As many others have said, "WOW". That is one dramatic change. I am a fan of modern/ contemporary so I love everything about you new space. Wishing you lots of good times in your new kitchen

I absolutely love your kitchen!

What a remarkable transformation. Your new kitchen is just beautiful. It's also a great inspiration to me as we are in the midst of planning a kitchen remodel and are going with dark modern cabs with light counters and floors.

Enjoy your new kitchen!

It is beautiful on my iPad, I can only think it must be so much prettier in real life! Love your color choices and the bookshelves. What is sweet little one. Great job.

Holy moly my jaw dropped--what a transformation!! I LOVE your backsplash. What a lucky little girl to grow up in such a beautiful kitchen!

It is spectacular! I love how much room you have now and how functional too. Truly a cook's kitchen. And the best part is probably to be a guest and sit at those comfy bar stools chatting and preparing dinner.

Holy cow! That doesn't even look like the same BUILDING! That is unbelievably beautiful!

We have tons of cookbooks too, but we keep them in another room. I'll bet if my husband sees your pictures he'll want to put in built-ins in our just-finished kitchen!!

I love your pulls. I briefly thought about getting that kind but realized it was probably too modern for the kitchen we were building. But I do love those.

Absolutely stunning kitchen!!!

I love it, so modern and clean.

Love it!

I have the same countertop and my faucets are so similar I almost mistook yours for mine (brizo solna).

And I have a cutey that's probably about the same age as yours (mine's 16 months) :-)

How do you like the Elux beverage fridge? We have yet to buy one but it's on our short list.

You Rocked It Gurrrlll!

Let's just say I was stuck staring the first photo of the new kitchen for awhile. And then I thought, "maybe there are more pictures"....oh and the other photos didn't disappoint either! Your kitchen is really great.

Your little one could not be any cuter.

Wishing you many years of enjoyment with the kitchen and the wee one.

Oh wow what a great new kitchen. Taking that wall out was a brilliant call. Love the whole thing, and especially your wonderful dose of cute!!

Absolutely beautiful! You have great taste. Especially love the backsplash.

I could eat that munchkin UP. Those little cheeks demand kisses!!

Spectacular!! Night and Day - love the backsplash and of course the cutie pie (the 2 legged one). It is hard to say much more than what others have said already. Definitely more pictures!!

What is your backsplash!

Oh my! I am so honored and touched by all your kind responses.

@Quiltgirl - it's hard to get good pix close up of the countertops, but here's another one.

I know conventional wisdom on the boards say to see your Torquay slab in person. I don't necessarily agree. We went to the Cambria "mother ship" in northern Minnesota before ordering. We couldnt see the exact slabs we were getting. But They have "ideal" slabs of every Cambria style on site. They explained that all others are manufactured to fit that "ideal". (think dog shows...) its not exact, of course, but you get the idea. anyway - if you like it, you like it. You may not get the "exact" idea of every swirl you are getting, but the samples are quite accurate It definitely helped to see the full sized slab. I will say that Torquay could go gray or taupe, which ever way you are suited.

@enduring-so sweet! Our girl is half Norweigan/Swede. Good eye!

@Badgergal - I've always loved your taste. Modern soul mates :)

@Cottonpenny - we love the Elux fridge! It was reasonably priced and keeps beer, soda, white wine, etc. perfectly cold. Love the pull-out shelves.

WOW. Like everyone said, what a change!! I am in awe !!
Congratulations, its stunning.

@2gemini - sorry I missed you. The backsplash is glass tile. Solistone Mardi Gras tile in Metairie. We ordered it from Amazon for some savings.

Really classy and modern! Looks like it would be easy to clean too!

What they said. WOW! Stunning, really. Love the windows, beverage station, comfy stools. Everything looks so clean and sleek. It looks like it'd be a joy to cook in.

The blue of that backsplash is mesmerizing, like looking at water how the color and reflections change. I love it's boldness.

Beautiful job.

