kdinca... welcome and may I suggest that you periodically read through threads which you feel you may have something worthwhile and helpful to offer information on. There are a number of professionals in a variety of trades that regularly offer up their expert advice on this forum (bill v on tile, florida joshua on soapstone, live wire and many others on layouts). There was one person ... I think it was pauline, that was familiar with various cab lines and their quality. I don't mean to exclude anyone if I didn't mention your name! Anyway, their advice is always well respected, well received, and appreicated. The advice is offered with candor and honesty and received in kind. I know I look forward to your input in the future.

Wonderful and welcome!

kdinca, thanks for offer. i am new to the site and am in the middle of a kitchen remodel. i live in a home built in 1926 in kansas city. our kitchen was remodeled in the 80's and we are going to try to bring it back to its original charcter. we would like to have a "spanish colonial" feel. with that background, here are my questions.

1) We don't want to do a typical granite countertop, so instead we would like to do tile. We would also like to do a mexican tile. But, we want to use a subway tile backsplash. Do you think gold mexican tile countertop along with white subway tile backsplash will look good together? Any pictures of this.

2) We are using white inset cabinets and the hinges will be exposed. We picked out satin nickel hinges and am wondering if we need to match the hardware and pendant lighting w/ the satin nickel hinges? Note, we are using all stainless appliances.

Thanks!

Welcome, you couldn't have joined at a better time for me. I will probably be picking your brain in the next few days.

Can I just ask what a kitchen designer does? I have some questions along the lines of: will my choices go together... like my backsplash choice, with the countertop, with the cabinets, with the floor. Can you help me with that, or is a KD more of floor plan layout design -- because I think I have that narrowed down.

But I'd love some help visualizing whether my choices are going to "go". If you can, I'd love your opinion!

You are just in time to help me with a dilemna I have! I am wondering if you think that Bianco Antico granite would work out with my Sennwood cabinets? Tumbled marble versailles patterned backsplash with 2x2inch antiqued gold flourishes? I would pick out the paprika in the granite to focus on kitchen accent colors i.e. canisters etc. Help me please as I need to make a decision by Monday.

kdinca, welcome! we surely would love to have your expertise. Rather than hijack your thread I am going to start a new one with a question on countertops -- would love to have your thoughts there.

welcome kdinca! i'll be giving you more than a few shout outs for sure! thanks for the offer and by all means, advise us to death!

Hi kdinca, and welcome! Your offer couldn't be more timely and appreciated - I was just searching the forum to figure out how to find a KD who could just help make sure I'm headed in the right direction.

I'm worried that in my drive for simplicity, I'm going to end up with a kitchen that's boring and just not "special" at all... I have my cabinets and flooring purchased, and am now agonizing over counters and backsplash!

How can I work with you on these choices? Would you be willing to "consult" even off the forum?

Thanks very much, looking forward to hearing your advice!

Hope you can help with this issue. We are 95% done with a kitchen remodel and are very pleased with all decisions we've made except one: the prep sink is too small. It is installed in Calcatta Gold marble on the large island and we wondered if its possible to removed the undermount prep sink and replace it with a regular-sized sink. The fabricator we used is afraid the marble may crack and its a very large expensive piece. My designer (interior, not kitchen) says he has had this done before and it shouldn't be a problem. What's your take? Thanks a million!

Great, welcome! What do you think of Medallion, Crystal and Neil Kelly cabinets? The first two have the door style I want in Hickory.

What do you think of Paperstone? I'm leaning toward butcher block on the peninsula and either honed Costa Esmeralda or Black Soapstone. Can't make up my mind, my hubby wants to consider Paperstone.

What do you think of having three cabinet colors in a kitchen? Natural Hickory on bottom, Straw Matte uppers and a dk red peninsula?
My family and esp my DH is getting sick of all my wishy washy can't make up my mind kitchen choices. Help, and THANK YOU for being here!
Katy

ps...This is for a rustic cedar cabin on the water, the peninsula faces the water.

Hi Kdinca and welcome!

Hi and welcome. I think we will all benifit from your input. I'm trying to figure out what kind of flooring to use in my kitchen. I'll link you to my original post that has a link to picutres of the kitchen. I want to emphasize the granite and deemphasize the floor. I would value your opinion. Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: help with flooring

welcome to this forum.....your help will be so valuable.

Ya think we scared her away?

Nice that he joined and was willing to offer his help. But (dare I say)his post was a bit odd to me.

My thoughts as well Kompy!

I was hesitant to say so, but I agree Kompy & buehl.

My first thought was, 'what are we (the pros that have been participating on this site for years, that is), chopped liver?' lol

" I will like to keep my anonymity"

I liked that part in the introductory post, although it's the rule of the forum, no spamming; has he/she posted anything else after saturday ?

no , that was the only post, we should give that person the benefit of the doubt, only time will tell !!!! getting tips on negotiating is always useful from a professional, if the person is generous with inside knowledge from the trade.

Paulines-- Maybe we should introduce Kdinca to Carol? :-)

I bet s/he didn't read enough to know how many wonderful pros we have on this site. That said, it's been a while....
Perhaps s/he also wasn't aware of how quickly it moves.

waiting, waiting, tapping foot, looking at watch, Where are ya, kdinca???

Tried to send him/her an email but they aren't set up to receive emails.

Bill, Who's Carol?

Kompy

Kompy, Carol is a KD for a very respected D & B out in California. She also judges national KD competitions and her designs are published in many of the better periodicals and magazines.

