Beautiful transformation. May you have many happy years making memories in your new space.

Beautiful transformation. May you have many happy years making memories in your new space.

Oh, I like it! That's such an inviting kitchen and wonderful finishes...a very nice remodel. Congrats on a terrific job! :)

"I decided after a few weird juice splatters that I'd be better off having a stiff shot of whiskey and getting out the lemon juice." I love it!

Just SICK ;>. Love those counter tops. Way to go being able to do it all in one shot.

Very nice indeed. I especially love the plantation shutters!!

Beautiful! Just beautiful! Of course the white cabs with the marble, (ok was it just one shot or more ;) The whole space looks great all around. Must be a pleasure to live in it.
I'm going to check out that Paint color - I finished painting my kitchen and yuk do-over, your gray looks so good in your space I intend to copy cat. I really like the painted brick wall.
Great job!

everything harmonizes

Truly amazing and beautiful. Flawless taste on all levels and I could go on. Just a perfect family home.

Since you said that your shutters were custom with Behr paint, may I ask if the shutters were custom from H.D.?

Beth

Hogette (Beth) - the shutters were not HD. I posted on FB asking for rec's on shutters. I expected the typical "lowes/next day blinds" recs (which I did get) but a friend recommended a man who made them custom using 100% american hardwood. He was located about 25 m away but served my area. So I got estimates from three places - Perfect Shutters in Gaithersburg, MD, Hunter Douglas thru Costco, and him. He brought a custom sample blind of the sizes he did and his bid was lowest (by like $1200). So he had me pick my paint trim color and tell him, and then he had the blinds painted the exact shade of the trim paint. The shutters took about 6wks total time and then he came out and installed them all. 100% american hardwood - no veneers or composites.

Moral of the story - don't discount craftsman who make shutters custom. Sometimes they are cheaper - and better.

Gorgeous and such a wonderful new layout! You are so brave with your marble....but it sounds like it was great decision.

What a great transformation! I love the kitchen and the mud room. $100 for that backsplash? That's amazing!

I love your beautiful renovation! I love the backsplash and counters so much. I love the cabinets! I love the wall color and how you continued the gray into the kitchen. I love the lighting. I love the appliances. I love the space. The overall look of your kitchen is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

O my heavenly goodness. You did a beautiful job.

Looks wonderful!

It's all so fresh and beautiful and I *love* your backsplash!! Score, indeed!!! (Don't you love when stuff like that happens?)

Your floors are beautiful - both the wood and the slate. Your cabinets are really pretty too and I wouldn't have noticed that they were partial overlay if you hadn't mentioned it. How much do you think you saved on that?

Your patina-ed countertops are so beautiful. I'm a patina person.

I'd love to see the command center in your mudroom. I love how in the cubbies, you have high hooks and low hooks so that the kids can hang stuff up themselves.

Your kitchen has so much counter space and storage space. Envy!! Love the shutters and blinds and -- all of it. Great choices!

Scootermom....

Here is the small desk/command center. The big black chair is likely going to be replaced by something smaller and less manly..lol. It was our old chair from the big traditional office. It overpowers the lighter space. We just haven't gotten around to replacing it yet. We wanted a desk to span the whole wall under the dbl windows...so we did our own config thru Ballard Designs. White bases with a zinc top. The laptop goes there when we need a desk space, and we do bills there. There is a magnet board to the left and I can somewhat keep an eye on the kids in the back yard.

And I found these fun 'during' photos. Our house was a disaster but no kids were injured ;)

The soon-to-be formal great room (previously two separate rooms)

Kitchen gutted but wall separating it from family room remained....

kitchen debris gone, ready for wall to come down.

Wow, what a fantastic change! I love how you made two large, open, usable spaces. And the finishes and layout of your kitchen are fantastic. Thank you for sharing.

I love everything about your reno. I am wondering about your leather sofa. What company and where did you find it? We saw a similar one at the Ohio All American Quarter Horse Congress. It is comfy looking
Karen

I love everything about your reno. I am wondering about your leather sofa. What company and where did you find it? We saw a similar one at the Ohio All American Quarter Horse Congress. It is comfy looking
Karen

Love it! Enjoy your new, open space!

CW
Wow! I love everything in your new open kitchen and mud room!
I can't believe you really juiced your counter - I would ave been petrified!!
I love your BS deal. I hope breezy takes a look so she can finish hers.
Oh- and maybe Bee could try the lemon on her island.
Congratulations!
Keep those pictures coming!

You mentioned Gaithersburg - we're in MoCo as well, and looking for a new contractor after a disastrous false start (which ended well, thankfully, but left me pretty anxious to find someone reliable and drama-free.) Any recommendations?

Beautiful! Love the gray walls with white. I'm going for the same in a galley kitchen.

Smalloldhouse....i am actually in baltimore. The shutter place was located in Gaithersburg. My husband is from MoCo.

My contractor is very baltimore and I doubt he'd travel (and I don't think you'd want him to, since he never seemed to start his day at MY house before 9am ;)

Love it!!! Love your paint color, your counters, your mudroom, and the new layout seems perfect. Congratulations, you did a fabulous job!

Would you mind sharing re your beautiful wing chairs. Love the fabric

Really really beautiful. Thnx for sharing.

