You hit a home run! Beautiful. Love the desk and the plants on the shelves; I would be happy sitting there. :)

Your granite is beautiful and your desk is A+ with the garden window and the cookbooks right at hand. The wood valances are a nice retro touch yet done modern. Ditto for the curtains on the large expanse of glass. I like how you handled the black void (aka tv) your tv/fireplace wall.

Wishing you 17+ years of enjoyment after the long wait. (I'm still in that boat, but rowing closer to the finish.)

Beautiful - it was definitely worth the wait! I love the desk and happy yellow pots. Congrats!

Wow. Really beautiful!
I particularly like the pendants. They're a nice, fancy-ish touch to a utilitarian kitchen. They work with the cabinets very straight lines.
Nice with the granite on the island, too.

Now (referencing another thread) that's a kitchen that can support a lovely island.

Enjoy every minute of it!

Love your garden window! I'd place my desk there, too!

That looks so lovely! Good choice to go with the calmer backsplash. Your counters stand out beautifully-though I did like your original choice too. Love the garden window with desk. Great way to avoid staring at a brick wall.
Enjoy your lovely new space!

WOW! That was a lot of work -- and it looks fantastic! Congrats!

so pretty! Congrats!

Just beautiful! I love your color choices, so welcoming.

just wow! it looks like a magazine ad for kitchens! i love that huge island and it is perfect for your space.

So beautiful. How hard do you find it to maintain the white cabinets? Ours recently arrived, and I am hoping that the fingerprints and dirt I see on the cabinets are due to rougher use by the GC to install them. I started getting nervous that I'd have to constantly wipe down the cabinets to keep them clean and eventually every single ding and dent would be super visible making the cabinets look dull within months/a couple of years :(

I really love the look of white cabinets but having buyers remorse on practicality :(

Thanks, everyone! This is the fun part!

DeeV78 - I'm sure others who have had white kitchens longer can speak better to this, but so far there have been no issues. They wipe off beautifully. I don't love the bit of dirt that seems to collect in the little corners of the shaker trim, but that's easy enough to deal with.

I do worry, though, about the dings and chips. So far, only one teeny one, but I'm sure that will be an issue moving forward.

If you love a white kitchen, and I have ALWAYS loved white kitchens, long before they were popular, you will be happy to clean the marks. Don't regret it - you will be very happy!!!

Cinjos, it's lovely!!! The ceiling detail is very interesting and is that a skylight over your island? Fabulous transformation, congratulations!

Cinjos, this is a gorgeous transformation! Might you have the floor plan of your entire 1st floor to share? (is your house a split level?) Thanks!

When I scrolled down and saw the new space, I said out loud, "holy sh*t!" In a good way.

very pretty....I *LOVE* that granite!! And the garden window...I have one above my sink that I adore. Enjoy!

Beautiful kitchen -- congratulations!

Holy cow, what a transformation! I bet you are still pinching yourself. No wonder you love that desk....how refreshing! Congratulations! Patience pays off, doesn't it?!

The whole kitchen is so beautiful, really breathtaking. I'm glad you stuck to your vision and did the desk area, it's beautiful.

Love the windows and your granite!!! Gorgeous kitchen.

Again, thanks, everyone!
oldbat2be - The ceiling got all the detail because we decided to raise the ceiling, but needed the beam to cross the room to replace the walls. Then we needed a soffit because the ceiling couldn't go as high near the walls due to the roof line. I obsessed over it, but I think it came out well. Yes - it's a new skylight.
Here's a pic:

dccurlygirl - yes, it's a back split. This is the front, which looks like a bungalow from the street, but is two stories in the back. I'm attaching some more pictures so you can get a sense of the before. It took quite a lot of vision and planning, but it's just as I hoped it would be!

Floor plan before:

Floor Plan After (pretty simple!)

My vision (thanks to the awesome iPad app: Interior Design):

Kitchen Designer's Floor Plan:

Old view into kitchen - note the tape on the floor is the outline of where the Island would be going

View towards the stove with more green tape on the floor to show the island. Most of the appliances stayed in the same spots as well as the sink. I was told to put in a prep sink and I'm a little sorry I didn't, but I really wanted an uninterrupted Island for entertaining.

View towards living room

View towards front windows before (pathetic!)

View of desk window before. It was intended as an eat-in kitchenette. There also used to be a big hanging cabinet over the peninsula to further divide the space, but we took it down. The window there was lower so it was natural to do the desk there. I added the garden window when I realized what my view was!

This post was edited by Cinjos on Tue, Jul 15, 14 at 8:21

What a dramatic difference! Your new kitchen is absolutely beautiful--I love the pendants and that gorgeous island!

Absolutely gorgeous! Love the granite and that window!

