I know it sounds trite, but I REALLY want to thank all of you for your help. Buehl was particularly helpful in tweaking the design. Rhome410, steph2000, breezygirl, and many others were there for me during my backsplash angst. I had already chosen my windows before I saw PPS7's kitchen, but seeing hers helped me feel comfortable with the decision. Her kitchen also inspired my island design. I can't name everyone that inspired me, but know that I appreciate your input.

I was going for a calm kitchen with easy-care contertops. My husband was going for "happy." When I told him about the sweeby test, he responded by writing this:

MY KITCHEN MISSION STATEMENT

"I want my kitchen to be tranquil, soothing, calm and happy. It should be cozy and bright, too.

"The perfect backsplash for my kitchen will not add an element of romance or whimsy but it might have a fish tile in it. Even a bear tile would be nice, as long as it's not within striking distance of the fish.

My perfect countertop will be level and divert attention from the mess my kids have made in the living room. When friends see it they will remark, 'Have you lost weight?' and 'You're looking quite dashing today!'

But most of all, my ideal kitchen will make my wife happy. Every time she sees it she'll smile at both the design and with fond memories of the process she used to create it. My ideal kitchen will perfectly match my wife's kitchen mission statement, even if it doesn't quite match mine."

Isn't he cute? I'm not sure if I have fond memories of the process - it's more of a fog. I was trying to make a million decisions about the entire house, so some details fell through the cracks. I don't know who picked out the crown moulding, but it wasn't me. I told the KD I wanted something simple, and sometime later this was installed. At least it's 10 feet off the ground! But I still smile when I see the backsplash, and I feel like the space is happy. Oh, and it works great as a kitchen. I just tested out the lunch-making, breakfast-eating, homework-finishing morning rush for the last week and it came through for me!

On to the details:

Cabinets: Locally-made Amish painted white (it's their standard white)

Countertops: Leathered Kodiak Brown granite

Backsplash: Sunflower mosaic in ming green marble from Saltillo Imports (purchased from Caledonia Tile in Indianapolis) and AKDO 3/4" x 3/4" mosaic in ming green light (it's supposed to be all light, but there seems to be dark in there)

Floors: White oak stained with Minwax Provincial and finished with satin polyurethane

Walls: Sherwin Williams Comfort Gray

Knobs and pulls: Restoration Hardware Lugarno knob in satin nickel and Restoration Hardware Asbury pull in satin nickel

Faucets: Brizo Solna (loved the hidden pullout spray) standard and bar-size

Sinks: Silgranit precis super single bowl and large bowl

Stools: West Elm rustic counter stool (thanks PPS7!)

Pendants: Kichler 2665OZ in olde bronze

Refrigerator: Samsung RF266 in platinum

Dishwashwer: Bosch SHX68R55UC in stainless

Range: GE Cafe Electric

Hood: Zephyr Breeze with baffle filters

Lighting: All-Pro 5" LED recessed lights, LED under-cabinet lights, and LED puck lights.

And here are the pictures (finally!)

You did a beautiful job.
I think the few dark tiles make the others stand out. And don't worry one bit about your crown molding. It really looks nice and I, too, had to remember to look.

Congrats!

Enjoy!

Love the BS and the pendants.

p.ball2, the cabinets are 54" tall. I was going to do stacked cabinets to the ceiling at first, but then I decided I didn't want doors I couldn't reach. I drew them out to scale in photoshop (but you could use graph paper) to make sure the proportions looked right to me. I think the double panels keep them from looking too thin (although you can never be too rich or too thin...)

debrak_2008, there are plenty of fish and bears in the house. "Fish" is my husband's high school nickname and "Bear" is my childhood nickname. There is a hand-blown glass fish in the top of the cabinet and there are glass fish on the dining room table:

I guess I have to get some bears in there!

(a couple more words - love it!)

That backsplash is very pretty. The more I look at it the more I like it. It perfectly picks up the colors of your colored glass in the cabinets without being too flashy.