Modern M, It was the Lefse that was the give away:) My DH is 1/2 Swede 1/2 German. There are lots of Swedish relatives that are still communicated with even though my DH grand parents came over before the turn of the century. We live in the midwest and there are lots of Swedish and Norwegian immigrants from long ago. Again beautiful kitchen and an adorable dolly.

Beautiful and sleek. Love the backsplash and range top.

Your baby is adorable.

What a transformation! I just love your new kitchen - the color choices are stunning and not seen every day which is just my cup of tea. The Torquay is a really nice choice. Also, your daughter could not be cuter!

Couldn't not chime in... amazing job! I agree with above posters... my jaw dropped at the first pic! It's magazine worthy! Love, love, love the blue tile. Enjoy your beautiful, functional new kitchen!

Wow! That's all I can say!

WOWSER !! I am so astounded by the change and your vision taking it from what you had to this. You have done a super job and your space is breathtaking. Your dose of cute is just too precious. I have a 13 month old grandson and he is too cute too :) Enjoy your wonderful new kitchen . c

Wow! What a transformation! Hard to believe the before and after occupied the same space! Love the contrast between the dark cabs with the light counter and the splash of blue. Just gorgeous! You did a fabulous job!

That picture of your little cutie is beyond precious! She is just too cute for words! You can see the mischief in those eyes! lol I think she has big plans for that microwave drawer!

Absolutely gorgeous! So many features to love!!!

So so so beautiful!!! that blue tile-really really nice touch!!! And the dose of cute is crazy adorable cute. :) Very gorgeous kitchen! :)

Oh, lovely!! I'm not even a fan of modern, but I just want to gaze at your lovely kitchen--love that backsplash, and the contrast between the dark cabs and the cambria. And your little one is adorable! Nice job, really nice job.

Cj

Stunning! Love every element of your new kitchen.

Stunning, breathtaking... adorable!

And the kitchen is nice, too. ;)

But really, what a fantabulous change. I had to keep going back and forth to try to see how it went from the old to dazzling! How I wish I'd thought to do a shelf like that at the end of my oven.
I love the clean lines and surfaces of the contemporary mixed with some design choices that still make it homey.

Enjoy!

Modern - thanks for the tile information! You must be just loving your kitchen!

beautiful!

Can I ask about the stools? I was looking on overstock for something similar. which ones are they? Are they comfortable and sturdy?

Love the kitchen! What an amazing transformation!!!

Can you tell me what size pulls you used on your cabinets? Trying to decide what to use - it looks like you may have used two different sizes, is that correct? (Looks like almost all are one size, but that you have a narrow drawer base over by the corner that might have needed smaller pulls.)

Really really nice transformation!

Would you know what hinges the cabinet maker used on your coffee/toaster ?pull-up? door?

I am doing a similar thing for my appliance garage and I am now looking for the hinges.

Did you have to move out during the finishing of the oak floor? How many coats did you do?

Our flooring was stained rift-sawn white oak (over radiant heating), then 2 coats of Bona so far. Our last coat (satin) will be right before we leave for Christmas. Phew: smelly!

Thank you for your help,
Amanda

Love your new kitchen. That blue tile is just eye-popping gorgeous. Also, it makes modern seem "fresh" and more approachable.

Love your little one too, and her reflection in the microwave drawer is so cute. When she figures out how to microwave her own smores you could be in trouble.

Very dramatic and unique, but still comfy. Beautiful job... it really doesn't look like the same building! Little cutie pie looks like a sweetie, too!

Absolutely Fabulous. . . !

Absolutely stunning! Where did you get your pendants and what size are they?

I absolutely LOVE your bookshelf. What a nice, unexpected touch.

Now you're making me wish I had the foresight to do the exact same thing. One can never have too many quality spots for books! :)

Congratulations - it is a spectacular remodel!

Gorgeous!!! I just love everything, including that sweet little nugget by the microwave. :) Very jealous of all your book space. I have a 30" wall cab planned for mine, and I'm worried it won't be enough.

I have had a similar aha moment where I decided that I no longer want white cabinets.

