What you can do with your time is congratulate yourself at length on an incredibly ingenious use of space and a stunning outcome. If that ever gets old, you can share your expertise -- including the bumps in the road -- with other people on this blog. Your experience as your own designer is invaluable.

Congratulations.

I love your choice of granite, backsplash and cabinets. They compliment one another beautifully! Brilliant job designing your gorgeous kitchen!

Very nice. And thank you for keeping the floating stairway and embracing it for what it is. I like how the staggered design on the front of the doors under the stairs are reflective of the stairs, themselves. My kudos to you and to Willie the cabinetmaker!

Your kitchen is very nice. I love the classic raised panel cabinets combined with the modern glass backsplash.

I love the warmth of the wood and how you kept it open and airy, not always easy to do with darker cabinets. Very yummy kitchen.

What great space saving features you included! I really like the drawer above the oven. You've got me thinking about one above my frig. Enjoy!

If your goal was to make the spaces a lot more formal and classic, you have really done a good job! Applause for your integrated vision and the interconnection between spaces!

I suspect this is a good party space as well as a functional day-to-day kitchen+dining area+casual eating area end of the house.

Super job! Love the use of the under-the-staircase space as well!

I love the way you kept all the best parts of your home and added the right touches to make it splendid...you have really made a wonderful space. Enjoy ! c

I love what you did with the Walker Zanger tile! Very inventive use of different types of tile together.

In general, the way the light plays off of all the different surfaces (cabinets, countertop, backsplash) is really stunning.

Congratulations!

Very, very nice! Your cabinets are beautiful. I love the details.

Seriously nice! Great glass inserts, btw. It all came together beautifully ;)

Beautiful job! I love your floating staircase and what you did with the cabinets under it. It must be fun coming down those stairs and being able to see into your new kitchen. Congratulations and enjoy.

oh lal laaa!

Wonderful kitchen. Kudos on the DIY design. I give extra points to DIYers :)

The stone is stunning. love the BS, appliances, flooring, cabs and everything else.

Very, very nice! Your cabinets are beautiful! Love that rich color! That whole room is so rich and warm and open at the same time! What a fabulous use of space!

From one DIYer to another--major kudos! Congrats!

I agree with jakebedy, that the unusual treatment of the front under the stairs and the cabinet end are just perfect. I love the glass in the uppers. And that gorgeous faucet.

Are those stainless steel tiles above the passthrough?

Wow - phenomenal transformation. Such a creative mind to use the under stair area in such a way! Your colors are warm and inviting and your storage ideas are fabulous! Don't you love the super susan?

I love your bar stools. I've done the same treatment around my pass-through window with the glass tiles -- I haven't seen it before so I was so excited to see someone else take the leap with tiling it in!

Great job!

It's so, so pretty! The backsplash color, sizes, placement is genius! I LOVE what you did with the pass through, and the clever under-the-stairs storage. All the materials and colors look beautiful together. It looks like a really talented professional KD was involved! Congratulations and enjoy!!!!

Oh my!!!! It is absolutely beautiful. Your colors and materials are all incredible. I also think your under-the-stairs treatment is especially genius.

I was wondering what color you've painted the dining room?? It is divine!

You did a fabulous job. It's just beautiful! Enjoy!!

OH. WOW!! What an amazing transformation and I love your attention to detail. I really like your beverage center, and the warming drawer under the cooktop is a great idea.

Wonderful transformation! Your views are amazing! I love the way you've maximized your storage and space. Your granite is gorgeous and everything compliments it so well!

What software did you use to plan your space? Any advice on planning the space without a KD? Your use of the space under the wonderful floating stairs is genius!

Congratulations and enjoy! Please be sure to post your kitchen in the FKB so we can continue to study your space! :)

Beautiful job! Serene yet energizing. And what you did with the floating stairs is brilliant.

rc

That is one GORGEOUS kitchen! I am so impressed with the finishes and the functionality - wonderful!! Thanks so much for sharing.

It is also good to read that not everything went as planned - that is helpful for me as I am in the midst of "everything not going as planned." If my kitchen can turn out half as wonderful as yours, I will be thrilled.

This seriously has to be one of my favorite kitchens! I have been going back and forth on what I want to do with a backsplash and I LOVE the big glass tiles with the accent thinner ones! Can you tell us what size the bigger glass tiles are?

Totally Gorgeous! Congrats!

Yes I am very fortunate to have an amazing panoramic view of the Pacific and Catalina Island. The back of the house is above Trump National Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes California. Each day is so different when you are near the ocean. Being home is very relaxing. I also want to entertain more but given the dilapidated and cramped kitchen which was so central to the open floor plan of my home I hadnt been motivated to do so until now. I was trying to maximize the storage space and make the kitchen amenable to daily use as well as entertaining. I didnt really realize how much I lean toward the traditional and formal. I had been waiting a long time to be ready to do the kitchen because I knew I wanted quality and quality costs. However, the other side of me gravitates toward modern so I just decided to embrace my eclectic nature and integrate the flat stainless frig, fixtures and glass tiles with the traditional cabinets. I picked what I liked and tried to blend in with what pre-existed. I stayed with the basic floor plan for utility lines and looked to move up and out. In answer to the questions and comments: the tile above and beside the counter pass through is iridescent Oceanside Tile; the paint color is Benjamin Moore AC-4 in the kitchen and AC-5 on an accent wall in the front hall and dinning area; and all the credit for the staggered facade on the cabinets under the stairs and the idea of floating the bar drawers goes to my contractor who is also an architect. No computer program was used, but had it been it might have avoided some of the mishaps with mis-measurement and mis-communication. Yes the 36" inch warming drawer was a leap of faith as space was at a premium in this kitchen. I am really glad I did it and the deep pot drawers under the oven and warming drawer make up for the pot and pan cabinet I replaced. The large Skyline tile is special order and comes 8" x 10". A full piece is installed above the 4" mosaic blend border and I had it cut in ½ at 4" x 10" for symmetry below the border. Yes I love the super susan and was so surprised it was attached to the shelf without a post. Thank you to whomever it was who used the $30 Grundtal shelf and posted a picture. It is inexpensive, lets air flow through and I followed his or her suggestion of insetting it under the tile so I wasnt forced to have a stainless backsplash to put the warming lights in the hood to use. If I had it to do all over I wouldnt buy the Kitchenaid beverage center even though it was less expenses than some of the others because the bottom rack just sits in the bottom of the unit and is not attached to gliders like the other shelves- a design defect in my opinion.

As I write this I am sitting on a stool at my counter admiring my kitchen. I know my taste isnt for everyone, but I just love living in this space and I hope you like it too. What a great 50th birthday present!
P.S. Much thanks to my contractor, Anthony Hays of Hays Construction, for guiding me in bringing the vision to reality.

Love that staircase and that gorgeous backsplash! What an elegant and classy space you've created! Enjoy!

Cj

Amazing transformation... very creative and unique use of the space under the stairs. So much better than what was there before! (I am sure that was a nightmare to keep uncluttered, that open box!) Congratulations!

Beautiful. The colors and tones of everything come together so well - the cabs, the floor, the granite, the ingenius tile designs. Really lovely kitchen!

Hardware is Siro Designs Nuevo Classico

What a great kitchen. I love your granite and your choices go so well together. Enjoy!

Thanks everyone. I will enjoy it. Now if I can only remember how to cook. :)

Wow! Spectacular tilework! I love the way the cabinet glass echoes the tiles. Such a lovely, subtle combination. And the storage under the stairs is fantabulous.