Beautiful! The details are superb.

Very, very pretty.

Oh my cloudswift! That is absolutely GORGEOUS!! I LOVE IT!!

Wonderful! I especially love the flush floor vents and perfect transition from wood to tile.

Beautiful work--allover!

beautiful! the stone around the fireplace is fantastic.

would you mind sharing the measurements in your kitchen for me? i am in the midst of planning an island. yours looks much larger, but pics can be misleading :)

Thank you all for the compliments. We've been extremely happy with the craftsmanship of folks that our GC hires except for one glitch with the first person that the low voltage wiring company sent out, but the GC agreed about the problem and had them supply someone who knew what he was doing to finish the job.

Missy, the L is 14' 3" (fridge and wall oven leg) by 12' 2" (the second number doesn't include the 1.5" counter overhang at the end of that leg of the L). Our island cabinets are 3' by 8'. With an inch and a half of overhang on 3 sides and 15" eating bar, the island counter top is 4' 4.5" by 8' 3".

The short aisle between the end of the island and the dishwasher/baking center part of the L is on the narrow side at 36" counter to counter, 39 inches between the cabinet boxes. We find that works quite well for us - it isn't a high traffic area. If anything, the counters being close there is convenient because we tend to use both sides when baking so having the counters close enough for easy reach to both is nice. It is enough room that one can sidle past the dishwasher door when it's open.

The main aisle is wide at 54" counter to counter not counting the bump out at the range. That makes it very easy for people to use the refrigerator and wall cabinet side without disturbing someone at the prep area and range.

Cloud_swift - How do you plan to arrange furniture in the rest of the room? Please post pics when you are done. I am trying to do an island, table, and seating area and its hard to get a cohesive floorplan. Yours is looking good so far! I love the fireplace.

Looks so very good! It's great to see the final pictures, after having seen the drawings and reading what your concerns were about the area around the fireplace. Anticipating the final, final pictures. Good work!

It's looking wonderful, Cloudswift. This is going to be a terrific room. I wish I could live over this stage in my kitchen; it's really fun, huh? What will go on that great shelving in your breakfast area?

Ooh, that is BEAUTIFUL!

Now that is hot!

Great choice to go with a black hearth. It looks beautiful!

I love your kitchen especially your beautiful natural maple floors! I love your wood and tile transition and your wood vents that are flush to the floor. I love the black hearth!I can't wait to see the room with the baseboards in!

Everything looks so nice. You have really got superb craftsmen . The little touches make such an overall big difference. What a stunning space when all is completed...the views must be wonderful. c

I don't know how I missed this, but this is fantastic! I love how the fireplace surround came out. I was one of the ones who liked using the small piece for the hearth, but I think you hit a home run with this one!

Ooh, that is BEAUTIFUL!

Gorgeous! What a craftsman! What kind of fireplace is it?

Hey, Cloud_swift, your kitchen was one of my key inspirations during granite selection time. And now your granite rocks that fireplace:) Love it!

Dilly, it will probably be a few more weeks before the room is completely arranged. We waited to order the cabinets that will go against the fireplace wall until the wall was framed to ensure that the measurements would be correct. It is a good thing because we ended up making the fireplace a little wider than originally planned and had to shave a couple of inches off the cabinets - which is a lot easier when they are still on paper.

This is what that wall should look like after we are done:

The first cabinet to the left of the fireplace speaker cloth section will have a pull out component rack for amplifier, media computer, DVD, etc. The rest of the cabinetry will handle media, toys and some kitchen overflow as well as the front three speakers. The subwoofer will sit on the floor by the right side of the windows. We had a speaker cable installed in the wall to that spot for it.

We already have the TV mounted. Our GC is such a dear - he had asked if we wanted blocks put in behind the drywall to attach the mount. We said we didn't think we needed them because the mount has a lot of slots for adjusting to where the joists were and it seemed like it would work. After the room was painted but fortunately before touch up, we found that the change in fireplace dimensions had put the joists in just the wrong position and we needed blocks after all. He came over and put them in before the touch-up was done and there is no evidence of the surgery he did on the drywall. He didn't complain and was very sweet about it.

We will stay pretty light on furniture in the family room because it leaves plenty of play space for the grand children. A couch will sit between the island and the fireplace wall (facing the TV and fireplace of course, except, when we are going to have a party, we sometimes move the couch against the side wall to make more space). We also have a chair with an ottoman which is nice but takes up a lot of floor space. When we replace the couch, we might get a couch and love seat or something that allows an L shaped seating configuration with some seating along the side wall opposite the window wall.

We have a rug that goes in front of the couch. Actually, we have two - a very nice one that we bought in Istanbul which is rolled up until the grandkids get a bit older and an inexpensive one that no one will be bothered about if it gets ruined. The inexpensive one does a good enough job of giving some warmer floor space for kids play for now. That is pretty much it for family room furniture.

There are two stools and a learning tower at the island overhang.

Here is the table in the breakfast room:

Very gorgeous. The wooden floor grate is performance art.

Thank you to everyone who suggested going with black for the heart stone. We started to think about that because the remnant we had of Azul do Mar was a little small, but every time that I look at it, I'm convinced that it looks so right this way. Even if the blue remnant we had was big enough, the black is better. It blends with the fireplace and grounds the blue.

The weather turned cool enough that we have had our first fires and it puts out a nice amount of heat. We are very happy to have a low pollution efficient fireplace instead of the old one.

marti8a, the fireplace is a Lennox Villa Vista which is also sold as a BIS Panorama.

We are so happy with our GC; he hires great craftsmen. We didn't know that the floor vents could be done so flush, it was their own initiative to do them so nicely. We had one problem with the low voltage wire guy because we wanted Cat 6 cables and he didn't have enough experience with them. Also he just wasn't very good, apparently a newer hire at the wiring contractor. But our GC got them to send out a guy who usually does business wiring to finish the job and make sure it was all done correctly.

rosie, the breakfast room shelving is original to the house. We rearranged it a bit for toddler grandkids to visit so the bottom-most shelves hold harmless stuff like wicker baskets. My cookbooks take up about 3 shelves. Matches for lighting Shabbat candles are on the highest shelf. There is a shelf that holds the telephone base station and memo pads and another one that holds some stationary supplies for when one wants them at the table plus some other books. It also holds vases, some metal and wood serving bowls. Some prayer books for using at the table on holidays. Salt shakers and pepper grinder when they aren't on the table. My DH has made some really nice ones. I should post a picture of some. It is a real workhorse.