It is not an exaggeration to say that this kitchen is a result of GW’s collective wisdom. I did not ask that many questions but I gleaned untold amounts of information from searches and reading and participating in others’ threads and revisiting the FKB every time I had a new detail to conquer.

There are so many of you who have a good eye for the big picture as well as details when looking at layouts; and even more impressive and appreciated is that you take the time to walk each person through with honest, detailed feedback and encouragement. Thank you for looking so consistently at all the posts requesting help. rhome and buehl come to mind immediately -- I know there are others who do that as well and I am sorry for not remembering everyone to acknowledge.

Many others have kitchens posted to the FKB that gave me great inspiration, answers to questions and solutions to problems. You were a huge help and didn't know it, and I wish I could list every single one of you! (Many of these were not white shaker inset kitchens.)

Special thanks to jrueter for counter help and encouragement, among other things -- aside from the layout itself, that was one of my biggest challenges.

It feels good to be finished, and now I hope I can start to give back a fraction of what I received. Thank you to everyone!

Appliances
DW - Bosch
Like - Gets dishes clean
Don’t like - Plastics are wet in am unless I leave the door ajar; door catch is already broken, door won't stay halfway open (should be covered under warranty)
Hood - VAH PRH18, 36", 350 cfm (wish I had gotten more, salesman talked us out of it)
Fridge - Whirlpool Gold french door
Range - Electrolux Induction slide-in; still learning it but love it so far
MW - Sharp

Cabinets
Tar River Custom Cabinets, Creedmoor, NC, white inset with Blum glides
Like - Looks, the 30" and 36" drawer bases
Don’t like - Not as much useable space with inset; drawer glides don’t all work smoothly

Counters -
Leathered Impala Black, 3 cm, 3" radius corners, 1" radius corners, no radius
Love - Easy to keep clean, don’t show fingerprints, just the color I was looking for in a matte finish (didn’t want shiny)
Don’t like - sink reveal is not uniform, slightly negative in most places (I asked for flush, was told that slope of sink prevented exact flush but in one area it’s actually positive, one it’s flush, so sink is not set in perfectly; not being picky and preferring to have it finished, I am leaving it alone)
Supplier - Daltile
Fabricator - The Countertop Factory, Raleigh NC

Wood counter - Walnut edge grain, classical edge minus one bead from http://www.blocktop.net/; finished for non-food use

Sinks - Blanco Silgranit in Anthracite ordered from HomePerfect.com
Clean up - BlancoDiamond Super Single (drop in) 33"
Prep - BlancoPrecis Large (undermount) 24"
Like - Looks, size, location, maintenance
Faucets - Delta Leland 978 (Main) 9978 (Prep) (ordered from DesignerPlumbingOutlet.com
Like - Looks, function, ease of use

Hardware - Amerock
Like - Looks, feel
Don’t like - One set of cup pulls, on my one deep drawer, were not placed well but it was too late by the time I saw it

Lights
Pendants - Edison by Hudson Valley, with glass # D12 (~$600 total for 3 pendants)
Like - Looks, adjustable length
Tracks - WAC

Paint - Timberlake Painting, Mickey Smith
Kitchen walls - BM Quiet Moments (LR walls @ 50% formula of QM)
Laundry walls - Valspar Safari Beige
Garage hall walls - Valspar Oatbran (on same strip as Safari Beige)
Trim, ceiling, etc - White gloss (don’t know color, just agreed with painter to do white)

Floors - red oak, refinished with oil-based poly satin finish

Windows - Monarch double casement

Backsplash - Adex Neri White 3x6 beveled subway tiles, 1/2 round liners

Trash pullout, tall pan divider

Sweeby Test
warm or cool, tranquil and soothing or energetic and vibrant? calm, happy, dramatic?
Cool, tranquil, soothing, calm

cozy or spacious? light and bright or dark and rich?
Open, spacious, light, bright

subtle tone-on-tone, boldly colorful, textured?, woody or painted?
Simple, unobtrusive, painted (maybe not exactly subtle but not bold, overstated colors)