Well done enjoy it and your husband who definitely seems like a keeper:)

Absolutely beautiful! I love all the colors, especially the style and color of the backsplash as it ties it all together.

Love the mission statments. Reminds me of my book concept, which is that couples should give each other annual preformance reviews. : )

mtnrdredux, I'd be pretty frightened of performance reviews!

Now my turn to be inspired. Can I ask how much was your tile? I might want to use it in my dinng room.

I just love the backsplash. Unique, pretty, happy and still tranquil. I think you achieved your mission with the backsplash alone ;) JK, it all goes together and flows together so well.

Congrats!

Best to you and your DH

It's the personal touches that make a house a home.

Curious what is the cabinet on the island that the green dish towel is hanging on. Is that a trash pull out? If it is what is the other cabinet by the microwave?

Enjoy your new house!

pps7, I'm honored that you would consider my backsplash tile. I remember when you were looking for affordable tile for your hutch, and this is definitely affordable. It is $25/sq. ft. but I got a discounted price of $23/sq. ft. when I bought 16 sq. ft. It also comes in carrera if you want to stick with gray, but the ming green would bring in the color from your kitchen. I ordered samples of both from Caledonia in Indianapolis and the ming green is so much more interesting. I think I have side-by-side pictures if you are interested. By the way, the tile is thinner than standard tile and my installer had a heck of a time cutting the small pieces.

debrak_2008, I did make the kodiak brown connection at the time, but I'd forgotten about it. Thanks for reminding me!

go_figure01, the refrigerator/range wall is 13' and the window wall is 13.5'. The island is 6.25' x 4'. I could have gone a foot longer on the island, but the kitchen opens to the great room and I was trying to leave plenty of room for furniture in there. The furniture isn't there yet, but the kitchen will look a lot cozier when it is.

gardenamy, I realized last night I forgot about the window blinds. They are natural woven flat fold shades from Smith and Noble in shikoku/sienna. They filter the light but do not offer complete privacy unless you get the optional lining (which I didn't). I got the "upended" headrail so they would fit inside my window frame. If anyone orders from Smith and Noble, sign up for email promotions or search online for promotion codes first and wait until you get 40% off.

nini804, I guess there's nothing wrong with the crown - I just would have picked something with a bit of detail instead of no detail. Thanks for the compliments. I LOVE your kitchen and wish I'd had the space for a hidden office like yours. As it is, I have my desk in the master bedroom, and if I lean back in my chair I can see my backsplash. So it's all good!

Good eye, chardie, I did steal the backsplash from Sarah's cottage kitchen. Back in about October I was ready to design the whole kitchen around it, but then I thought it might be too country (for me) and too expensive. I was fairly set to do something totally different with a mix of carrera tiles (based on another Sarah backsplash), but I couldn't commit. Carrera is so variable I was afraid I wouldn't like it. I finally called to get pricing and samples of the sunflower mosaic. Once they saw it, my husband and kids wouldn't consider anything else. Even my 14-year-old son said he loved all the regular polygons and would spend all morning staring at it. I'll admit they were all pretty tired of looking at tile at that point and probably conspired to ooh and aah over the next tile that walked in the house...

The hutch and bench in the DR are also great. The shades add great warmth and texture and having them on the DR and kitchen really both integrates the space.

I really appreciate being able to see another kitchen with uppers on one wall and one wall without. As you know, that's something I'm considering for my house, though on opposite walls as you.

What are you storing in your ceiling to counter cabinet, including the shelf, if I can be nosy?

As regarding DH.... his mission statement is great! You certainly had me at that. But then you go on to add that one of his few stipulations was wanting painted cabinets? How rare is that? He was insisting on stained? I'm in awe! lol

I have to find a new procrastination buddy... but it's all good. Congratulations! (Are you going to show us the mini-kitchen in the basement soon?)

