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melissastar

Well, it isn't a big reveal...cuz it ain't done...

melissastar
12 years ago

But this is the kitchen that the RTSOG (rotten, thieving sack of garbage) GC has taken over a year NOT to finish.

Please ignore all the still-missing door and drawer fronts, the wires hanging out, the mismatched and wrong color electrical outlets and switchplates, and all the rest of the mess. Clearly, much still needs to be done.

View into dining room

the peninsula and long counter

The hood is still missing the tile around the bottom and it's being redone in quartersawn oak, rather than the plain-sawn you see here.

main prep area...note the missing drawer and trash door! ERRGGG!!

back door and supplies in an antique pine step-back cabinet. Still trying to decide whether to paint the door the color of the green cabinets (it's the color of the walls now)

The itty bitty adjacent powder room, also newly added...yes, it's just off the kitchen...owners of old houses can't be too picky.

powder room window

along the long wall (ignore the kitty litter box, please...it will leave, eventually.

the scullery/ butler's pantry area...awaiting plate rack and glass doors on the upper cabs, plus a long horizontal cab and crown molding on the top , not to mention the DW panel and under sink pullouts.

Oh and look a bonus...a picture of the "spectacular" urban view out MY kitchen window.

Comments (62)

  • rhome410
    12 years ago

    Marcolo said everything I thought but wasn't sure how to put into words. I do hope you can look past the problems and the jerk, because you have a masterpiece here. Wonderful, wonderful, gorgeous, meticulously and perfectly detailed, wonderful.

  • brianadarnell
    12 years ago

    It is SO cool! I love the different aspects and when they are put together it looks amazing! I know its tough for you to enjoy now because you are still so frustrated with that jerk of a GC, but that wonderful kitchen is going to be so worth it once you can finally relax and enjoy it. Also- the powder room is beautiful and so cozy, comfy and perfect!

  • sayde
    12 years ago

    Keep your eyes forward-- it is going to be wonderful and you are well on your way. Don't lose heart now!

  • rjr220
    12 years ago

    Wowsa! I love the character of your kitchen -- thank you for posting and trusting that we overlook those things that are bothering you so much. I love the color of the green, the mix with the white and the butcher block. I love the simple creativity of your subway tiles. Fabulous. Thanks for posting!

    And I can't wait to see the finished project, not only because I want to see it, but because I know your angst will be OVER!

  • honorbiltkit
    12 years ago

    Actually, in plotting to keep you from doing a full reveal in one outing, your ROTSG GC has probably saved my life. Only the kitty litter and the undoored trash allowed my heart to keep beating.

    The conceptual and aesthetic attention are much in evidence already, melissastar. Hooray, hooray, hooray.

  • blondie859111
    12 years ago

    Absolutely *dripping* with charcter! You have style, style, style!

  • brickton
    12 years ago

    I love the windows with the sheetrock returns but wood sills and aprons. I might have to steal that idea for my basement windows. I love it! Yes the rest of the kitchen is great, but sometimes it's those types of details that bring a house to another level.

  • rmkitchen
    12 years ago

    I don't know your story but I'm going to assume it's b-a-d. Sorry.

    However, what I see is fab! And guess what? The shades in my family room are the same William Morris print (I mean EXACT same) as your dining room wallpaper. Go figure!

    I really do love your kitchen, even as-is. Good luck!

  • annachosaknj6b
    12 years ago

    WOW WOW WOW. I love it so much! What is the color on those amazing cabinets? It is so breathtakingly beautiful with the soapstone above it. I love the herringbone subway pattern too.

    Soon you will be enjoying your completed GORGEOUS new kitchen and the the RTSOG will be a distant memory. I am sorry that you've had such a miserable time creating your beautiful vision, but you're almost done. Hang in there girl!

  • steff_1
    12 years ago

    Beautiful job, really love all the character there. Thanks for the sneak peek!

  • melissastar
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    thank you one and all for the kind words. When you're in the thick of it, it can be difficult to keep perspective...or as a friend of mine used to say, "it's tough to keep your eye on the horizon when you are up to your a$$ in alligators."

    Louisiana, yes that's a bit of Roseville. It's the Dahlrose pattern. A few months after I moved here to B'more, I went to a flea market and saw some Roseville. I'd never been interested in pottery before, but I just knew it was right for this house so I bought it, expecting to use it in the living room. When the kitchen developed, I realized...it was perfect there.

