Everything looks perfect! The cabinets are devine!!

It's beautiful. You did a wonderful job. Enjoy your new kitchen!

busybme, Yes, the doors swing both ways. I believe the hardware is called a cafe door hinge and is something like this link We didn't have a ton of room and usually have at least two cooks in the kitchen, so every inch counts. I'm pretty happy with everything turned out.

amylovesbud, I'd be happy to share any cabinet configurations, etc that you might find helpful. I do like the flow of the kitchen. The island is 8'-2" between the columns and the columns themselves are 10". Behind the columns, we have 8" of counter, so all together, I guess the length of the island is 9'-6". I really tried to think about the cabinet layout, using what I learned here and knowing how DH and I cook. For instance, we have two trash cans because we were always fighting over the trash, etc.

minette99, Working with an Amish cabinet maker was interesting and I posted here several times through out the process about my experience. The hard part is that we were 6 hours from him and he didn't have a phone, so I was always sending him snail mail and then having to have my parents (who were an hour and a half away) drive to his farm and hunt him down in the field. Everything was complicated by the floods this summer. I believe he works primarily with non-Amish people, but it is definitely different than walking into a cabinet shop. They don't use power tools. It is really amazing. And, like I said, they did the cabinetry throughout our house, including some really amazing and unique pieces like our fireplace, some recessed medicine cabinets in our master bath and a desk on wooden wheels for my boys "office". If I could draw it, they could build it. In the end, it turned out to be one of the best parts of our build. When we finish our basement, we will go back, algthough at the time, by DH was about to divorce me because I couldn't do anything the "normal" way.

marthavila , Thank you! Like I said, our pantry is rather modest. I worked very hard to squeeze it in. The overall dimensions are that it is 32" wide by 25" deep. The shelves were built specifically to house the CanSolidator which I bought at Costco after seeing one on the BAH forum. The bottom shelf is 20" off the floor and then moving up from there, I have a 17" shelf, 13", 13" and 17". The two 13" shelves are where the CanSolidator is. On the very bottom shelf, I bought wire baskets for bread and "snacks" and then hanging baskets for my dish towels.

janeincolorado, The paint is SW Humble Gold. We used it in most of the "public" areas in our house (many thanks to the Decorating forum, are you sensing a trend?) :) It is in our kitchen, nook, living room, foyer, staircase and upstairs hall. The cabinet hardware is Amerock Forgings Four Square pulls and knobs. The pulls are a standard 3" pull.

Thanks again to everyone for all the compliments and help!

Beautiful! That green tile is exactly what my grandmother had in her 1920's kitchen except she had painted her walls to look like tile. She also had oak cabinets that are similar.

LOVELY!! The bluestar and soapstone are so beautiful.. it all is, actually. good job!

Love it! I could be very happy in your kitchen :-)!!

I have long admired your preview pics with your beautiful soapstone, but seeing the total package, well it is incredible. Your quartersawn oak cabs and all the details (like the way your backsplash coordinates with your pendant lights) fit together to create such a warm and inviting arts and crafts kitchen. Enjoy!

Your cabinets and island are stunners. Beautiful backsplash. You must be tickled!

You obviously gave this kitchen a LOT of thought--and it has paid off a thousand fold. It all fits together so well and it's beautiful. The pantry doors--brilliant!! We went the same route with a range and the Advantium and couldn't be happier. I'm actually surprised at how easy it is to use the Advantium, and how multi-functional it actually is.

Jaymie,

I've followed your progress and I have to say that your kitchen is MAGAZINE WORTHY!!!

Jenn

I'm echoing everybody else, but it's beautiful and so functional. The natural materials fit so well with your gorgeous view. We picked many of the same appliances-- a 6-burner Bluestar, Advantium, and Futuro hood; I am loving mine, too!

I am sure you will enjoy many wonderful moments in this warm, welcoming kitchen and breakfast area.

Two comments here...first, It's hard to look at the kitchen after you look at that view :) Fabulous, but the kitchen is a great compliment to it. I bet you're just loving having such a wonderful space to look out from. The backsplash is a star! Fab.

DH says the big round cutting board looks out of place...please package it up and mail it to us so we can find a place for it here :oP (It's soooo cool!!!)

JM - what a great kitchen! I especially love that beautifiul green backsplash tile (what is it?) and the cutting board (ditto - where did that come from?) The first *aerial* shot you took is just stunning. It IS magazine worthy, for sure!

Happy cooking,
Eliz

Your kitchen has long been one of my favorites. From the gorgeous wood cabinetry, to the soapstone and bold, but right, backsplash choice, to the stunning pendants, every detail is perfect. I've shown your hutch to my DH so many times that he knows exactly which kitchen I'm talking about when I reference it.

Everything came together so beautifully. Enjoy!

Oh, that is just so perfectly lovely. I can't pick out just one thing I love above the others. I love seeing all the natural elements and the color.

It's perfect. It's simply perfect. I don't know what else I can say.

