really sweet comments! You all have been my inspiration and I only wish I had found GW "before" I started my plan, but I've drooled over and borrowed ideas from you all, you just don't know it! ;)

Fori and anyone else...steal away, I'm flattered!

Erika I will post more pictures as soon as I pull together my before and after shots.

Katie, I'm a tea drinking fool and have only been to England, but I long to visit Ireland and hope to sometime soon. A dear friend of mine is also married to an Irishman and has given me lots of lovely Irish tea!

Want2bsure, my cabinets are by a wonderful local cabinetmaker here in Maryland and I can't say enough good things about them! My wall color is BM Heather Gray. It was one of my toughest decisions but I'm loving it now. It sometimes looks green and sometimes is more gray. We will also have a BS eventually, but I love having a bit of color on the walls too.

Thanks again everyone, I'm like a proud parent showing off my first born!

Kat :)

lesmis, I love your hutch and now wish I had open shelving in a corner of my kitchen instead of closed cabs. This corner is turning out to be a coffee/tea beverage area which is something I had not envisioned until cabs were in. Everything about your hutch is stunning.

I am in Maryland also. If you don't mind could you share the name of your cabinet maker. As soon as my DH regains his energy and the kitchen is complete, the bathroom gets remodeled and I will need custom there. On another note, where do you like to antique shop?

Oh my! That's simply adorable!

Thank you Riverhouse and Marthavila! :)

Riverhouse, I think we are in the same neck of the woods so if you ever want to stop by and see my kitchen feel free to contact me at my email swlesmis@hotmail.com.

My cabinetmaker is Pat Woodburn located just outside of Leonardtown, I've linked his website below. Don't go by his website, he's a cabinetmaker, not a web designer, but Shari at his office is trying to help him in that department lol! Who did your kitchen?

I have lots of places where I shop, both in Maryland and Virginia, but when I want to stay local I go to Southern Maryland Antique Center in Leonardtown. I also love Cecil's Country Store for newer items, though she does have some antique furniture, Traditions of Loveville (she used to have antiques but is now mostly new furnishings), and Apple Basket. There is also a wonderful shop that is only open one weekend a month called Vintage Source...you never know what they'll have but they usually have some neat stuff and the prices are right.

In my picture you can see my new cookie jar I just bought at Cecil's! Email me and I can tell you more places over on Solomons and in Charles County if you are interested!

Here is a link that might be useful: Maryland Cabinetmaker

Wow, that's really a gorgeous kitchen. Great job!!!

very nice hutch! but, where are your over the island lights from?? i LOVE the style and the fact that they're not open at the top waiting to collect dust and bugs!!! really nice!

Kat, thanks for the full shot picture, everything is so pretty!! I love the choices you have made and I really love that hutch area :) I have a tiny counter near my fridge and a doorway, but also a wall :( so I had to go with a message center area. Like Traci mentioned, I need to stop myself from seeing all these great kitchens and second guessing every choice I made...... LOL. I may have to sample your paint color though!!!

Thanks Busybee3, my pendants are actually outdoor lights from Troy Lighting. They are from the Owings Mill collection and I really like them. They don't cast as much downward light as some people might like, but it's plenty for what I need in conjunction with the recessed I have throughout. I bought mine through Bellacor.

Kat :)

Beautiful kitchen!! Betcha can't wait unit it is all finished. The wood hutch counter is gorgeous.

Yayyyyy another photo! Oh my your kitchen is soooo pretty!! ... love your huge window and your glass cabinets and your soapstone and everything else! Does that pocket door(?) go to your dining room? Can't wait to see a pic of the stove side.

Erika

Katie511 we must have cross posted, are you finished with your remodel yet? I can't wait to see it especially since you had concerns to begin with and it looked so pretty in your last post!

Katieob did you get your cabinets yet? Weren't they supposed to be installed the same day Traci got her counters? Your house is exactly what I wanted my house to look like from the exterior...maybe in another life!

Cotehele, it's true I can't wait until it's all done but I've been cooking and decorating like a crazy woman anyway! The tile guy came by yesterday and he can start hopefully in a week and the electrician is supposed to come back tonight (I hope) to finish putting the lights in my dish pantry so I can fill it up!

Wonder what I'll obsess about now that we're almost done?! I know, I'll obsess about how I want a sunroom, with a sleeping loft, and a deck for a hot tub!!

Kat :)

Erika I have you and Mamadadapaige to thank for my windows...I just wish I had seen yours *before* I ordered my windows so that they would have gone down to the counters! Thanks!

Kat :)

Oh, Kat, you had to mention counter height windows - but you didn't realize that would make me go on a rant - haha! I am still so irritated with myself for not checking the exact height of my windows. I didn't plan for them to necessarily go all the way to the counter, but not much above, but instead I come home to find them in and they are MANY inches above the counter. Oh well, I keep telling myself over and over (and over) "there are 5 windows and you have lots of light" :) The expense of replacing 5 windows doesn't make me happy either though, so I'll live with it! And if I stop looking at all the gorgeous photos of finished kitchens, maybe I'll eventually forget about it - haha!

Tell me about it Traci! My window guy and my husband were so tired of me complaining everytime I walked in the kitchen lamenting about my lost opportunity to have them down to the counter! I just kept saying "why was it that we didn't take these further down?" to which they would reply "we aren't doing it over!" :-(

Kat :)

Men! :) My husband tried to say that he didn't realize that's what I wanted - he just didn't hear it somehow! He apparently realized that the windows would be really high, but didn't think it would matter!?!?

Kat, I've lived in a dream kitchen (and I mean dream-it's all in my head) and cooked in an awful kitchen so long I hardly notice anymore. I could be in your kitchen 'as is' and not notice the things unfinished because what you have is so beautiful and functional. Cook away!