    The color of the green cabinets is BM Webster green. It's a bit less blue in real life, but does have a cool undertone.

    Francoise: Yes, Rejuvenation.
    KItschy: Good eye...yes, it's William Morris "Fruit". It's one of the rare nice things I inherited from the PO and the kitchen was designed to work with it.

    Again, thank you all for the lovely compliments and the words of support. I am now in the stage of awaiting assignment of a state investigator to look into the complaint filed against my contractor. I hope it won't be more than a few weeks before I will know at least if he's going to be deemed culpable. Unfortunately, even if he is, it could take a year or more to recover the funds.

  • noellabelle
    12 years ago

    oh wow! I love the character and just everything about it! I hope that it's finished before you know it, and I can't wait to see it done!

  • flwrs_n_co
    12 years ago

    Oh-so-beautiful! Where to begin? Motawi tiles; stained glass; sills; ss; bs; island; gorgeous seafoam green, soft white, and quartersawn oak cabs; open shelves; niche behind stove; powder room sink . . . Such lovely details!

    It's obvious you were meticulous in your planning of every detail. I'm so sorry RTSOG has caused you such grief. I hope everything is finished soon and you can begin to forget that creep and enjoy your b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l kitchen!

    BTW, would you please post some close-ups of your Motawi tiles? TIA!

  • remodelfla
    12 years ago

    very very very VERY cool! So much to love... just awesome.

  • beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
    12 years ago

    Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

    Just beautiful, melissastar. Thanks so much for letting us see, and I hope it all works well.

    This is going to sound nuts, but I think my favorite part is the bowls on the window sills on either side of the clock. I can see you are a vesselarian : ).

    The "original" bits -- wallpaper, wood trim, stained glass -- are gorgeous and the kitchen does them justice and vice versa.

    Becky

  • sumnerfan
    12 years ago

    I would love to come have a cup of coffee and some good conversation in your lovely kitchen. I love all the stained glass and the period appropriate choices. I know you have been dealt a bad hand here, but I think you are rising above the adversity and creating something wonderful.

  • aliris19
    12 years ago

    Oooo.... Melissa, you *are* a star! It all pulls together so beautifully. Sort of Baltimore meets Vermont. I am very much in love with your tiles (used some in a bathroom myself) but it is the Wright-ness of the stained glass and its vertical lines with the oak and the color - it just pulls together so much of my favorite pieces of Americana. You have done a masterful job. Some day, when the RTSOG is a dim memory, you will be very, very comfy and happy in your beautiful space. Let it sooth you. Don't let him poison it. Congratulate yourself!

  • senator13
    12 years ago

    It is truly beautiful. You had me at 1/4 oak :), but the rest was amazing as well. I love the feel of your kitchen. I am also doing something arts and crafts inspired, and I hope it turns out 1/2 as great as yours!

    I am also in MD (down the road in Calvert Co.). I will tell you that my MIL had a very bad experience with a licenced contracter about 7-8 years ago. The Maryland Guarentee Fund was very helpful in helping her recover the funds. It did take 8-9 months, I believe, but it worked out in the end!

  • prill
    12 years ago

    Your kitchen is beautiful. I have to keep scrolling back up to look at the pictures over and over. Sounds like you had a terrible experience with your contractor, but hopefully those memories will fade and you'll love this kitchen for many, many years. It's really a work of art. So much attention to detail. Just lovely! Congratulations!

  • willtv
    12 years ago

    Can you say vintage?

    This is truely a great renovation/restoration. From the cabinet deisgn and color to the integration of new appliances to the selection of sinks and faucets and countertops, I've not seen any better even in so called designer magazines.

    The butler's pantry is awesome and I especially like the stained glass in the powder room and the wood burning stove.

    I'd go with the cabinet color on the back door.

    Good luck with the state investigator.

    Great job!!

  • gsciencechick
    12 years ago

    I know you have had massive headaches about this renovation, but it is amazingly beautiful. I love your color cabinets! Incredible character.

  • John Liu
    12 years ago

    Beautiful. Your kitchen looks bold, detailed, thoughtful, authentic. It does not look ''new'', and I mean that as a big compliment.

    Can you talk more about the windows? I can't see them so well, but they look like leaded and colored glass. Where did you get them, are they custom?