I love my DR lights, but I seem to be the only one. Most people think they look like war weapons, a ball and chain, or Christmas ornaments. Not everyone can appreciate greatness, I guess. My DR hutch is my favorite piece of furniture ever. I designed the DR windows around them and realized shortly before drywall that they hadn't put the windows far enough apart. They moved one, so disaster was averted. The whole room just makes me happy. I have an indoor-outdoor rug that I was skeptical about, but it is performing well and the microfiber fabric on the chair cushions is standing up to my messy son better than expected. I had all that furniture at my old house, but the kids weren't using it.

I was nervous about uppers on one wall only. I was afraid it would be top-heavy, but the gi-normous window helps balance it, I think.

The "covered" part of the counter cabinet has my husband's coffee maker (used for 5 minutes a day max), coffee mugs, wine (one or two bottles max) and a few every-day wine glasses. The drawer has a big stack of printed-out recipes (they're the ones I use most often), a book with clipped recipes that has seen better days, and some food storage bags. Smaller sandwich and snack bags live under the MW with my other lunch-packing supplies. Here are a couple pics:

I just noticed I'm letting my son's red and white mug live in my cabinet even though it doesn't "go." He won it for coming in first in his age group in a 5K, so I'll let it stay (for a while).

I haven't gotten to the mini-kitchen in the basement yet, but I will show it when I get it done. I wanted to buy Ikea cabinets and have my 11-year-old daughter assemble them all before she started back to school, but now it's too late. I'm pretty sure the cabinets will be white and I have a left-over piece from my granite being held so I won't have to search again. The appliances are black because I already had them. And I get to do another backsplash....

A couple of questions if you don't mind...

Is your fride counter depth or full depth disguised by a deeper cabinet surround? I like the way it looks.

Also were your custom cabs painted elsewhere before installed or painted in place? I want to redo my kitchen with white cabs and it seems every designer or installer has a different method and I don't know what's best.

Thanks.

You are inspiring me at just the right time, as the kids go back to school. I have an "All but the backsplash" (ABBS) although I want to do the backplash and my bathroom tile at the same time, so it does get even more complicated.

Like you, I also didn't like the interior space of the shallow refrigerators. It was an easy luxury to cross off my list. What a great example of sinking yours into the room/space behind.

Good luck with your mini-kitchen.

Is your dining room hutch custom? I'd love to find a piece as beautiful as yours. And when you say your cabinets were locally made...where's locally?

If you have time, can you post some closeups of your leathered counter?

Anyhoo - your kitchen is so pretty!

(and don't mind me while I teared up at reading your hubby's mission statement. what a guy!) I hope you and your family enjoy your new beautiful space for many years to come.

niblickchick, I tried to take some close-ups of the granite, but I'm not sure how successful I was. It's hard to capture. The edges of my countertop are honed, and honed does not look any different to me than the leathered. The texture you see is more from the layers of mica than the finish. The feel is different - the honed feels absolutely smooth and the leathered doesn't. I've seen people say leathered isn't good for baking because it isn't smooth, but that isn't true (in my case at least). You can write on it or bake on it the same as a smooth surface - the texture is very subtle. Here is a close-up if it helps:

snbtwins, the wall-to-wall measurement is nearly 28' (13.5' for the kitchen and 14.5' for the dining room). My table is 6' long, but it has 2 leaves that pull out of the ends to make it 11' long when fully extended. I usually have 8' between the table edge and island edge, and I still have 5.5' when the end leaf is pulled out. Here is a better picture to show the space between. It doesn't look like the table is centered lengthwise (to me), but that's an illusion. When extended, the table goes almost to the edge of the rug on both sides.

labbie, yes he is a great guy. I probably don't appreciate him as much as I should.

Your husband's mission statement? AWESOME. Your kitchen? GORGEOUS. You done good. (I hope mine comes out looking half as wonderful!)

Your husband's mission statement? AWESOME. Your kitchen? GORGEOUS. You done good. (I hope mine comes out looking half as wonderful!)

