Looks fantastic ( your before pix look better than a lot of after-pix though :-)). Just wondering, what's below the microwave?

Sj- thx :) it's a temporary table- the MW cab came in as a 30" vs the 24" we ordered (Ikea to the rescue!). Should have the right one in another 10 days.

We added about 2' to the cooking area which makes it a usable kitchen now- previously we only had 30" between the island and sink wall!

This post was edited by marcojohnson on Mon, Aug 11, 14 at 23:54

I love that you kept your cool stools!

It's interesting how your backsplash is such a feature!! It's very detailed yet presents a nice eye feel. Not sure how to explain that.

I thought your Before picture was your After, too. Looking back though, I see a definite improvement in space. All keeping the same footprint, right?

Love it. I hope you enjoy it! I

Wow, your before kitchen was beautiful! I can understand the reasoning behind the remodel though since it wasn't an ideal set up. Your new kitchen is looking gorgeous! And better yet, it will have a better flow for cooking. Your backsplash is a real show stopper. Did you have any overhead lighting in your old kitchen? I noticed all of the the recessed lights in the new kitchen.

How exciting! I bet you will love it! Love those pops of fresh green.

Fun and exciting! I can't wait to see what goes on the shelves...

Love the pop of color! Tile looks great. Can we get a closeup? Who makes it? It really, really works.

How exciting for you! Those green stools caught my eye also. Very nice. Good luck in the home stretch.

This post was edited by breezygirl on Tue, Aug 12, 14 at 1:59

Thx everyone!

lcskaisgi & CEFreeman - the backsplash is hard to explain. It shouldn't work - there's too much wall space and it's a busy pattern ... but it does work contrary to everything I thought I knew (and is really spectacular in real life!). I was panicking when it went up -- TOO MUCH I kept thinking to myself, second guessing all the way (it's what I do!) ... but my hubby kept me in check and when the grout was done ... oh my gosh.

I think why it works is that it's a bit larger scale than most - the sizes range from 3/4" to 2" (vs. the "skinny" ones 1/2" to 1"). The color and pattern are spot on for the green accent. We picked the backsplash 3rd - the grey cabs with one pop of green (which was also our existing pop color), Everything else fell into place from that - especially the Hanstone Speccio White quartz.

Mags438 - believe it or not, it's a Lowes tile - Skyline. We looked at all of the big tile showrooms - Arizona, DAL, and some specialty ones - nothing came close. And it was a bargain at just over $11/sf less 10% Lowes coupon! Unfortunately, any savings were eaten up by higher installation costs - it took over 3 days because of the high wall and tons of cuts!

Here is a link that might be useful: Lowes Tile

This post was edited by marcojohnson on Tue, Aug 12, 14 at 3:10

Looks great! Speedy job too! Congratulations on your almost complete project. I can't wait to get there myself.

amazing!! Very inspiring. I also LOVE your backsplash tile!

Looking great! Cool doggy gate BTW.

Wow! It looks great! Everything really came together nicely. It's so bright and fresh looking.

Love the flow of color & textures, from the floor, to the cabinets, to the countertop to the fabulous backsplash. Add in the stainless steel & pops of green, great job.

Last update for a week or so ... I'm heading off on a business trip and wanted to share our "90%" done pix! Just another day or two of contractors doing finishing touches - but we're up and running enough to make our first dinner tonight!

I'll update again when we get the microwave cabinet and toe kicks in - that's the last of it!

Big, loud, fat sigh of relief. And a glass of wine.

Where we were:

And where we are today:

...and to give you a little perspective into the lofty space:

Island - now with recycling. We kept the compactor - kind of like it and since it works, why not. Replaced cabs with drawers for pots, pans, and stuff. HP computer doubles as a TV - great for checking recipies, watching Ina, or posting on GW :) Seating for 3 so everyone can be involved in the cooking / drinking :)

Cooking center - LG 30" double oven range with a 36" hood. Microwave drawer will go into it's cabinet when that arrives. Hanstone Speccio White Quartz, Lowes Skyline backsplash. Blanco undermount sink with Moen touchless. Cabinets are Columbia frameless.

LED lighting everywhere - accents below and on the island, above cab & under cab (color controlled - warm to cool). LG standard fridge.

And dinner is ready!

So coordinating, stylish, and fun! For when you return: What brand/style of LED lights did you use and how did you decide? Thanks.

marg143- totally happy to share.

I've become an LED geek ... it's all DIY... I've found that the standard "enclosures" are pretty limiting. However, the Ikea kits are a great way to start. That's what I did about 2.5 years ago and have since "graduated" to DIY to gain flexibility (and save $).

If you want to go DIY and aren't afraid of splicing low voltage wires, then I highly recommend Amazon...

Color changing lights under the island - SMD5050 RGB lights on a 12v48w transformer with a color changing remote. This kit is 5M/16ft :

http://amzn.com/B00K5N8F68

I put the LED strips into a 10mm light bar (eliminates dots/ hot-spots) from Environmental LEDS:

http://www.environmentallights.com/14176-led-strip-light-bar-10.html

Note that the light bar enclosure costs 2x what the LED, power, and remote cost !!!

For above and below the cabinets, I'm really persnickety about color temperature - I wanted to be able to adjust and get the "right" warmth (to match the overhead lights and change it if I wanted to) ... that required using a new combo warm/cool LED strip:
http://amzn.com/B00IXXWX06

and a warm/cool remote:
http://amzn.com/B00IS71H9U

and a transformer (I needed 150w):
http://amzn.com/B00HQ0PKCK

plus the same light channels from Environmental Lighting above.

Thank you! I am aware of Armacost from HD as well as EL . I'll take a look at the Amazon items; those being perhaps more generic I have some question about longevity. I thought I just wanted about 3000K and a dimmer, for UCL only, but the warm/cool strip sounds interesting. Thanks!

Marg- what led me to the dual color (no pun intented!) was that the overhead, over the range, and over-the-island lights are all supposed to be 3000k. I could not achieve anything close to that UCL with either 2700k or 3000k strips. My old set-up from Lowes (the Utilitech) were great, but they were big and would have cost about $300 to replicate - and I couldn't get them to match the overcabinet (in the cove) lights. So off to the DIY.

As to generic - there are only a few OEM manufacturers, I've discovered. I have purchased over 8 reels of lights over the year and I swear they have all come off of the same manufacturing line. Transformers and remotes are where I've seen "good/better/best" differences in quality.

Clean and bright and fun! And so much more functional. Great job!