So pretty! Love the BS and the fabulous cutting board. Glad it finally worked out. Now you can forget all the pain and just enjoy the results. Sort of like birth, right?

Very happy for you, HK. You are made of tougher stuff than most. I think your little one is in very good hands.

Doug

Congratulations! It looks like a totally different space. I love your choices. Enjoy that little munchkin. She's the best addition to the space!!!

Absolutely beautiful! and so is your daughter! Congratulations - it turned out fabulously.

Your kitchen is a lovely place!! I especially love your floors and counters. (And I have window envy.) Few people could endure the misery and misfortune you went through with your GC (while pregnant) and come out on the completed end with both a beautiful kitchen and sound mind. You did really really good! Thank you for sharing your reveal. It is so encouraging to see what persevering in the right can do.

Your daughter is a doll! These are the good days to remember. May you have tons of them.

Thanks for replying. If you don't mind, how is the quality of it?

Also we love the counters! Everything looks very well thought out. I'm sure you're happy for it to be done.

Stunning, gorgeous and elegant! I love it. The window seat and custom storage is perfect. Hopefully the final results makes all the frustration and worry worth it. Kind of like labor ;) your daughter is perfect too, her hair is great.

j hack - so far so good! We had the same faucet in our last kitchen and had no problems with that one either. Good luck with your project!

Hobokenkitchen - Most important thing first - loved seeing updated pictures of your daughter, what a cutie! I was more than a little surprised to see her standing up in the first picture (think I was still back in the past, thinking she was a baby). Wow, how time flies. Love seeing the bath picture too (those are the best of times!!).

What an eye you have for design, your kitchen (and everything I've seen of your home) is lovely. Wish you were closer so I could invite you over and pick your brain! For some reason, I'd thought you were dealing with new construction, so it's neat to see the pictures of how it was.

I love your countertop and cabinetry choices, your wonderfully rich wooden floor, the stone fireplace, and the peaceful, beautiful breakfast/eating area. (In the long shots, it becomes a destination... just love it). The long, narrow space doesn't feel or look 'long and narrow', it just feels right and full of rich detail. Beautiful, just beautiful. Congrats on a wonderful renovation! Best, oldbat2be

Your new GC did a fantastic job. What a difference from the first pictures you posted. It really is a stunning kitchen. What did you do with the spiral staircase?

Your little one is an absolute doll!

This post was edited by marti8a on Sat, Jun 1, 13 at 22:22

Oldbat2be - nooooo, this is early 80s construction, nothing new about it!
It was a short sale that had sat and been allowed to deteriorate a little.
We had seen the house several years earlier when it was in much better shape, but we found it too expensive and didn't see the value. When I realized it was still on the market and saw how much the price had come down we bought it even though we weren't house shopping!

I really will try and post some more before and afters - it's just a case of finding the time!

Remind me where you are located - I would love to visit! We should have some sort of get together at some point, would be so interesting to put names to faces!

Marti8a - we sold the spiral staircase on eBay. I kind of miss it although the poi t was to open everything up and take out blockages. It would also have been a royal pain with the little one who has just decided that she loves to climb stairs (and give mommy a heart attack).

I love it! You did an amazing job! What color are the cabinets and where did you get that beautiful rug under the table? Oh! and that little one in the tub is precious!

Here's a before and after of the great room. We carpeted it to be a safe place for the baby. This is where we hang out all the time. Lots of soft surfaces and few sharp corners!
Sorry in advance - I'm sure it's posted sideways as usual when I use my phone (why????).

Quiltgirl - the rug under the table is from Macy's! I actually don't love it there and have dreams of a giant oriental rug there, but it's not going to happen any time soon. The Macy's rug is awesome and was perfection in our Philly house. Here it's just ok, but we have to draw the line at crazy spending somewhere! ; )

The oriental rug in the middle is silk and my husband picked it up in India when we met!

The runner rug is a Pottery Barn craigslist find. I love craigslist although it's been breaking my heart with some of the deals I haven't got recently!!