So I have one or two more detail question - what is the dimension between the counter top and cabinets on either side of the stove?

Everything looks proportionaly perfect - and I'm trying to figure out the dimension of the crown and the ceiling height.

This is just stunning.

I started perusing GW kitchens tonight specifically to look at L shaped kitchens with stove/frig on one wall and sink with big windows on the other ... and there was your kitchen with very similar dimensions to the design I am working on. Because it is design for new construction there is time to adjust so I am trying to understand things like what is needed for cabinet dimensions, and around the refrigerator.

Thanks so much!

I would not have liked how closed in this design was, but it took me a while to get used the idea of totally opening up the great room. It also took me a long time to let go of the idea of a pantry cabinet in the kitchen. I have a lot of storage space in the mudroom just behind the kitchen, so I haven't missed the pantry. I put most of my food in the 12" pullout and the wall cabinet to the left of the range, so it's actually handier there than in a pantry. As you can see, I started with a 3-foot window, then I went to 4 feet, then 5, then 7, and finally ended up with 8. It's a standard size Andersen (I think it's the 400 series) window and it is about 8 feet wide by 5 feet high. There is about 4.5" between the granite and window. Many prefer to put the window exactly at counter height, but I went a little higher to make it match the height of other windows in the room.

My ceilings are just about 10 feet high. I have the standard 18" between the countertop and cabinets, the cabinets are 54" high, and there is about 1 foot above the cabinets for the trim piece and crown.

There is nothing special about Amish made cabinets - any custom cabinet maker can make the same thing. I went for these because they were the best construction and value at the kitchen store my builder sent me to. They also allowed me to design the wall cabinets exactly the way I wanted them. The base cabinets are much more standard, but one on the island is 15" deep to fit my appliances better.

To the right of my refrigerator is a wall that extends only as far as the cabinet above the refrigerator, so there is no issue with opening the door. The trim board to the left of the refrigerator is 1.5" wide, and the cabinet above the refrigerator is 38" wide (really a 36" cabinet with 2" of filler that was trimmed onsite to fit the space exactly). I have about an inch to spare on each side, but there is a baseboard on the wall so it is pretty tight at the bottom. I left 72" in height for the refrigerator - more than I need now, but I might need it in the future. Here is an almost-accurate layout of the base cabinets.

I switched it to a 12" pullout and a 6" tray cabinet. The 6" tray cabinet is surprisingly useful for its size:

I went with full overlay cabinets on the base cabinets because it saved me 10% and allowed me to do things like an 6" wide tray cabinet and a 12" wide trash pullout. I went with inset on the wall cabinets because I like the look better. Those cabinets are 13" deep (standard for our cabinet maker) and it makes up for the lost space of the inset door. Inset cabinets cost me 10% more, so I used them sparingly.

This is a picture I drew in photoshop to help me get the proportions right. It's what I gave to the kitchen designer so he'd know exactly what I wanted. The wall cabinet dimensions are accurate on here, but I switched to a 3-drawer stack on the base cabinet next to the refrigerator.

Hope this helps. Like I said, feel free to ask more questions or email me. When you get a plan, post it on the forum and you'll get a lot of good feedback. Good luck!

Is it me, or is Mr Mpagmom looking quite fit and handsome today? --He sure seems to have a great sense of humor.

So clean, so neat, so bright. Just what the mission statement ordered. Enjoy! (And thanks again for letting me know your pics were up.)

angela12345, here is the 12" trash pullout in action. It has a shelf above and room behind it for a few supplies.

Imagine that -- kitchen as marital inspiration. I am so impressed.