My kitchen is past the dream stage as of yesterday. Demo started and I worked with the contractor pulling lath and plaster off the walls. What FUN ;D There was large cove crown molding above a nasty dropped ceiling. Eureka!! I am restoring all my historic 77'' tall windows. Wish me luck! I am so excited, but I better remember this feeling. I've heard it fades fast.

Wow Cotehele, that's so exciting! How old is your house? I'm assuming fairly old if it has lath and plaster! 77" windows...I'm jealous beyond words! Hang on to that cove it's probably worth a fortune. Where are you located? I have a great contact for a salvage guy who has a little bit of everything, I got my antique glass in my cabinets from him.

Please post pictures. I would love to have an old house even though I know there are so many more things to overcome with maintenance and restoration, but oh there is nothing like an old home, they just don't make them like that anymore! When my kids were little they used to say "Mommy you like all of the broken houses!" We would drive by old dilapidated farm and manor houses and I would say...oh I wish I lived there, so I guess they thought I was nuts lol! My husband always likes to say..."do you know what they used for insulation in the 1800's?...NOTHING!" He's a suburban mid-western boy so I forgive him. Us southerners see the beauty in old structures...he's learning though!

Kat :)

kat - It's just gorgeous. I love the tiger maple wood. Your hutch is cute. Sorry, I didn't read everyone's responses so you may have addressed this, but I hope we get to see the rest soon! Kris

Kat, I love your cabinets. Antique glass was a brilliant idea for the glass. Old materials have a mysterious lour to them. I am always drawn to old houses, too. I know exactly what you mean about drooling over dilapidated houses. They have a tangible, physical affect on me. It just feels like that is where I was born to live. In fact I went back to graduate school when I was in my early 40s for a degree in historic preservation. The hands on work is the most exciting and satisfying. Now I get to do it on our house, finally!

The house was built in 1892. At least on the abstract that is the year when the appraised value of the lot doubled, so we think it was when the house was built. It is identified on a Sanborn fire insurance map in 1902, so it is that old for sure. The style is Indiana vernacular Victorian. It was built by a rail road agent, so it is nothing grand. The house has been added on and remodeled so much over the years that all the original material is either gone or covered up. It has had aluminum siding more than the 27 years we have lived here. I'd love to get it off, but it is too expensive. Inside, though, it is exciting to peel the onion and find a gem underneath! The crown is painted. I'll strip it and see what kind of wood it is made of. I will post some pictures when I get the chance.

Judy

Judy, my husband is from Indiana! He grew up in the suburbs of Indianapolis in Pike Township. His parents moved out near the Colts training facility and there was this really cool old home that someone had restored sitting smack dab in the middle of their brand new neighborhood. Well at least the middle of it along one road. My in-laws house was very nice, but I used to drive past that old home and think, wow they are lucky and I bet when there was nothing else around it it must have been quite the show place!

I can't wait to see your pictures, and congratulations on your new career in historic preservation...it's such a worthwhile endeavor to want to save the traces of our past. I am a freelance magazine writer and often get to write stories about historic homes in Maryland. They have so much character and you can just imagine life as it once was. I'm glad to have the modern conveniences and appreciate how far we have come, but I still love the romantic notion of a simpler life lived by those who owned them.

Kat :)

Well, if I thought the hutch was adorable, all I can say about the larger kitchen view is that I want to hug your kitchen! LOL! I know, that's a rather strange reaction, is it not? But honestly, Kat, your kitchen is more than beautiful. It's also giving off a very loveable, very embraceable, warm and cozy vibe. Can't wait to see the rest of it!

Great kitchen! I love the green, the soapstone, the brackets on your upper cabinets, the hutch, the windows, etc....Beautiful!

I really like your lights above the island, too. Non-bug catching was a requirement on my list!

Kat, we live in Grant County, about an hour's drive north of Indianapolis. I think it is nice that the old house was saved. More than likely, the estate or farm was sold to developers and the house was saved. Thank goodness someone loved it!

In your kitchen, it wouldn't be hard to imagine cooking in an old farmhouse. You must have an interesting view from the kitchen windows. I like modern conveniences, too. There was something about the way food was grown and cooked/baked that is alluring, though. Using fresh ingredients and making everything from scratch has come the older I get and the more I cook.

You are really lucky to see so many historic homes in-depth. One of the best perks of my work is getting to know the home or building owners. They are so passionate about the history and thrilled with any piece period artifact discovered. The most interesting, memorable and exciting project I have done was the rehab of an 1840 quaker farm house. If you ever get back to Indiana, it would make an interesting article.

Judy

Hi Kat :) yes, we cross posted! Thanks for asking about my progress. I thought it was going great. We finally had our floors installed last week and they are better than I thought they would be (Brazillian Cherry laminate) all my knobs and cup handles came in and they work great with our colors.

Then.... yesterday a screeching halt *sigh* the ONE thing I thought I really had figured out was my backsplash. Brought home our samples and taped them to the wall... yuck... so blah, so not what I thought it would be. Now I have to find the right tweak to get a look I can love. Why is it always the permanent things that give me so much trouble....LOL. I swear I am dying to post finished pictures while everyone who remembers me, still remembers me!! haha

On a side note, I live in Indiana! We are in Greenwood, south of Indpls. Your DH would definitely know where it is. We have played sports in Pike Twnsp :) My DH grew up in Carmel , but I am from CT. I love, love old homes and have lived in and visited some really beautiful ones. Not too many in my area here, but I'll never forget all the wonderful ones on the East Coast! Such small worlds when we all get posting here, huh?