  • cbonebt
    12 years ago

    Gorgeous!

  • melissastar
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Again, thanks for the compliments, all.
    John: The windows are a combination of old and new, real and "fake". The windows in the dining room were existing and typical of the rest of the house. On that side of the house, which faces a sort of light well between it and the next row house, the windows have a heavily textured glass on the top sash, with a leaded design and the same glass plus some slag glass on the bottom. This is the same leaded glass design that is also on the door to the powder room, which was originally the swinging door between the kitchen and dining room.

    On the large side windows in the kitchen, I sort of mimicked that using a heavily textured glass on the bottom sash, to provide privacy, but clear glass on the top sash to let in more light. The two small deeply set windows in the kitchen have inexpensive ($150 or so) stained glass panels (the gingko pattern) that are hung inside fixed panes of clear glass. The same is true of the Wright-like window in the powder room.

    The transom above the back door also has a fixed clear glass transom, but the stained glass hanging in it is an old stained glass transom original not to this house but another Baltimore row house (bought on Craigslist).

    Two of the things which distinguish B'more row houses from those in many other cities are the prevalence of stained glass...even very, very modest row homes usually had at least one, over the transom. The other distinguishing feature is a front stoop of white marble. They're everywhere. And one advantage of a city NOT prospering economically is that vast swathes of original old buildings remain...no surge of new industry and business meant no tearing down old to build new. Sadly many of those vast swathes of original old buildings are abandoned crumbling ruins.

    By the way, my last house...in Arlington VA, was a 1916 foursquare, though I think I may have been luckier than some other foursquare owners. My original kitchen had only 5 doors!

  • chris11895
    12 years ago

    I know the process has been a nightmare for you , but the end result (even unfinished) is a very beautiful kitchen with lots of charm and it oozes with a feeling of "come take a seat and relax". I love it!!

  • dianalo
    12 years ago

    Did you hear the click as I shamelessly copied your backsplash? I love the herringbone and wonder why it never occurred to me to run the field tiles that way. Others do that in a feature all the time, but as the field, it looks so fresh! We "settled" on some cheaper field tiles because I could not find the exact color/look I had in mind and would not spend more for something that was not my true vision. I think doing them your way will make them seem more special ;) Thanks!

    Back to your kitchen.... it really rocks and looks new but also like it has been there all the time. You fit the look together wonderfully. I keep going back after reading comments to pick up more details. It is so well designed that much of what I love most about it is subtle.

    Any visitor would feel instantly at home here.

    I hope the RTSOG gc gets what is due him and you get more than what is due to you. In the meantime, you have a great kitchen, despite the few items not yet done. You will have another chance to have a new kitchen when the details are completed and you will be even more in love with it!

  • mtnfever (9b AZ/HZ 11)
    12 years ago

    Now *this* is the way to fit a kitchen style into the house's style! Beautiful and will make you happy every time you walk in. I'm happy just looking at it :)

    cheers

  • kitchendetective
    12 years ago

    Oh. My. Gosh. I loooooooooooooooooove this kitchen. Guess I somehow missed the process. I just love it. The colors. The details. The cat box. well, not the cat box. But every other thing. I just love it.

  • marthavila
    12 years ago

    Somehow or other, from previous posts re your GC catastrophes, and the opening to this one, I never would have expected to scroll down to see this! Melissastar, from one urban rowhouse owner to another: you have put together a wonderful rowhouse kitchen that, as Marcolo notes, displays a huge amount of thought and detail. And it's TKO-quality great thought! With so smuch droolworthy detail! I especially love that pine step-back hutch and the butler's pantry/scullery area. And, of course, that Baltimore stained glass is to die for! (BTW, I identify with, and love, your "city view!") :-) Done or not, this is a most memorable, wonderful kitchen. You go!

  • mastiffmom_85
    12 years ago

    Melissa, I am mostly a lurker, but I've been following your story! I'm sorry this has been such a frustrating experience, but...

    The kitchen is beautiful!! I love your color choices - yay for color! It's so nice to see something besides neutrals. All of your hard work shows through in your thoughtful details, and that powder bath is charming!

    Congrats to you for creating something so lovely in the middle of all this adversity! I hope you're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

    ~ Mastiff

  • spayurdog
    12 years ago

    If something went wrong it certainly isn't evident now. How beautiful!