So in the 12" trash pullout, that is an 8 gal trash can ? So smart of you to put one next to each sink !! Would you mind also sharing your 18" trash recycling cabinet in action ? Sorry to be so trashy. : )

island, the floor is everyday 2-1/4" white oak stained Minwax Provincial with a satin polyurethane. It was funny when I stopped by to talk to the floor finishers about the stain. I told them I wanted a medium brown with no red in it and they put down a little bit of the Provincial stain to show me how it would look. My 11-year-old was there and told me that was good, so I said we'd go with that because I wasn't very picky. My builder's son was there, and I think he about died when I said I wasn't very picky - I guess his experience was that I was extremely particular. The flooring guys wanted to hire my daughter to choose stain on all their jobs. By the way, we originally wanted wider planks, but the flooring guys told us the 2-1/4" would be less likely yo buckle. Also, getting the site-finished floor cost about exactly the same for us as moderately-priced pre-finished floor. Was that the longest answer ever??

Thanks angela, and I just love to talk trash. The trash can in the 12" pullout is about 9"Wx14"Dx17.5"H. Just for you I did math and the measurements come out to about 9 gallons. It's the same size as the cans in the 18" trash/recycling pullout:

I'm glad you like the counter cabinet - it's my favorite.

justmakeit - thanks for the compliment, and imitate away! Any white shaker style cabinets and any textured black granite would look pretty much the same as mine. If I were choosing granite to go specifically with the backsplash I might have chosen brushed atlantic black instead of kodiak brown. As it is, I chose the granite first and I thought the kodiak brown would work well with the oil-rubbed bronze light fixtures I have throughout the house. I highly recommend a wall of windows if you can spare the cabinet space. Windows are a lot less expensive than cabinets and you can't beat the natural light!

mpagmom - Thanks for also posting the 6" tray cabinet - that is extremely helpful. I had to switch my 12" tray 9" and without seeing the cabinet differences in person, you start to wonder what you'll miss when you take out the 3"... so it's good to see you can store a lot in that 6" tray!

Your medium brown floors (with no red!) are beautiful. it sounds like the desscription I have told our builder. Can you point out which of your previous pictures show the brown in its true shade?

thank you!

Thanks, Michelle. I can't wait to see your Circa lighting and backsplash!

niblickchick, the granite doesn't show fingerprints. Water rings will show if you look at them at the right angle (from any distance you don't see them), but they wipe away easily with a damp cloth. If you had oily or greasy hands I guess you could make a print show. I tried it with a wet finger and it disappeared in about a minute.

My 6" tray cabinet is 4.5" wide inside (because the cabinet sides are each .75" thick) and it can hold 4 cutting boards, 3 cookie sheets and 3 cooling racks. I keep any other cookie sheets, etc. that I have above the refrigerator, but that's more than enough for everyday use. Mine has more space because I went with frameless cabinets. If you have framed cabinets you'll have a more narrow opening, but the same space inside.

Most of the pictures make the floor look darker than it is. If you look at the 3rd picture, the area to the left of the island is pretty close. Perhaps the closest are the two pictures I posted of my trash pullouts (the last two I posted).

So far - your kitchen and dekeoboe's bathroom (based a summerfield's design) are incorporated into the house design - if I keep reading these forums the whole house may end up a compilation of GW's designs.

Thanks again ...!

I 2nd the rec on Smith and Noble emails - LOVE this source, I get almost everything from them, WITH the 30 or 40% discounts. I find the trick is being 100% ready with selections and measurements so that I can order when the email offer arrives.

Enjoy your gorgeous space! And your hubby :-)

By any chance, do you have a twin brother who is single?

Even a... fraternal twin brother?

Thank you phylhl, mabeldingeldine, taggie, heidia, houseful, and LRy511 for the kind words.

MareLuce, I assume you're asking if my husband has a twin brother. Sadly, no.

Home4all6, I am thoroughly enjoying the prep sink, but when I saw how much my builder was charging me for it I had second thoughts! I just looked it up and it was $500 for the plumbing and garbage disposal, $700 for the sink and faucet, and $150 for the electrical to the garbage disposal. It does make the kitchen function so much better though. If I didn't have it I would probably tend to do a lot of my prep work to the right of the main sink, and that's not a huge space and a bit far from the refrigerator. So for this layout, I'd say it's close to a must-have. I probably use it twice as often as the clean up sink.

