;-P

francy

It's a gorgeous kitchen :o) Nice work and what a wonderful change!

I have been patiently waiting for this day :-) Everything looks amazing. I’m thrilled to hear you are happy with all your choices – etching and all. I was secretly hoping you would choose Brushed Nickel since that is the way I am leaning and I could learn from you if it would work. LOL – Now I still have to wonder about this…

I’m looking forward to your next post with all the details. I’m also looking for more details about your marble and the etching. Was it honed to start with?

As far as the edge depth goes, I know the fabricator can make the edge thick without using thick piece of marble. . . . my mom just had it done in a bath reno. As far as the rest, details please!

What I love most about it is that this a very realistically sized kitchen. Sometimes you see these photos of these gorgeous but HUGE kitchens and they seem foreign for those of us with small or modestly sized homes.

Great job. It's amazing.

How bee-u-teee-ful! The mix of marble and butcherblock is such a great contrast! I really like the curves that you've placed in the hood, in the case over the desk area, and the . . . well, I don't know what to call them -- the corbels? under the upper cabs -- they match those in the LR bookcases (oh, and Elmo's head!) and seem to pull it all together.

Enjoy!

I am a real sucker for marble and white kitchens so this totally speask to me. Great job!

Please give us the deets on your lovely space! :^)

There was just a post on here the other day asking about mixing woods and you've done it well!

Marble- 2 inch thick Premium Carrara from Italy. Yes, 2 inch is available , NY metro area it is housed in most marble/granite yards. The slabs are quite small ( typically 60x120) so if you have a large kitchen you may have to purchase 2 slabs. If you live elsewhere you can probably special request it. The premium is just how they upcharge you for the slab being very white and clean and not a lot of dark busy veining . Rookie 2010...I LOVE the marble. I am not concerned about stains since the sealer seems to really work.. but when you sit at my table in that lighting you can see spill etches everywhere.. big and small.... I can see why rumor has it that meg ryan took tomatoes and lemons and rubbed them all over to make it all etched. I will let mine get all etched over time so that it is 100 etched and maybe you wont see dots and spills anymore.. but it doesnt bother me at all.. what does bother me is some scratches I created when I moved a nice ceramic serving dish on top... beware of the rough bottoms of vases and dishes.. I also have a nice chip on the marble around the sink and I expect more over time..once of the reasons I really wanted a thick marble... but I still prefer it over any granite in a white kitchen. If I did wood color I would not choose marble. I am finding the butcher block to be more work to maintain then the marble but worth it!

Walnut END grain Butcher Block and Walnut Edge grain desktop- www.theboardsmith.com David is awesome to work with! His work is quality and his BB is what most people when they came LOVE the most. He is making me a custom walnut knife block for my counter soon too! I totally planned to cut on it.. and this man really makes table top bb for cutting on... he typically doesnt make countertops.. but it is soooo beautiful I dont have the heart to cut on it as I thought I would.. so I keep a table top one from crateandbarrell on my counter that I also love and have had for several years and still looks great!

Hood- Modernaire. I had a very good experience dealing with them , as for I made a terrible error and signed off on the wrong size hood. They took it back and sent a new one. I LOVE it! It is the exact hood that katieob has. It is 36x24x18 between 12 inch deep cabinets. I was looking at Rangecraft a competitor on the east coast but for many design reasons I preferred the rod and rivet size of the MA

Pendants- Hudson Valley Lighting ( Pelham Pendant) . They have sooo many amazing options.. It was hard to choose.

Wall Color- Benjamin Moore Camouflage

Hardware – Pulls are Restoration hardware, Knobs are Top Knobs and latches are Rejuvenation.. all Polished Nickel

Sink – 30 inch Shaws

Faucet. Is Rohl Country Line in PN and the Instant Hot is also PN from Insinkerator

Stainless Steel Floating Shelf on backsplash is from www.danver.com

Appliances:
Wolf Double Oven
Dacor Warming Drawer—LOVE IT.. the Wolf was WD was $1500 more, so I went with Dacor since it doesn’t have a handle it looks good under any oven. I was afraid to put a wood panel on it since it is controversial as to whether or not you loose the crisping feature of the drawer when you put a wood panel
Wolf 36 inch Induction cooktop, I have had this for 2 years.. LOVE it soooo much and didn’t expect to, but gas was not an option here
Dishwashers:
Miele DW.. this I am bitter about since I had a 2 year old GE monogram that I liked a lot but my KD forgot to consider the handle and I cant open the drawer perpendiculer to it so I had to get a new DW without a handle
Fisher Paytel single DW drawer with wood panel.. this has been awesome too ! We entertain a lot so this has already in s short time to be a great option .. and the drawer for storage under it is still SUPER deep!!
GE Monogram 42 inch refrigerator

Undercabinet lighting is xenon and we added all new low voltage high hats
New window treatments are woven woods from Hunter Douglas in a walnut color

Floors are original but I had them refinished and stained a darker color to match with the walnut. I think it was min wax provence

Tiles are some Italian handmade ones, they are uneven edges.. I can look it up if anyone wants to know. The grout is white.. this is one regret.. I should have spent a bit more time on the grout color, possibly gone with something besides white...