I am very happy to see that you have stained poplar cabinets, as I was unsure what poplar would look like stained. I also want a slab cabinet with a dark stain, and the cabinet guy told me that poplar wouldn't take stain well. Are you happy with them?

Great job-it is just a stunning kitchen!

Your kitchen is gorgeous!

so sorry to you all that it took me so long to respond to your nice responses and questions. it's been a crazy week :)

@ PPS7 -- the stools are from Overstock, they are Sunpan Churchill Adjustible in white, ~$200 each. they are so comfy! it was hard to find anything that was closed in the back (little kids), and big/strong enough to fit my 6'4" hubby. they are a little big for my taste, but really comfy and strong.

@ Andreak -- we used a combo of 7 inch and 10 inch pulls.

@ Huango -- our floor guy was able to do the finish in a day. he used a commercial coat of Bona for the top coat. it dried really fast and didnt' smell bad at all. we just had to keep the dog off it for about a week.

@ MG Dawg -- so sorry, but I can't remember the brand of the pendants. we got them on clearance at a local independent lighting store in MN. they weren't even in a box so I'm not sure if we ever knew the brand. they were only $30 a piece, so a huge bargain.

@ Drybean -- so interesting that you were told that about Poplar. we were told by our cabinet maker that Poplar takes a dark stain very well. we are very happy with it and saved so much $$ over our original plan of cherry. it is a soft wood, but we haven't had any issues re: damage yet. I would recommend it.

Modern: Well I'll be honest I wasnt expecting to be completely bowled over by your kitchen.
I am. Even the blue. Don't even like blue. Don't even like modern. Can't believe how much I like your kitchen.
Really this is such a good example of how well everything works together.
Your baby girl is precious.

@ ck_squared -- I would be happy to :) we used Sage Homes out of Plymouth as our GC and Cabinets by Dan out of Savage, MN for our cabinets. I would recommend both highly.

Speechless....except to say, speechless.

looks fantastic! its great to see a dark kitchen with light tops. A similar combination will be going in our new home under construction. Seeing yours makes us anxious for the new one.

I haven't been on GW much since we moved in last year, but I'm so glad I logged in tonight. Your kitchen turned out so beautifully! Of course, I see so many things I like! I love that you went with the Mardi Gras backsplash. We went back and forth between the Metairie and Carrollton. I don't think either us could have gone wrong.

Congrats on a job beautifully well done!

@modern_mom35 Yes, this thread is 8 years old, but I found it searching for Torquay and dark cabinets, as that is what I plan to put in my kitchen. (I don't like painted wood and while white cabinets are lovely, my kids don't mix well with white!) I am also drawn to blue in a backsplash but am somewhat hampered by the '90s off white (slightly warm) 12"x12" tile that is in my kitchen as it is most of my first floor and out-of-budget to replace it. I was thrown into the remodel due to a burst pipe, with a large section of my kitchen already demo'd due to having to fix the pipe, so I don't want to take months to decide or wait to find the "perfect" deal or for backordered items. At the same time, I don't want to hate it when it's done.

I am loving your toaster pullout and trying to see exactly what you did with the microwave. I'm wishing I had an exposed end to do shelves (saw it in another kitchen and loved the look) but the kitchen is built into an L with walls cutting it off, so nothing open ended for me. I don't have the budget to gut everything but I do mostly like my layout.

I was thinking my kitchen might be too dark with a backsplash like that, but yours shows it might work, although you have windows spread throughout and mine only has windows in the breakfast nook, and I'd punch another window in the wall, but it's the north side that just shows my neighbors house far too close, not really a view I want, even with more light. I think installing proper lighting will really help, as it almost has none since we took out the old large soffit fluorescent main light due to having to move the large built-in due to water damage (which I hated anyway). Trying to figure out the layout before we start punching holes in the ceiling!

Thanks for the links of what you purchased. The online photos make the backsplash look much lighter than your kitchen photos which is good to keep in mind when I'm looking online.

I am curious if 8 years later there is anything you would change? This was truly a stunning remodel.