modern, traditional, vintage, rustic, artsy, retro, Old World, Arts & Crafts, Tuscan?
Backdrop rather than focal point, no particular theme, time period or style to stand out (vintage would be closest but not overtly so)

elegant, casual? sleekly simple, elaborately detailed, or somewhere in between?
Casual, simple (not sleek), understated touches of elegance, but not be intimidating

pristine or weathered, professional or homey?
Simple, summer cottage; Clean (pristine?), homey

whimsical, sophisticated, accessible, romantic? masculine or feminine?
Accessible, maybe a touch of whimsy and zing (in decorative elements); Neither overly masculine nor feminine (functional, clean straight lines for ease of construction, with a few rounded edges to soften)

How much zing? and where?
Quiet, unobtrusive but a breath of fresh air so when people walk in, invites but does not distract from fellowship

I've been saying "I really like my kitchen". DH was surprised that I wasn't saying "I love my kitchen". That's because it wasn't truly finished and clean until today when we got everything hung and most everything put away (still a few very minor things to do). So as of today, I can say "I LOVE my kitchen". I also LOVE my utility room just as much!

We are not completely finished with the house; we plan to add to the front to expand the LR and add a MBR. With the kitchen construction, we were all crammed into a small room together during the day, but with the addition, we have a refuge with our new kitchen.

View 1

Still need a piece of molding on either end to cover up the holes made to install Plugmold, which I couldn't stand and had replaced with Sillites

View 2

View 3

View 4

Mudroom

Baskets - World Market
Bag - Belvah, custom embroidered by mineembroidery.com
Shelf - salvaged from 200 yo house DH bought for office
Hooks - Pier 1 Imports

Pantry

Countertop and pullout shelves recycled from previous kitchen
Upper shelves built by carpenter

Laundry from kitchen

Laundry toward kitchen

Communication center and laundry shelving

4" shelves built by carpenter
Upper box shelves - Pottery Barn Outlet
Calendars, etc - Storables.com
Fabric boxes - World Market, Target

Congratulations and ENJOY!!!

And those laundry rooms pics just got put in my inspiration scrapbook (except for the tarheels ave sign, LOL!) - maybe I can talk DH into redoing our laundry area if he doesn't see that one??! The shelving solutions you found are genius! Gotta go check out Pottery Barn outlet.....

I am thrilled to hear how much you are enjoying your new areas. I hope I will be in your shoes soon!

I am looking for a similar setup for my mudroom- We built a house and the mudroom closet door and garage door open into each other so we need to take out the closet. What are the dimensions of your mudroom bench and shelving? I

Again- What a lovely job you did!! Enjoy your beautiful new space (s) !!!

ENJOY and happy cooking.

Eliz

I wish for you endless hours of memory-making family time, cooking and relaxing, in your gorgeous new setting. Congrats on an inspiring transformation! It's weird but I'm so happy for you and I don't really know you. ENJOY!

I too, am a GW and FKB magnet, on here probably SIX or more hours a day! Have so much info written down and copied that it's incredible.

So proud for you, enjoy, as I know you will, and I too love the laundry area as well. I'll be using your kitchen/laundry for my inspiration! CONGRATS

Aces,aces, aces.

Question - why didn't you like the plugmold - what was it that you disliked it so much, you took it out?.....my kitchen renovation is just starting and I have been going back and forth between using plugmold or not for above the cabinets (I know in the island I am not using plugmold and using regular outlets).

Thanks.

Plus, that laundry room is an impressive example of organization, and it's pretty, too! Where did you get the clever idea to bring in that punch of red by putting a table lamp on your dryer? You're inspiring me to think out of the box.

Best wishes for the next phase of home remodeling. I hope you will open a bottle of wine and toast all the hard work, and take your time in savoring the wonderful space.

Your paint colors are perfect, very serene but still fresh. I love the open feeling and think it was a wise choice to go sparingly on the uppers. The mudroom/laundry room/pantry would be a dream come true for me! I wish you had finished a year ago! I'd have done the same thing. I can't help but think my life and household would run like clockwork if I had a setup like that!
Congratulations on all of your hard work! Amazing transformation! Beautiful spaces!!!! Enjoy!