I went back and forth about the light fixtures and metals. The door knobs and such throughout the house are satin nickel, but I have oil-rubbed bronze for my lamps and drapery rods so I chose bronze for my light fixtures. If the kitchen wasn't completely open to the great room and dining area I might have gone with nickel pendants because I like them better. Then again, I like the dark pendants with the dark granite. See? I'm still going back and forth!

I'm also goign back and forth on the fixtures and finishes, but I'm not going to stress about that ust yet...all in good time :) Is your email available from here, and if so , would you mind if I emailed you a question or 2 as we get moving? Becasue your layout really is a nealay identical mirror-image of ours.
Thanks!

I'm also goign back and forth on the fixtures and finishes, but I'm not going to stress about that ust yet...all in good time :) Is your email available from here, and if so , would you mind if I emailed you a question or 2 as we get moving? Becasue your layout really is a nealay identical mirror-image of ours.
Thanks!

I'm also goign back and forth on the fixtures and finishes, but I'm not going to stress about that ust yet...all in good time :) Is your email available from here, and if so , would you mind if I emailed you a question or 2 as we get moving? Becasue your layout really is a nealay identical mirror-image of ours.
Thanks!

Island, I looked at many of those same woods trying to find something medium brown that I liked. I hated grain, but I finally came to the same conclusion you did. It's been easy care and I even repaired a large scratch that happened before we moved in with a Minwax stain crayon or marker I got from Home Depot or Lowes. And, thank you, I am very much enjoying the kitchen.

I still marvel at your backsplash. And I still wish your husband had a twin brother :-).

Are you going to put art or family photos to the left and right of the windows?

Framed in white?

I am planning to use this tile on my master bathroom floor as well, so I think I'll tape it up in my kitchen before it's installed in the bathroom to see if I want the large format or the small. I have samples of each, but it's hard to tell on such a small scale. Now that you tell me that yours is the small format, I'm definitely going to look more closely at that size.

Thanks again!

Do you realize that tapestry flows with your backsplash? (colors, feeling)

I also love your tapestry btw!

Curious - Do you find it hard to keep the backsplash behind the cooktop clean and free of stains?

TammyTE, I have only been in my kitchen a few months, but so far I haven't had a problem with stains. I tend to use only the front burners, so that may be why. I haven't sealed the backsplash yet, and I hope I can keep it clean until I do! Thanks, too, for the kind words about my kitchen.

And I'm a little horrified that ANYONE would think those amazing Hicks pendants look like military artillary. They are stunning and amazing and I want them. :)

And your window secret is safe with me ;)

I love the big window above the sink. Do you find it at all inconvenient not to have an upper cabinet right above the dishwasher? It looks amazing, just wondering about its functionality. Thanks!

CamG, thank you! I used to have my dish cabinet above my DW and hated it. I couldn't reach into it well with the DW open. I put my dishes in a drawer on the other side of the sink (about a step away) and my glasses in a 12" deep cabinet in the island just opposite the dishwasher. I sacrificed seating for one person in the island to add 2 12" deep cabinets (one on each side) to take the place of some of the wall cabinets I was losing with the window. I really wanted the light from the big window so I was willing to sacrifice the upper cabinets for it.

Laura517, I know how you feel. You spend so long planning and looking at everything but when it comes to making real decisions it's so hard. I like my 2 trash cans a lot, so I'd go for it if you have room. Everyone recommended recycling in the prep area - probably closest to the refrigerator is the right place. The windows in most of my house are double hung, but I went with casement in the kitchen because double hung would be too hard to open and close. I then decided to switch to casement in my great room and one other room. In all three cases there is a larger stationary window between two smaller casement windows so it doesn't stand out that it's different. I like casement better and would have done if everywhere, but there was a cost difference to consider.

By the way, for anyone reading this whole thread, I made a mistake. My hood is the Zephyr Gust, not the Breeze. Don't know what I was thinking...