  • natschultz
    12 years ago

    Beautiful!

    I love the QS Oak and aqua (or green) combo! I also love that you put the subway tiles in a herringbone pattern. And I LOVE all the stained glass windows.
    I also like that you keep grains, flour and beans in glass bail jars - me too!

  • honeychurch
    12 years ago

    Thanks for letting us peek--full of character---love the color of the bottom cabinets with the wood. You've got an awesome kitchen there!

  • lisa_a
    12 years ago

    S

    I

    G

    H

    Absolutely stunning! Honorbiltkit said it well, "Only the kitty litter and the undoored trash allowed my heart to keep beating."

  • lavender_lass
    12 years ago

    It's a beautiful kitchen...you've done a wonderful job and I hope you get the few details that you have left finished soon. This is one of the more inviting and friendly kitchens I've seen in a long time :)

  • yellowdog2
    12 years ago

    You have done a fabulous job with color and style. It looks like it has been that way all along. You have put so much thought and time into it. I just keep looking at your pictures and find something different to love everytime! Congratulations!

  • sparklekitty
    12 years ago

    Beautiful kitchen, love the quarter-sawn oak with the painted, looks very period, special, and homey. Congrats!

  • caryscott
    12 years ago

    Well I certainly hope you can cook! If I somehow got lucky enough to get a meal from that kitchen my expectations would be sky high. I consider that pretty much the highest praise you can heap on a kitchen. So the question is: is it all charm and no yum? Can you produce the deliciousness your so stylishly promising?

  • greenhousems
    12 years ago

    very original Melissastar.... Love the shade of green and esp next to the Stainless Steel oven. You are doing an amazing job.

  • melissastar
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Caryscott: Yes, I can cook, although my preferences run more to the homey than the fancy. And when I see some of the breads and yummy goodies in kitchen pictures here and hear about some "first meals" in the new kitchen, I feel put to shame. On the other hand...I bake a really mean pie.

  • shelayne
    12 years ago

    Oh, Melissa, it is just oozing charm from every crevice! It looks like it has been there forever, but that the person who lived there took museum-like care for it! I love the color of the cabinets, and that powder room is so darned cute!

    This sneak peek is more like a giant ogle for me! Really, it is simply beautiful, with so much character!

  • daisydee
    12 years ago

    Melissa,
    I haven't been in GardenWeb in a very long time - and even then, I'm usually a lurker in the Garden forums. We are starting our remodel on our kitchen, master bath and bedroom, so I wanted to see if there were any ideas out there that I could steal because it feels so overwhelming right now, trying to make the right decisions. Anyway, I wanted to tell you how much I love your step-back cabinet (I've never heard that term and I'm going to research it). It looks like it is a wonderful addition to all of the other great design ideas you've created. I love your style.

  • sis2two
    12 years ago

    That is my style of kitchen! You did an amazing job and I love your cabinets. So warm and cozy!

  • biochem101
    12 years ago

    I love your kitchen.

    I love your powder room.

    I love your HOUSE!

    :D

  • CEFreeman
    11 years ago

    I didn't see this thread.
    I absolutely love your kitchen ! It's everything vintage without being just old.
    I have to leave for work, but I'll be back later to read every word and pour over your pics!

    BTW. I love RTSOG. I think of my STBX as a SLTCSOB (Sneaking, Lying, Thieving, Cheating, SOB. Cud be SOS, but Sack o' Garbage is nicer than Sack 'o Shhhhh, eh, you know) but your acronym is much more PC.

  • angie_diy
    11 years ago

    Melissa: You have often mentioned that your lovely deco tiles are from Motawi. However, may I ask where you got the field tiles, and what color they are? I couldn't find that info anywhere. The color may fill the bill for my seemingly interminable backsplash quest.
    Thanks!

  • deedles
    11 years ago

    Wow, I never saw this thread either! What a great color on those cabs. Beautiful kitchen!

  • gwlolo
    11 years ago

    You have done such an amazing job! The green is so wonderful. I am so glad you were brave with the color. I love the window details and the deep sills. The mini powderroom with the wall mounted faucet is so charming and such a perfect touch. Sending good vibes to you for the finish to come together.. Focus on what you have achieved and enjoy :)

  • oldbat2be
    11 years ago

    Oh I like that very much Angie!