She mentored (I guess that's the right word) and encouraged me to start designing.

clinresga,
Is the GA for Georgia?

I noticed you asked your question on a different thread. Were you able to provide pics.

I am afraid to say your KD is generalizing. Each of these situations must be handled specifically to your issues.

This will not be easy to do by any means after install.

Welcome to a new KD in Califoria. I agree, slightly odd post.

Blessings

Kompy, Carol is a KD for a very respected D & B out in California. She also judges national KD competitions and her designs are published in many of the better periodicals and magazines.

Kompy-- here's hers and her daughter's blog (they're a team):

Here is a link that might be useful: Carol and Kelly's Blog

vrjames: actually DW "borrowed" my account to post here. I'm pretty clear in my mind that doing this sink swap would be 1) difficult 2) expensive and 3) fraught with the risk that the entire slab would crack, meaning we'd have to redo the entire countertop at our expense. For now, I am in the "let's see how it goes" mode and will try to stall as I think the replacement will be a very high risk decision. I think that's what you're saying too.

BTW: yeah, the Ga is Georgia. Atlanta, to be exact.

Yes the risk is probably very high. But not always so, there are many mitigating factors.

If you decide to proceed please email me directly and we can discuss some of the best fabricators in Atlanta to give you advice.

Did we scare her/him away? or were they for real?

Bill & Paulines-
I actually know of KellyM!!! ...from Susan's kitchenpro site. Last year when Kelly's dad died, I emailed her to tell her how sorry I was about her dad. You see, I lost my dad and mom too (when I was 38). It turned out there were some amazing personal coincidences between the two of us. Same name, parents from Canada, mom and pop shop...etc. She and I emailed a bit back and forth a few times. It's a small world, eh?

It most certainly is a small world Kompy.

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your parents at such a young age and about Kelly's dad.

But now we know that Kompy is Kelly, lol and I thought you were a guy all these years!

LOL Paulines! Really? You thought I was a guy? I didn't think Kompy was a masculine name. It's probably because of the 'no nonsense nature' to my posts? In that way, I am guy-ish. Or maybe you read somewhere here that I love to play poker! Who knows. LOL.

I've had the nickname since I was born. My sister was only 11 1/2 months when I was born and she couldn't pronounce Kelly. She called me Kompy and it's stuck...even now 44 years later.

And thanks about my parents...they died within 5 months of each other. Actually, they always said they wanted to go together so I try to think of it, that they got what they wished.

I'm not sure why I thought you were a guy - funny how you get these mental images of online friends. You play poker??? ... now I'll have this picture of you hunched over the poker table with a cigar hanging out of your mouth, lol

Most people on this forum also seem to share the impression that I'm a male as well. ;~D I'm not. I'm a happily married hetero female that just happens to know a bit of construction and building stuff as well as the kitchen design that is my day job. I was born into a very handy DIY family and have been a tool junkie for as long as I remember. It surprises some of the contractors I've worked with, but I kinda like that element of surprise working for me. :~)

Hi Live,
Even with your unisex name, I always pictured you as a female. So, what does Live Wire Oak mean actually?

I think it was a joke or maybe she didn't know how to get back to a post...lol. Sounded a bit like a Genie "I will answer all of your kitchen questions and grant you three wishes".

You too live wire?????

Yep, thought you were a guy also.

Now as to Bill, I'm pretty dern sure he's a guy, lol

You know, when I read the original post I thought it sounded somehow "off" but I reserved judgement. Seems to be some kind of hit-and-run troll but very strange for that - she's not trying to sell you Corian or granite shield or whatever.

I was a little surprised by the positive response from so many posters. It looked like a troll to me.

Smells a little like that company who tries to push their countertops on these forums. I forgot the company name, but it's the one whose people sign on as regular consumers, then slooowly recommend this amazing granite product, then begin pushing their product until we all discover who they really are, and then an online fight ensues! BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID!!!

If we say her name three times, she will appear. Or not.
Casey

"and very shortly you will all see what I have to offer."

MmmmmKay.........

I think it's funny how long this thread is given that the "experienced KD" never actually appeared again. :-)

Smells a little like that company who tries to push their countertops on these forums. I forgot the company name, but it's the one whose people sign on as regular consumers, then slooowly recommend this amazing granite product,

I'm almost reluctant to post their name, but it's Granite Shield "permanent sealer".

Now as to Bill, I'm pretty dern sure he's a guy, lol

Last I checked, I still am!! :-)

I was a little surprised by the positive response from so many posters.

Well, if nothing else, this thread brought out alot of the KD's who DO spend alot of time in here giving up their time. Here's to them!! :-)

I am on here every night, apparently I never get sick of work! I can say that I have learned a great deal by interacting on these forums. So giving a little professional advice is a small fee to pay for what I get in return. By this I mean in relation to dealing with the consumer in a sales position.

I know several of the appliance makers read these forums regularly and pay attention. The American Range people knew all about us before we called and even referred to a photo we posted.
I find the high quality of some of the advise posted is invaluable. Thanks to all the pros out there who take the time to help. ;-)

You wouldn't believe some of the people who check these forums. :-)

To those that posted questions on this thread;

There are some extremely talented folks that hang out here, both in the biz and not. If you start a thread of your own, I can guarantee you'll get excellent advice and a plethora of opinions, lol

Come on now...don't be shy!

Paulines, I did end up posting the question about my cabinet door style and am thrilled with the answers I received. It's weird though, I keep checking back here to see if the OP ever showed up again.