I looked at your Sweeby Test answers and scrolled back to the photos. I'd say you NAILED IT!

Congratulations on such a breath of fresh air space! I love, love the color! On my monitor your kitchen walls read sorta like a soft aqua. Is that right? If so, I triple-love the color!

Thanks for your all your helpful details as well!

Beautiful kitchen. It is amazing that it is the same
space. Great job!!!

~boxer

Sincerely,

A fellow Tarheel fan ;)

Sabji, yes, "pinky butt" is ubiquitous. She’s actually in almost all of the pictures; you just can’t see her behind some structure or other. Very cute, looks great in the space, just not very functional, unless I want something thrown into the trash can! Thanks for your encouragement with the plugmold situation.

Allnewappliances, the plugmold should be fine under your uppers, especially if you have trim around the bottoms. Mine was out in the open, under the windows and on either end of the island. We didn’t plan for the outlets in the island and that was all the electricians knew about other than regular outlets. I think it was buffalotina who suggested the Sillites. They look so much better I don’t even notice the holes that are there now, but I will eventually get them covered. I think it is countrygal who has black plugmold on her island, and it looks really good, so it can be done, just not on mine.

Jrueter, thanks for your words… but don’t you dare photoshop my Tarheel sign out of the picture when you show it to your DH! Actually, my DH informed me yesterday that I didn’t have to look at it anymore, he took it to the garage. I kinda thought it looked good in there… maybe I’ll go get it back when he’s not looking. Thanks again for your help on the counters!

gillylily, the bench is 43x16, and the shelf is 44x7. It was longer but we cut it on the wall side to fit. I really wanted to use it but if we hadn’t had it already I would have used a deeper shelf. Most containers/baskets that fit up there aren’t really big enough to hold anything but small stuff. I’ll probably put hats and gloves up there. I followed your new build somewhat… I’m sorry to hear that you are still needing to tweak but I hope you get it all settled very soon and have a mudroom that you love (and hope you are loving your kitchen now!).

Cindaloutx, steal away! But you’re not stealing from me. Almost everything you see came from someone else’s work, though I did spend hours thinking how to make things work in my space (tossed out so many great ideas and had to work through the disappointment and the letting go every time). Elizpiz and jrueter, I would be honored to provide some inspiration for you with the beautiful kitchens you pulled together. Eliz, yours is one of those non-white kitchens I was referring to that gave me inspiration.

Susied3, thank you for your kind words and I am so glad there is something in there that you might be able to use!

Eastbaymom, we actually did have a celebratory dinner last night (DH is getting the garage cleaned up and organized as well and things are finally starting to have a place to live after 15 years).

I forget where I first saw it, but here is the picture that gave me the idea for the lamp. I decided to use some red accents to remember what this space used to be and already had the red lampshade, which seemed to be begging to go there. I love turning it on at night and having the soft light in there.
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/24835

Florantha, I think of you every time I add another bit of red.

Palimpsest, good memory, and thanks for your input on the lintel. I think it was brickton who came up with that solution, and since we carried the color over into the LR, I think it works well and doesn’t stand out too much. I was very happy with how it turned out after having several days of angst over it.

Shelayne, the color is Quiet Moments (BM) and reads bluish-greenish-grayish… I guess you could call it a soft grayish aqua. : ) I wanted a blue color that didn’t have people walking in saying "blue kitchen" or "green kitchen". It’s subtle and hard to nail down. (Maybe our paint choices reveal a lot about our personality? I don’t try to be difficult, but I like to keep my options open… just like my paint.)

Theresse, good eye! It’s Safari Beige by Valspar. I wanted a chocolate brown and that’s what I pinned down from about 50 chips. When I showed it to the painter, he said immediately, "Green". I said no, brown. Well, I investigated and it is a green-based neutral. (I’m no good at reading color.) The blue-based browns were too gray and cold; the other direction I could detect yellow, and the reds were too warm. So this was perfect.