Thanks for the additional pictures! I love that your home is elegant AND child friendly, great job!

HBK
Amazing!!!!! Zowie!!!
You had to go through so much to get to this point and with a new munchkin as well. I have a special place in my heart for red heads and she is just darling.
I just love everything you did with your kitchen.
The cabinets (and your awesome pull out next to the fridge- I haven't seen that design before but I love it and it looks stable and strong)
Your bench area is wonderful and love your flanking glass cabinets. I chickened out on making ours glass when I figured out that we were going to store bicycle helmets inside etc)
And your backsplash ... Stunning!!
And your counter tops... Have you used the cutting board yet?
And your drawers,,,, how long is your longest drawers ?

I could go on and on- but have to check your master bath reveal.

PS I agree- I could be adopted :-)

Gorgeous! It is obvious that a lot of thought went into this - and what a change!

The kitchen is beautiful! And so is the little one!

Your kitchen turned out gorgeous! Well worth the major bumps in the road. Enjoy!

Wow, what a magnificent space. You do have a great eye for design, I love how original it is. I love the artwork you chose for your home too. And I adore your backsplash.
Great job!!

If you have a moment can you tell me how wide the total length of your windows over the sink are? And who your cabinet maker is? I am near Philly. Thanks!

Beautiful HBK! Your daughter is beautiful and your kitchen is amazing! I like the family room too.

The first thing that came to my lips when I scrolled to the first "after" pic was "Kick ass!" So, yeah, your kitchen looks fantastic!

Enjoy! :)

a2gemini - our largest drawers are 38.5". They have our pots and pans and the top drawer has all our knives/ spatulas/ oven glove, etc. all the stuff I use on the stove.

Homebuyer22 The window is 67" long.

Our cabinet maker is Rich Heilman (215) 848-4561
He doesn't have a fancy showroom or a ton of beautiful samples, but he does have a great eye and a good imagination (the window seat was his idea), and he is great to work with and really well priced.

I never posted the 'before' pics of our bathroom.

Here is the before:

AFTER (same view)

and the other direction.

Before:

AFTER same direction:

Here's the bfore of this view:

After same view:

I totally remember your contractor story. That was something.

Your kitchen is absolutely gorgeous! Your whole house looks beautiful. Your little red head is walking? She is so dang cute!

Wow. what a lovely, lovely home and I am so glad it's all turned out well for you. Whoever said that you have a good eye was right. I have to look over the pictures again....

Now, that granite tub? I actually kinda like that but your bathroom redo is just classy as all get out.

Clapping for hobokenkitchen!!!

The original tub wasnt awful, but that's where the shower was and you had to climb up 3 stairs to get into it. It was seriously weird.

You can of see the steps in this pic. They were steep and very narrow.

Also the rest of the bathroom got no light because it was blocked by the closet. It just wasnt inviting at all. Plus can you imagine how muh hot water you would need to fill up that tub??!! It's more like a swimming pool hot tub.

Hoboken:
You always do such a great job on your remodels!!! You definitely have an eye for design and making things better. I am in LOVE with your bathroom. It is dreamy amazing and couldn't appeal to me more. You and your sweet pea must be so happy now that the construction is done! She is beautiful!

Today the contractor's trailer came and plunked down in front of our house...off we go to start our own remodel...again!

Gracious me, Hoboken. That is absolutely stunning design. Thank you for posting the additional pictures. They truly put everything into perspective.

Your home is gorgeous, What a wonderful job you have done with your kitchen, bathroom, and family room. Can't believe you were able to accomplish so much with the GC issue and with a newborn. Congratulations!

Firsthouse - good luck with your new remodel, can't wait to see the finished kitchen!

Wow, everything looks beautiful!! Could you tell me the manufacturer of your master bath tile? Here I was thinking. "Well, there's a lot that I want in this kitchen, but at least I'm willing to go simple with the backsplash," and now I've fallen in love. Uh oh!