Absolutely perfect. Thank you for sharing your photos--everything is gorgeous.

Jaymielo -- thanks for that answer about your Amish cabinet maker! What an experience and great story behind your cabinets! And they truly are lovely as are all of the accompanying finishes and choices. Thanks for sharing all of this.

Beautiful kit, I love your style.

It was so nice to wake up this morning to such nice compliments. I'm actually blushing! There are SO MANY beautiful kitchens on this forum. It is just so nice to be able to finally share the kitchen that you all helped build.

iris16, It is so nice to hear your grandmother had similar tile in an 1920's era kitchen. It was the look we were going for, but it was one of the hardest selections because my purse wasn't able to stretch for one of the big name arts and crafts tile makers like Motawi.

igloochic, You, with the view! I've peaked out your kitchen window and you have views to die for! However, the best time here is sunset since the windows face West, right about when I'm usually starting dinner. In our old home, we were in the city and never saw the sunset. Here, we have a show every night. It is a real treat. And I'll package the board right up. The UPS man will KILL me!

elizpiz, I had the backsplash made by an artist at Artistic Abode . Christine was very nice to work with. She sent me multiple sample tiles for color and then I sent her a line drawing which she used to make the 6x6 and 3x3 art tiles. She was also able to make the different sized 1x6, 2x4 and 3x6 tiles for me. Our fireplace just happens to be on her home page right now. ;-) Here is a little closer picture of the backsplash which shows all the different pieces of tile she made for us.

The cutting board is a John Boos block. We got it from Select Appliance. Shipping was free, if you can believe it, for both that AND our BlueStar.

I think what first attracted me to your kitchen was your choice of materials.....that gorgeous quartersawn oak. I have been anxiously awating these pictures. You have given us a lot of "teaser" pics for a while now, but this finished product is even nicer than I envisioned it would be. The wood, the colors, that fantastic back splash....everything works so well together. Congratulations on a job well done!

Cindy

Everyone has said it already, but WOW! What a fabulous kitchen. I love the tile and your soapstone is gorgeous. You must be so pleased. Happy cooking!

As everyone else has said, simply gorgeous. Thanks for the close-up pictures of the tile. They are exquisite! Great job. It's no wonder you are so happy. Congrats on a stunner of a kitchen. Looks great to work in as well.

Thanks alot! I finnally decided on my raised panel cherry cabinets and I see yours and I want to start all over again! LOL. Seriously I love how you captured the craftsman look but still looks modern if that makes sense? I love how you mixed painted and stained woods because that is what I am in the process of doing. I love your QS oak floor I can't wait to get mine. I have followed your kitchen also and am sad you won't be posting anymore. Great job and enjoy your beautiful kitchen.

Stunning! Should be in a dream kitchen magazine!

Perfect embodiment of the craftsman ideal! Couldn't get much better than that! The workmanship was so good, that I had no idea what previous posters were talking about when they commented on the view! Thought maybe you had other links- didn't even notice that gorgeous wall of windows while looking at your hutch...was too busy trying to imagine how I could incorporate something like that in my house!

Beautiful!! Where did you get the stools? Model number/name? We are searching for similar ones and those look great!

That kitchen is a dream! Simply wonderful!

Can you tell me about the lighting -- I love the chandelier and pendants, where are they from?

kszal, The stools were a real deal. We were out of money by the time we got to that part, so I picked those up at Bed Bath and Beyond. They retail for $29.99, but watch the ads because I got a better deal than that. I think $19.99. You can also use a 10% coupon.

kitchen1921, The lighting is by Medya Tiffany. I purchased it from 1stoplighting.com. If you search for Macintosh, you will find quite a few coordination items in the line, depending on where you need the light for.

Just SOOOO pretty, warm, inviting, well-thought, working kitchen. Fantastic job!!!

PERFECTION! and i mean it...

As soon as I saw the first photo of the kitchen, i said to myself, look at those gorgeous cabinets, i wonder what they are?
reading on, I see that they are hand crafted and it shows. There is something so wonderful about handmade, well crafted furniture. something that mass produced lacks (and i love ikea btw).

I have built my own cabs and therefore partial to unique cabinetry. I absolutely love your kitchen.

The light in that room is magical.

when can we come over :)

wow, gorgeous!

I think this might be one of the favorites Ive ever seen on this site. It all comes together like a dream. The proportions are exquisite, the cabinets handsome and the tile right up my alley (I have two Motawi tiles in my arts & crafts inspired kitchen) and green is the "theme" of my house.
Talk about everything working as a whole! I am wowed.

pharaoh, I've long admired your kitchen cabinets and they are all the more beautiful because you built them. You are welcome over anytime! I'll keep a bottle of wine chilled for unexpected guests!

Absolutely stunning! I was waiting for a long time to see those stunning Renee Macintosh tiles in action! i think you posted them way back in March, IIRC?

you have created an amazing kitchen. everythng is stunning, especially the soapstone!

any chance you could post a closeup of the knobs and pulls?