We have done a similar project, opening a former very small sunken den, narrow hall way, powder room so small you couldn't change your mind in it, small laundry room and narrow kitchen into one large great room in our late 1970's ranch. A 28 foot paralam beam replaced the bearing wall, remarkable technology. I'll post a few photos when complete.

barbarany - they were from Gardiner's a local furniture store. I would need to call and ask about the fabric...I love it too!

karen.ohio - we LOVE our leather couch. It has held up so well in the 5 years we have had it. Our kids did not destroy it and it was their main couch for the last 4 years....It is by the manufacturer Futura and from the winchester collection (Cohiba is the style). It is extremely comfortable. The only reason it transitioned into the formal great room was that we wanted a sectional for the family room for TV watching/lounging. I didn't want to do leathers over there and in the formal space so we went w/microfiber for the family room.

cwalen

Thanks for the information on the sofa. We have added onto the house to allow for the two grandkids and the various friends I am sure will be here 10 years from now. LOL. Remodelled kitchen is included. Anyway, with our dogs and visiting dogs, et al., I want something that can take a beating and clean up easily. We have horses, so saddle soap is always around!

Karen

Scootermom:

I just saw your question about partial overlay vs full. I personally think we saved a lot by going with this style vs the comparable Diamond full overlay square mission maple white painted style. I don't have the quote in front of me but it was like $1500-$2000 in savings because I did a side by side comparison of the two styles.

beautiful! I love all of the grays and blues. it feels very fresh yet classic and elegant.

Beautiful! WOW factor going on there for sure!

Do you mind sharing the room dimensions?

Absolutely lovely. Great new layout and I love the backsplash especially, and those great mudroom cabinets!!! Beautiful job, congratulations!

Just checking in with you to see how your countertops are holding up. I have two young children too and am on the fence about carrera but really love the look! Gorgeous kitchen!

Oooo looks great!!! I didn't know about the lemon trick. Love the kids backpacks...were they an Etsy find?

Redroze - the backpacks are from Pottern Barn kids.

Kam76 - they are holding up ok. I will tell you, you have to be really careful because they do scratch. Don't throw the keys down on the countertops, don't drag stuff across them, that sort of thing. Rubbing lemon juice periodically all over them evenly etches them, so they all look very uniformly 'matte'. which is a look I personally prefer. I seriously love them so much. You really must look hard at them for the bit of dings and whatnot.

Perky2 - I will have to measure. It is not a big space though, that I can tell you. I would have to pull some old sketches to find out the space before though. Hopefully I kept the old kitchen layout from previous owners when they renovated in the early 1990's.

Can't recall who asked...but the shutters. We ended up with a custom shutter guy who comes from northern Baltimore County, near the PA line. The other company we were considering were from Gaithersburg, MD, called Perfect Fit Custom Shutters (www.perfectfitshutters.com)

cwalen: Love your kitchen…I had to post because I think you'll probably get a kick out this. You'll be surprised at how closely some of us actually look at these reveal photos. You know what I ordered after looking at your photo? The Thomas Keller Ad Hoc at Home cookbook. I saw it next to your range and knew my kitchen "needed" it too. :-)) Heeeheee!

I had to look at your kitchen again. I really love it!

Thanks for sharing all the details. It is so peaceful and beautiful with wonderful lighting and beautiful cabinets, counters, backsplash and the appliances!

Nilon,

LOL'ing! I love that book! And it's way too pretty to keep in the cabinet.

cwalen, beautifully classic remodel! My new layout is going to be very similar, and I want to make sure that I have room for three bar stools. Would it be possible for you to tell me the dimensions of your peninsula, the depth of the overhang, and the distance between the peninsula and the refrigerator wall? Thanks much.

Was the partial overlay of your cabinets similar to refacing on existing cabinets with real wood? Did you just do new cabinets where needed? I am considering complete
refacing on my existing cabinets in wood. Your kitchen is absolutely beautiful...what wonderful planning and execution.

Wilson - the peninsula is 40.5 x 71.5. Overhang is 15" on the long side, and 9" on the edge opposite the fridge. We comfortably get 3 stools, 4 stools if they ate the kids, and the 9" overhang can do a 4/5th seat if needed. The space/walkway is 33" to fridge handle.

Gram08 - we did all new cabinets....

Beautiful, gracious, welcoming, open. Those are the words that come to mind as i view your pictures. Congratulations , that is a space that just invites stepping into! Your taste is impeccable. I have never seen that soffit detail trim before and it is very attractive. Looks like you had to change out some windows also- can I ask what type you used?

I emailed you privately for some information since I am in the Baltimore area. Thank you for posting!

Gorgeous! I really like the backsplash and counters! Congratulations on a beautiful remodel!

Scrappy25 - funny story with the soffits. When we ordered cabinets, we did uppers based on the existing ceiling. During demo, we realized the kitchen ceiling height was different than the living room height. We also originally thought we'd have to do a support beam in between the opened up kitchen and LR, assuming the wall was load-bearing. Turns out it was not, and we could seamless integrate the ceilings. That presented a problem with the fact that the long-ordered upper cabinets would either have a gap above them (which we did not want) OR we had to get creative with soffits/trim. My contractor suggested the crown above the drywall bulkheads, and I love how it turned out!

cwalen- thanks, i just saw this response!

I tried to email you through gardenweb but not sure that you got it. Could you email me through gardenweb (click on my name for the email link) with the name and contact number of your plantation shutter guy? I'd also like the name and contact of your contractor if that is okay. He seems to have good suggestions. If you post it here I will also see it. thanks!

Also, where did you get your marble countertop and which fabricator did you use? sorry for all the questions. Always great when one can get local recommendations.

Hi Scrappy - I just emailed you thru Garden Web. Check to see if you received it!

Hi! Are the counters still holding up??