Scullery, I'm not sure which tile you are looking at, but all of our master bathroom tile is from Artistic Tile. : )

Awesome transformations! You've done an outstanding job and should be very proud! Enjoy your "new" home!

Thanks! I meant the Pavarotti Pearl mosaic. Gorgeous.

Wow! I don't know how I missed this before, it's truly an amazing transformation! Your bs and tile in the master are fabulous. I'm guessing its Artistic tile? Congratulations on your cute baby and fabulous new home to bring her up in!

Wow! I haven't been on GW much lately and I just did a search to see how everything turned out for you! I'm sorry you had to deal with such an awful situation, and I'm happy to see it turned out so great!

One question, what range hood do you have?

Thanks!

congrats on your lovely home and baby! both are gorgeous! it is amazing that you have pulled together everything with baby in tow (and decorated to boot).

I was OOT when this originally was posted, so I also missed it. What an amazing result considering all you went through with the first GC. I love it all.

Your little girl is so adorable!

Wow!!!

Kitchen looks fabulous, as well as the rest of the house. I definitely remember the contractor nightmares. I know there was a lot of headache and heartache, but your tenacity paid off and the kitchen is fantastic. Enjoy!

So pretty, I'm happy it got bumped so I could enjoy it again. Can you tell me about those aisle widths? They look adequate, and it looks like your fridge is beyond the island? I'm still worrying that my island is too wide and that 42" all around isn't as spacious as I'd like.

Sanjuangirl - yes the bathroom tile is all Artistic Tile. I'm so pleased with how it came out. The kitchen and master bath are both long, narrow'ish rooms so I was a bit concerned with how they would work, but I'm really happy with the functionality of both.

Laura, the hood is a Wolf we got on floor model sale.

kksmama - our aisle widths are way below what is considered acceptable here on GW and they are more than adequate. We just had a party with 27 people all of whom hung out in the kitchen - people were sitting on the window seat bench and it didn't feel cramped at all. I was able to navigate around to clear and refill things no problem.

It may help that our sink, dishwasher and fridge are all beyond the island so none of those are restricted at all. I'll go measure for you in a bit but we have a play date in a few minutes and our living room is horrifying! ; )

35.5" between range wall and island. Less where the range juts out slightly.
44" for the main walkway. Feels wider because the uppers are set back so it's 49" at waist level and above.

35.5" between range wall and island. Less where the range juts out slightly.
44" for the main walkway. Feels wider because the uppers are set back so it's 49" at waist level and above.

Thank you for measuring! Good point about the uppers being set back, I can see how that would help. Enjoy that play date, I think a series of pictures of your baby and her friends on that lovely bench would be really neat.

Here is a picture of the aisle. I do think it would feel narrow if the cabinets were solid the whole way up. The set back and glass really opens it up.

Your kitchen and bathroom are absolutely fabulous!!!!! Your daughter is precious!!!! Would you please tell me more about your microwave drawer (model, experience so far...). I'm planning on getting one. Thank you!

Joan

JoanLast, so sorry it's taken me ages to respond. In case you still see this it's a Sharp microwave drawer and we LOVE it!
It's easy to use and keeps the drawer below counter. One of the challenges of this kitchen was that it is narrow. As shown we bumped back the upper cabinets on the wall which made it impossible to build in any appliances in that space. We also have a really long island with spare space. This was the perfect solution for us.

Keep snappin' pictures of that cherub, time accelerates at they grow. I wish I'd installed a nice piece of molding somewhere in my kitchen (which could be moved as necessary) to mark heights as mine were growing up - we marked the walls, but painted over.
I'm making peace with my aisle widths, I haven't found anyone with 42" or more who feels pinched so I have to trust that I won't, either. Different day, different TKO dilemma. It is always nice to browse beautifully completed kitchens like yours and know that there is an end.

Oh this is just lovely!! I don't know how I missed it before. Love love love the cabinetry, both the rich staining of the island and the beautiful perimeters. Is it a light glazing on the cabs? It looks fantastic.

I also admire the backsplash, window seat, island top, and so much more. Great job, congratulations!