Congrats, Yana

PS - the view is absolutely the die for! what part of teh country are you located at?

yanalg, You have a great memory. I did post pictures of my tile ever so long ago. I can't believe it took this long to come together! Here is a little closer picture of the cabinet hardware. It doesn't rival the beautiful pulls I think you posted way back when, but it met our budget.

Wow! Spectacular!!! Your kitchen is absolutely gorgeous!!!!

Jaymielo, I love your kitchen and actually, your entire house. It's beautiful. I was wondering if you could give me the name of your cabinetmaker. We are actually building a home in WI, and I was wondering if this would be a way we could go. Also, how do the costs compare to a semi-custom cabinet, like Kraftmaid?

Thanks!

Your kitchen/dining area is gorgeous. All the details are perfect, especially the backsplash, which contributes such a punch. But overall the space is simply one that I would love to visit in and stay a while. I can just envision myself coming for coffee and sitting at the dining table or the island, staying out of your way, and watching you work. It's that kind of a warm, inviting place.

gobruno, I'd be happy to share that information with you, but could you do me a favor and email me off MyPage? Since our cabinet maker is Amish, he is a very private person and I don't want to upset him or violate any of his religious beliefs in any way by posting his contact information in a public forum. The cost, in comparison to a semi-custom line from a big box, was very competitive.

Jay,

I am so intrigued by the cabinet maker. No power tools! incredible and unbelievable. How long did the cabinets take to make? Do you have a photo of the cabinet makers workshop? i know that is a long shot for a private man :)

I am still in awe of your kitchen. I think the word is sublime ...

pharoah, It was an amazing experience. I will further qualify my statements about power tools by saying that they did have some sort of an gasoline engine outside the rear of the workshop that ran a system of belts. I'm not sure what that was used for... Whenever I was there they were using screwdrivers, clamps, chisels, planers, etc. I do have a couple of pictures from the few times I was up at the shop, but I'm afraid they don't show much of the process... I've inlined are some entries from my blog which might be of interest. The cabinets seemed to take forever to build, but a lot of that was due to the fact that he was working on a large order when we were ready for him to begin, and then the floods coincided with our cabinets being made... In the end, I think it took them about 4 weeks of active construction time to finish all the cabinetry. This included the kitchen, plus... our dining room, fireplace, 4 bathroom vanities, recessed medicine cabinets, 2 built in desks and 2 window seats. Normally, they would have installed the cabinetry for us, but since we were so far away, we had to have a local custom cabinet shop install it. They had an interesting reaction. First, the guys doing the install told the owner that he had to come out and see it. They thought the cabinets were unlike anything they had seen (in a good way, I assume) but they weren't quite sure how to install them because they were truly "built in" pieces of furniture. We had particular problems with our window seats and built in desks and had to do some drywall repair after they squeezed them into their home.

Sneak Preview of Cabinetry (6/21/08)

Cabinet Update (7/5/2008)

Ohmigosh! How did I miss your kitchen?
I just love the quartersawn oak with your soapstone. Beautiful!

May I archive your kitchen in the Finished Kitchens blog? If so please submit the FKB Category Checklist. Thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: FKB Category Checklist

Starpooh, Thank you so much. We'd be honored to have our kitchen on the FKB. Here is a link to a slideshow of kitchen picutes. I will send you a FKB Category Checklist today. Thanks! jaymie

Hope I don't get in trouble for saying it, but I think this definitely qualifies as "kitchen porn" - thanks for sharing it.

jaymie, your home is a favorite, and what a delight to see the complete kitchen. Your cabinets throughout your home are so exceptional and it must be heaven to awake in such a beautiful home. You have worked hard and done well. What you've created is fabulous and oh so inviting.

thank you chefkev and bodica, It is heaven to live and cook in our new home. After a year or so in a rental while we were building, it has been a joy to rediscover all my cookbooks and to have such a nice space to create in.

Your kitchen is absolutely a piece of perfection. It's so well designed as a whole, and every detail is also beautiful. It's not easy to accomplish either, IMO, but accomplishing both is a real coup! I love the hardware you chose, it's perfect for the cabinets. The cabinetmaker selected and matched the boards of wood wonderfully, and your finish complements it -- perfectly. Great tile.

It's hard to believe that cabinetmaker's price is competitive to a big box store line!

Ooooh, quartersawn oak!!!!! Looove the tigering, and the table in the nook is so timeless.

I was thinking, my grandmother had quartersawn oak in her dining room, I always loved it. I wonder if the species and style of her furniture was an artifact of the decade (late 20's) when she bought it, which leads me to wonder how many other adults out there go all mushy over quartersawn oak because it whispers "grandma's house" all over their subconscious.

Your kitchen is lovely. I am making a new house and it is the time for kitchen cabinets. Could you kindly give me the name of the amish cabinet maker and the contact., I will greatly appreciate this. It will be for my personal residence. My E mail is fhassan60@yahoo.com
Thanks.