Steph,

What a gourgeously beautiful kitchen!

It is very rich and inviting, while equisite in your choice of colors, tieing the brown and the cream together with greens and greys, including through silver of the stainless steel! Love the choice of color on the walls!

Timeless! And very peaceful!

Congratulations and thank you so very much for sharing and giving us some great ideas!

Blessings,
Tanya

Steph,

I agree with caview...my breath was taken away when I saw it. I am sure that the openness will be great for you. Do you have before pix?

How long did it all take and did you have any major problems?
Is the backsplash behind the stove onyx? It is stunning!
Thanks for sharing and inspiring!
Terri

Steph, your kitchen looks terrific!!! I would love to do modern but DH thinks he's a colonial and we have everything traditional (I covet your gagg induction!). I love your pendants. Where did you get them?!

Stunning. Great cabinets, love your pendants and your layout!

Its beautiful! Enjoy it. My DH would never let us knock down the dining room hall. I think its fantastic!!

Beautiful, warm kitchen. Enjoy it. What make of kettle do you have on your induction?

Judy

What a gorgeous cherry kitchen. Terrific job!

What a beautiful, warm kitchen. I love your backsplash!

Beautiful! Love the way you inserted the small tiles in the backsplash -- creative pattern! Overall color scheme feels so pulled together.

Is that a kitty/critter hole I noticed in your door bottom left?

Gorgeous finished kitchen! What material is the eating bar/stool perch? I confess that I cheated and clicked on your pic to go to your complete photobucket album for more pics of your beautiful space. All the finishes look great together. Your kids are adorable too, but you may want to move them to a separate album(there are weirdos out there and you used names)

I had finally made the decision that our bar pulls would be centered on the drawers and told DH he can install them today, but am so in love with your kitchen that I may have to tell him that they need to go on the stiles.

Enjoy your beautiful new space.

Your kitchen is lovely, I love your cabinets with backsplash and how you opened up the space. I wish I could remove a wall it makes such a difference. Great Job!

Gorgeous up to date style. Modern and rich looking at the same time. Love it!

Thanks for all the nice comments.
I'll try to upload a before picture later. They are on my other computer.

The whole process took only about 8 to 10 weeks. Everything went very smoothly. We are very inexperienced remodelers but worked with a great contractor. We were actually gone for the first four weeks visiting family in a different state so we didn't have to live with any of the mess.

The backsplash is Hirsch glass tile combined with some green subway tile (don't remember who makes it).

The breakfast bar is Hi-Mac solid surface.
I haven't found stools I like yet, the ones we have are rather uncomfortable. So far the breakfast bar has mostly served as a dumping area for everyone walking in the door.

The pendants are "Nickel and Glass Cylinder Mini Pendants" from Forte Lighting. I got them at Bellacor for a great price.

Alice, yes, that is a kitty whole in our door going down to the basement. :-)

Laxsupermom, thanks for telling me about the other pics on Photobucket! I have now removed them.

Yolande, the kettle is a no-name kettle I found a Marshall's. I went shopping for pots there and brought a magnet to see what would work and what wouldn't. Found some great pots in different sizes all by different makers, most of which I had never heard of before.

Steph, your kitchen is beautiful. The cabinets that reach to the ceiling are grand. I love the appearance. I am only 5'3" so I told my DH that he can use all the top shelves for whatever he wants to put there (within reason), and I am getting a new unit made to include the microwave, and there will be a pantry, and a broom closet - all within easy reach.

By the way, is that a toaster oven on the counter? I am hunting one to replace our reg. toaster that eats are bread. I don't need one with all the 'bells and whistles' because I already have a range and MW that have convention.

You all did a fantastic job.
Jane

lovely, superb, gorgeous...

Love it all...

Love it, love it, love it. Very sharp and sophisticated, and looks like an efficient workspace. I like the change in backsplash behind the cooktop. Your details are just right to bring it all together.

Your kitchen is gorgeous. I especially love the backsplash behind the range! It brings life to the whole space. Very modern! What will you do with the oak table and curio that I see in the background? I think I had that exact set!