Plllog, that was good for a laugh! Talk about a good memory… I had no idea anyone would remember that! I try not to be lazy (the new kitchen helps), but I did end up with a lazy Susan in the corner which works well for my purposes.

Doonie, rookie, peytonroad, pickle, warmfridge, others who are in process, I know you are itching to be finished. I can’t wait to see what all of you have done, and I hope for you it’s sooner rather than later. It’s definitely worth the time it takes in the end.

Marthavila (thanks so much for your kind words)… I wanna see your kitchen! (I won’t forget and I may keep bugging you until you show it.)

Johnliu, I love that phrase, "quiet drama". I bet if you wrote a book about kitchen renovation, it would be a bestseller. Or anything you wrote about... doesn’t have to be kitchen. You know we are all looking for you on the shelves!

Sammiecanada, berryfarm, chicagoans, fallingwaters, vampiressrn, belasea, chris45ny, honorbiltkit, cat_mom, kitchenaddict, eandhl, needsometips, countrysmile, thank you all for looking and responding with such kindness. pinch_me, that feeling in the pit of my stomach is no longer there. And hsw_sc, any friend of the Heels is a friend of mine! Oh, and let me not forget to thank you, boxerpups, for all your great pictures! I got so many ideas from them!

Bless you all.

Amy, I love the fan. We have to have one because the kitchen/LR get so hot in summer and cold in winter and we need to move the air around. I looked and looked, didn't know what I was looking for until I found this from Quorum International (Windsor model). I ordered from two different sites for the same price (we'll use the other one in our addition, in a forward straight line with the one you see). I think I got one from Lighting Direct and the other from Lighting Universe. They arrived within one day of each other. I ordered the flush mount kit thinking I'd like it against the ceiling, but the mount kit that comes with the fan looks better. It's antique white, not white white, but I love the way it looks with the slight contrast with the ceiling.

kodak, the dining area is 9' from the island cabinet to the bumped out part of the wall. (The inset part is 8" deep.) Between the sets of glass doors is ~8'.

doraville, thank you! I hope you are enjoying your new kitchen too!

sochi, oh my goodness, you are too kind, but looking at your kitchen I think you are being just that! I think of you as one of the most organized people on this forum in your gorgeous, creative kitchen! (BTW, I didn't know you were Canadian... or British?)

cflaherty, the fridge is not cabinet/counter depth. It is standard depth, but the cabinets are brought out so it looks built in or CD. The fridge cabinet and the one to the right are 30" out; the MW cabinet is 25", and the base to the left of that is 24".

thanks!

I should clarify about the computer cord. I have a Mac, which has a two-part cord. I leave one end plugged in near my desk so I can have access to it easily. The other end I carry around when I am mobile and need to plug in. That part has a large rectangular unit that plugs into the outlet. It sits vertically so it slips out of the outlet due to weight and size.

Question from joan2121 from another thread: I love how you have no cabinets next to your window over the sink. I would like to the same thing- but wonder how much other storage you have. I am planning to have under island drawers for dishes, pots and pans, and other cabinets- but where do you keep your glasses?

Thanks for your comments. Honestly, I have chosen to put a fraction of the things I had before back into my kitchen. Before, I had the hoosier and china cabinet you see in view 2 in which I kept china, glasses, pitchers and all manner of things. Plus I had a tall stand-alone pantry for food storage. I still have the hoosier close by but the china cabinet and pantry are elsewhere. I am keeping less in the kitchen, though in terms of built-in storage I have more than I did before. I haven't found homes for everything yet, which is making me think carefully about what I will really use. We are getting rid of a lot of stuff.

I do have some glasses, and those are kept in the one upper cabinet in the corner. We mostly use plastic cups from sporting events since we are so active and have young children and are prone to spill and break. Those are easily stacked and are kept with the coffee mugs in the counter to ceiling cabinet next to the MW.

I love the laundry space too - can you tell me about your utility laundry sink? I am looking for one for a small alcove and it looks like your's might fit the bill for me. If you could please share any information, I would appreciate it. Thank you!