Beautiful transformation. It's like a brand new house. You must be thrilled with your new gorgeous kitchen. I noticed your 3 small boys & the 5 stools.
But then I thought about the 17 year wait, which is the exact number of years we waited for our kitchen reno. I'm guessing the boys are a bit older.
Congrats Cindy!

romy - good eye! Yes, the boys are teenagers now. My husband and I were just talking about how we are glad in a way that we didn't do this when they were little because they would have ruined it! Of course, life would have been a whole lot easier if I could have watched them play in the living room from the kitchen. On the other hand, we fixed up the lower level family room and send them down there to watch tv now and hubby and I pretend we're living in our own loft apartment. Couldn't do that when they were little and I think the noise would have driven me crazy to be all in one open space.

Thanks for the good wishes!

Wow! What a major renovation! You did a fantastic job. I too love the granite (and the edge you chose), the pendants, the huge island, and that desk area is soooooo charming!

Maybe I missed it- where are the counter stools from? I've been looking for something like that!

Well worth the wait! It's beautiful!

julieboulangerie - the stools were purchased online from Costco (in Canada). It was part of the "Burke" collection. Unfortunately, they aren't currently available, but they have popped on and off of the website this year. Hope that's helpful.

What everyone else said -- breathtaking and magazine-worthy! I love everything about it. Congrats!

Very very nice! Love everything, the floors are beautiful, pendant lights, and as others said the desk and bookshelves looks great and will be used so much I am sure. Enjoy all of your hard work and congrats on a project so very well done!

Gorgeous, the wall paint looks great with all the beautiful choices in the kitchen and I love the little upper bookcase at the desk. I've been wondering what to do with a space like that in the new laundry room. That's a perfect way to use that small space. It looks like a model kitchen on a home tour! Great job and wishing you many years of family fun in your new kitchen.

Wow that looks like two completely different buildings! I was expecting to see at least a similarity somewhere but it looks like the before / after pics weren't even taken from the same address.

Gorgeous!! I love the little desk area. You can grow herbs in the winter in your garden window!

You must be so happy it's finished and thrilled with the result!

So glad everyone likes my little desk, too! I was warned that it would become a dumping ground and I completely see why. Of course, I cleared it off completely for the picture, and it usually is a big mess, but that's why I love it. That mess used to be all over my kitchen counters and table! Now I can keep the island clear most of the time.
I work from home most days and love being in my pretty new space. I wouldn't want to be in a separate office. The rest of the house needs a lot of work, too, but oops, there's no more money left!

What an undertaking and it came out beautiful! I love your box beam ceiling. I also love how you handled your desk window area

Lovely! Thanks for the post. Consider posting on the finished kitchens blog as well so we can find you months from now too (link below).

What an incredible difference your new bs makes. Did you tile over the first one or remove it? It's a beautiful space and I hope you and your family enjoy it in the best of health!

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchens

Just great. Love all your choices. I need three or four houses so I can have kitchens like so many posters here. ha. (well, and win the lottery).

Oh my gosh it looks amazing!!! I freaking LOVE that brick behind the stove!

You have done a wonderful job, even on the desk, you should be proud!

No closeup of your gorgeous countertop so... you're backsplash is perfection!

Absolutely gorgeous! Love how bright your new space is. Enjoy the fruits of your labor! :)

I will be putting a desk area in my kitchen for the same reason -- we need a place to drop off phones, keys, mail, etc. Don't we all need some sort of dumping ground? Our previous kitchen didn't have one, so we always had a messy little spot of counter with that stuff. Now we will have a dedicated place for charging, with a few drawers for items like paper clips, rubber bands, envelopes, stamps, and other detritus. It won't sit in the main part of the kitchen any more!

Also, I love how you handles the ceilings -- we will be doing something similar to disguise a beam.

Wow-tastic. Really successful choices :)

Your new kitchen is absolutely stunning. Enjoy!

B E A U T I F U L!!!

I am so glad that you didn't get talked out your sweet desk----the window/plants make it so lovely! Beautiful choices all around, especially love your backsplash. Congrats!!

Oh, I understand it now. Thanks for all of the photos. What are the dimensions of the your TV area, with the corner sectional? (PS - I love your granite!)

dccurlygirl - the living room area is 10 ft along the tv wall by about 12 feet. The corner sectional is 2 love seats plus the corner. It's open to the dining room, so hard to define exactly the width of it.
Thanks for the compliment on the granite!

Wow! It looks really great. I especially live all the plants in the window!

Cinjos, your kitchen is lovely! It's very warm and welcoming. I have just a few questions. Are you happy with your faucet? Also, is your bianco antico honed or polished? If honed, what did you use to seal it? Any problems with stains? Thanks so much and enjoy your kitchen for many years to come!

Wow! What a beautiful transformation! Congrats!