Fourtogo, I know the oak table and the curio/china hutch don't exactly match the modern kitchen. We might eventually replace the table but for it will do. The rest of our home isn't exactly modern either. Our home is about 20 years old, kind of Colonial style with lots of oak trim. I don't mind the mix of styles. :-)

Ok, here is a before picture.

To the left was the fridge and a small cabinet. Towards the front was the breakfast area. We decided we'd only need one eating area and would rather have a bigger kitchen with MORE storage space for more than one person in the kitchen.

Wow, what a transformation! Your new kitchen is really wonderful...I'm sure you and your family will enjoy it.

Eliz

Bet you just want to sleep in there so you can keep taking it all in. It is gorgeous. Well done!!

Wowie zowie. Your kitchen is just gorgeous. The before and after transformation is amazing. Do you walk into your new kitchen and get vertigo, wondering where the heck you are?

Congratulations on a beautiful job!

That is one of the most beautiful kitchens I've seen! Such an incredible transformation from the "before" picture (which I actually thought wasn't bad - though you should see *my* "before" pictures!).

I love *love* LOVE your backsplash. I'm looked at doing a 3x6 brick as well, and I love how you made yours interesting with the glass insets in the corners - that is so creative!!! (And I imagine very work-intensive.)

Just the overall coloring, the style - very warm and contemporary. I place I'd definitely love to hang out in. Congratulations!!!

Steph,

Love your kitchen! Can you tell me what your under cabinets lights are? Thanks!

So, so nice! Steph you have done a great job and your kitchen is an amazing 'before and after'!

Enjoy!

Sandy

Icenet, the under cabinet lights are xenon lights. I like how they look but they do get really hot. That's one thing I should have researched more. I now saw that there are different kinds of xenon lights.

Charlikin, thanks for the backsplash compliment. We didn't do the installation ourselves, but the person who did it spend almost two whole days sawing and setting the tile. I had originally intended to use the little glass tiles all over, but they were quite pricey. The combination with the subway tile seemed like a good compromise, although I probably ended up paying more for labor now. Oh well...
The backsplash is definitely one of my favorite parts of the kitchen and while I would like to take credit for coming up with the design and picking the tiles it was really the sales person/designer at the local tile place that came up with this.

What a gorgeous kitchen! I love everything about it. Beautiful tile, cabs, flooring and the new lay out. Great use of space. You must just love it. Great transformation!

Fantastic transformation! I love your choices.

Hi - wondering how you like your induction cooktop? Pros? Cons? Thanks.

Well done. I have one that's almost finished, but seeing yours makes me want to start over! Lots of drooling over the AMAZING transformation.

So warm and inviting. I love it!

Beware - I absolutely LOVE the induction cooktop. I am from Germany but have lived here for over 10 years and induction is very popular over there and have been around for several years. Mine was the first one our electrician installed and they didn't have any on display at the appliance store. I just ordered it from their catalog.
Induction heats super fast, is easy to control and easy to clean. The burners are cool to the touch seconds after removing the pot. The only downside was that I had to get all new pots and pans. I had a great set with copper bottoms that I can't use anymore. I would never go back to gas or electric.

Thanks for all the nice comments!!! :-)

hi steph1602 -
May I archive your kitchen in the Finished Kitchens Blog? If so please submit the Category Checklist to give your permission.
Thank you!

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

Hi,

Can you please tell me about your beautiful Custom Cupboards cabinets? There is a cabinet shop near me that advertises them, but I don't know how expensive they would be. I am currently looking at Bertch Legacy.

Thanks!

Very pretty, warm and inviting. You must be excited!

Jamms - We were really unexperienced remodelers and didn't shop around very much. Our kitchen designer sells these and gave us a quote for Custom Cupboards (CC) and Medallion (Designer/Gold line). The CC were somewhat more expensive (maybe 15%) but we ended up picking them because of the wood interiors, standard Blumotion glides, plus they offered special pricing (no up-charge for cherry at the time we ordered). There are tons or door styles and finishes available. So far the quality of the cabinets has been outstanding and we're looking forward to enjoying them for many years to come.