Amarantha, thank you! The utility sink came from Lowes. I think it was ~$250 for the whole thing. I hope it won't be a case of "get what you paid for" but it works well in the space we had. I would have used our old kitchen sink if I had had space for it. (See link below.)

granitegirl, thanks for your comments. This is about the last layout I have. It's not totally accurate, but it shows the utility area and the garage hall in relation to the kitchen. I don't have an exact cabinet layout for the kitchen but this one is approximately correct.

--Marjorie

Thanks Marjorie. I really like the wood top, but it's mainly for looks. I think it was much cheaper than a granite slab would have been, partly because we would have had to use a 3rd slab for it. Since we don't use it for food prep, it's not getting abused. It does wipe down easily so I think it will look good for a long time before I have to do anything to it.

I had another thread about this particular company (link below). On May 1 at 20:01 I followed up with my assessment. If you need more information beyond that, I'll be happy to tell you what I can.

I absolutely love what you've done. I am coveting walnut counters, big time! Congrats and enjoy every day and every load of laundry in that space!

Katie

I especially like your wood counter on the buffet for the china. It gives the room a warm feeling along with the baskets. Hoping the wood blinds I ordered for my kitchen do the same thing.

Must find a room for the BM Quiet Moments that you picked. It is really a wonderful color! I still smile when I see the tiled backsplash behind the stove because I know your kids helped so much with that :)

firsthouse, I understand about missing (I missed yours too)... so many other things to catch up on once you've finished your kitchen work, it's hard to find time to keep up here with the pace. Thank you for looking for it and for your kind comments. I do love the laundry room; it is working quite well overall. I hope you can use the calendar setup in some way. That idea came from ebse's kitchen, I just put it together with what I needed.

I also hope you can find a place to use the Quiet Moments. It really is a wonderful color and I can see it working well in your space with its simple elegance. When you said that, I first thought "dining room", but I thought I remembered some color in there already. When I looked it seemed similar, just a little darker and a little more gray.

Thanks again! When I'm in my kitchen on the East Coast, I'll think of you enjoying your beautiful West Coast kitchen!

I haven't had much time to check in here lately - but came in to see if you had posted your finished kitchens pics - and voila!

Wow!!! It is really really beautiful. I LOVE it. Thanks for all great detailed info too -- it's really useful.

Congrats and enjoy your new space :)

How are things going in your kitchen? I hope you're making good progress!

Since we are remodeling more than just the kitchen (just about the whole house!) the cabinets won't be installed for another 3-4 weeks!! We are having new hardwood floors put in... then they will start on the kitchen.

I am currently focusing on bathrooms. After looking at LOTS and LOTS of tile, I am back to neutrals/classic look of black and white!

Anyway - even though you are done with your kitchen, I hope you will check in here from time to time ;) Take care.

And yes to your earlier question jsweenc, I am Canadian, hence the funny spelling (centre, neighbour, colour, etc.) :)

Remodel_mama, I'm sure it seems never-ending! Hang in there. It will not last forever; soon you will be moving back in and enjoying your "new" home. I will definitely keep checking in. If you post your finished kitchen/house and don't hear from me, please e-mail me to let me know, if you don't mind!

Boxerpups, one of my heroes! Thank you!

Sochi, thanks for looking yet again. Yes, I empathize with your lack of laundry space. That's all we had for a long time, and I got tired of stepping over piles of laundry in the kitchen. Maybe when the dust settles for you, you can ask for some creative ideas to make the most of that space. As to your spelling, I wouldn't have called it "funny" any more than I would say Brits drive on the "wrong" side of the road; just a giveaway as to your origins, but I know you are in good company on this forum! (I've loved everything I've seen in Canada whenever we've visited.)

alyrics, I'm still seeing things in other people's kitchen that I wish I had seen beforehand, but if I had waited until I had seen everything, I would never have gotten started, much less ever finished! At some point you have to close your eyes and say go. (I started planning this just about as soon as I finished it the first time 15 years ago... when I realized how bad the layout was!)