The only 2 regrets I have is that the garbage is under a drawer next to the sink. I think I should have elminated the drawer possibly and had a shelf under it for the box of garbage bags.. but I didnt want to give up storage at the time. not sure on this one and lastly.. the faucet is set back from the sink edge a bit too far.. wish it was closer so when I washed things less water would be on the counter around the faucet base.

DID I leave anything out???? I hope I answered everyones questions!!!

jeri...did you start your kitchen???

We won’t start until Spring of 2012 – which gives me lots of time to drool over kitchens such as yours and take lots of notes. :-)

I’ve tried to follow all your posts – I know you had some frustrating issues, but your kitchen is just what you wanted. All your hard work and thoughtful decisions have really paid off. I’m so very happy for you AJ.

ChocolateTruffle (Yum!) – My last kitchen was a medium brown with a golden granite. After seeing all of the beautiful white kitchens here, my next one (in the planning stages) will be white with marble – probably this same hood as well. :-)

Jeri

Ajard,

It looks so amazing!! Congrats-are you loving walking in each morning? I am LOVING the butcher block, the light/airy vibe, the creaminess of the cabinets & marble...And the PN is just the right amount of sparkle.

You should be really proud of that transformation & thanks for the shout out!

Enjoy every meal,
Katie

Jeri - I really tried to talk myself into satin nickel.. but the little sparkle that Katie spoke of above would not be there and I think to achieve this look it is needed... you cant go wrong with SN... but the overall look will be different.. a bit more subdued. I love the bling with my matte marble and matte wood finish on the floors.. I would have been as happy with the overall look if i did SN as my local designers tried to talk me into since it is easier to maintain. I took my door sample to a local shop that sells fancy fixtures and hardware.. When I put the door up against a side by side faucet of PN and SN.... I knew at that moment I could not settle for anything but the PN.. so I take my little microfiber clothes each night and wipe down my PN faucet and hardware.. so far sooo good and only take a quick few minutes.

I’ll definitely rethink the SN vs BN decision because I love the look. Katie - did you go with polished marble too? I forget...

AJ - You must be so jazzed... Does your husband love the way it turned out?

I will see if I can photo all the etches.. but they are throughout and lots... but you cant see them in most lights... they do seem like the charm of marble... my DH needed a bit of convincing that it is OKAY and nothing to do about it

AND YES I would have NEVER been seen wiping down my hardware each night in my old kitchen so diligently. It is amazing!!!!

How high did you mount the hood above the cooking surface? It is hard to tell from the photos, but it appears you mounted it a bit higher than typically recommended, which is something I'm considering for my kitchen. A 24'' deep hood that sits at forehead level just seems too low for me. I'm 6' and would like the hood about 6'1'' or so above the floor. If you did the same, do you find the hood works effectively? What CFM and type of fan does it use?

Thanks,
Jon

My kitchen is still not finished but getting close. You may not remember but we are building a new house. We hope to be moved in by 9/17. I'll post pics once I'm in and all is done.

louisianapurchase the photos are attached to a linen board from pottery barn

itsnotrocketscience .. Jon.. my hood is 34 inches from the counter. I was advised that 30-34 is the acceptable range. I went to the max on "acceptable" and I am glad I did because I really wanted that shelf on the wall and it has worked out perfectly! It is a 600 CFM... whatever fan modernaire uses... it workds good for induction cooking and i DONT fry often. With gas cooking and a person that frys alot it may not be strong enough.

camerong:
As far as the marble... I dont baby it at all... sauce, red wine and coffee galore.. the sealer leaves it stain free.. but etches EVERYWHERE!!! they dont bother me at all! I dont regret it and I would have been unhappy settling for something else in this particular space

gruellie - i have not made any changes to the fireplace... I have had a few ideas.. but not going to spend any more money on this space this year! I still have bathrooms that need reno and some landscaping that needs to be done... so maybe a new hearth gate thingy when my kids are past the age of coloring on it, but thanks for some more ideas for the future

LOL igloo on the Elmo chair!!!

I also love your kitchen table and chairs! Could you share where you purchased those? :) Thanks !!!

I saw your kitchen pics right after putting a question on the board about thick granite and marble.

I also live in the NYC area. Would you mind telling me the % upcharge for the thicker marble? You don't have to quote a number, just how much more it was than standard 3cm / 1.25" if you know.

Thanks!