I'm happy to answer any questions or take any further pictures of the utiility area if you want them. (My e-mail is enabled; feel free to contact me that way.) Also very glad the info on Sillites was helpful; thanks to buffalotina (and sabjimata, warmfridge and others for being honest about the plugmold) again!

sparklekitty, thanks for your kind words. Isn't that the case... when you're in the market for a Maserati, you start seeing Maseratis all over the road. When you're pregnant (or trying) every woman you pass by is pregnant. I did that with my kitchen too; I would look specifically in the FKB and online searches for the one next big decision to make. I'm sure I missed many wonderful details that would have helped elsewhere, but that's how my brain works; I can only take in so much at a time. I hope your work is coming along and you are getting close to being finished... the fact that you are on the backsplash is a good sign!

I will even have that pillar island. At least that's what I call it.

It's late where I am and I really should be asleep, but I couldn't because something kept nagging me that I needed to check GW. Now I know why.

Thanks again!
Kathe

Now I am back re-looking at all the areas that need more attention and once of those areas is the communication/mudroom. Still LOVE how you did all that. Do you have a white board for each kid or work schedule? In other words, what are each of those calendars/message boards?

I have a laundry, mudroom combo with built-in cubbies, but think we could use a calendaring helper.

Since I don't know my counter top material names.....is your black a honed granite or a matte laminate? Love them!

Thanks

kathec, I'm so glad my kitchen could be of help to you! We have decided we love our 2nd island. It is a great buffet surface that allows for easy flow of traffic even with groups of people.

roseofblue, thank you for all your kind words. The ceiling fan is not in the kitchen but in the living room which is open to the kitchen. Unfortunately, the air does not get to the kitchen at all. That is one thing I regret, not putting some means of circulating air into the kitchen. It gets pretty hot with that induction range going. (Since you asked, I think it was about $3200 before a rebate of 10% in the form of a cash card.) I still absolutely love the color on the walls, and still amazing to me that a blue can actually feel warm. The fun memories have already started with the weekly pizza-making and bread making and menu planning and school work (oh.. well, I guess that's not so much fun, memory making, but definitely the kitchen is a central part of our lives).

firsthouse, I hate that you haven't been able to enjoy that gorgeous kitchen/house just after you've finished it! I guess it's better to have all that travel after it's finished rather than during the process.

I have 3 monthly calendars, a weekly to-do, and a magnetic bulletin board, all from Storables.com. If I have two months in advance right in front of me, I'm more likely to write things down and not forget them. So I have Sept/Oct/Nov right now. They do get erased when the kids try to write things on them, but overall I think they work well. They are definitely not glamour items like the Pottery Barn ones but I just needed functional. The bulletin board is, though. I love it; it has a layer that takes pins, covered by a metal layer which consists of pin-sized holes all over. I also mounted some metal strips from Storables, under the shelf, on which I have hooks for keys and magnets for grocery lists, etc. On the weekly to-do chart, I transfer the week's events from the month calendar. That's really my brain. I also got a pocket for mail; if I remember to put it there instead of on the table, it works well.

I don't know if ebse ever posted her finished kitchen to the FKB, but hers was my inspiration. I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money until I saw that I was using such a system. I am still in training, so not using it consistently yet, but working on it!

phoggie... thank you! The granite is Impala Black in a leathered finish. It is a fairly common stone, I believe; it looks darker leathered than polished.

I liked that your backsplash was only behind the range. I had wanted to do that as well, and was happy to see your kitchen with that. I couldn't tell in the picture what was between the window and the backsplash. Is that a piece of wood trim, and is it painted underneath, or do you have tile? It is hard to tell, because the picture is not close up of the backsplash area.
Enjoy that beautiful kitchen!

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I kept hoping to be able to take a picture of that area but it's been a crazy week and the counter is a mess. But I found this one that was taken earlier on that shows it closer. It is beadboard paneling topped with flat trim.

I like my backsplash, and if I had a stronger hood it would be perfect. But lacking cfm, I am getting splatters on the paint that aren't coming off. It's not too noticeable yet but the kitchen is young; I fear it won't be pretty in a year or two. I may have to do something to extend or cover the areas just to the side of the backsplash. The splash itself cleans beautifully so far.