If you missed Part 2 (Julia soapstone installed), I have linked it below. The link to Part 1 (Layout evolution and cabinet installation) is that thread.
The Kitchen Cockpit (Kohler Stages 45 sink and under sink cabinet)
I have enjoyed my Stages 45 so much that it deserves it own separate post. Many thanks fo all those who posted previously on it. The wonderful review by rjr220 was really instrumental in my decision to buy it. bbtrix and beekeeperswife held my hand as I asked questions about installation. I don't know how many times I looked at lauralincoln's picture with her two Kohler Karbon faucets. There are several others who used the Stages 45 and 33 sinks creatively in their cabinetry who contributed ideas to my final installation. Thank you all!
You may or may not remember from Part 1 that I moved the sink in this renovation to the peninsula, the location of my former cooktop. That idea, suggested by bmorepanic and refined by lavenderlass, cleared a huge swath of counterspace in front of the kitchen window (the former location of the sink) and allowed access to the sink from 3 sides of the peninsula for 3 persons simultaneously. This layout happens to perfectly follow Marcolo's "Ice, Water, Rock, Fire" sequence coincidentally.
This layout coalesced when I got a deal on the Stages 45 sink on the Home Depot website. I paid $849 for it, but in retrospect the $1149 normal price is fully worth it. I have wonderful appliances and cabinets that are loaded with extras, but this sink area is really the center of all activity, hence called "The Cockpit" in our home.
One unexpected finding is that most of my prep is actually done in the sink itself rather than on the large amount of counterspace that I now have next to it. This is really nice in that I am facing the eating area and family room and can easily socialize with others while I am prepping. When my sister and mom were here over Thanksgiving, we used all 3 sides of the peninsula for prepping, every surface was covered.
I took some pictures while quickly making dinner tonight so that you get the idea of how I use it.
The first photo was taken when I was cutting and cleaning the cauliflower. There is a lot in this photo, so bear with me. I use the Ikea Breskar chopping board ($20) because the Stages one is much too heavy to easily lift. This one fits perfectly if turned sideways. The thin plastic cutting liners help me to easily move the chopped items into their colanders or cooking containers. Those black plastic Boholmen colanders (also Ikea, $2.99)are perfect for rinsing as well as for draining cleaning items.
I have two identical Hansgrohe pullout faucets as well as an instant hot, an air gap gd switch, and a soap dispenser. I reused my old faucet and found the discontinued matching faucet on ebay. The left faucet is on a dual activated tapmaster- there is a kick control on the sink side of the peninsula and a drawer activated control on the outside of the peninsula (thanks for plllog for her help with this). If you look hard in this picture you will see a red adhesive Avery dot on the bottom of the cabinet, that was to tell us where the kick control is. The right faucet has normal operation.
The pullout trash cabinet under the right deep part of the sink has a Blum electric Servodrive which pushes the trash open when I nudge it with my knee. LOVE this! The front is the regular trash and the back has the recycling. So convenient when prepping in the sink.
Someone asked me about the small open area to the left of the sink. That was unused filler space and it is only 16 inches deep due to the undercounter fridge on the other side of the peninsula, so I had them frame it out for the smaller cutting boards. It is only 4 inches wide and the opening is only 2.5 inches wide but it is very handy.
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After rinsing and draining the chopped cauliflower, it gets dumped into the steamer containers and put into the steam oven.
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Chopping board and liner gets rinsed and set to dry in the Ikea Boholmen dish drainer ($7.99). Thsi sits on my integral soapstone drainboard. Excuse the mail dumped on the eating area table and chair. Homework for tonight.
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On the other side of the peninsula is my coffee center.
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This picture shows my coffee drawer, the undercounter fridge with the milk and soy milk in it, and the coffee maker in relationship to the sink. The peninsula side tapmaster control is activated by depressing the face of this coffee drawer.
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OK, cauliflower has cooked and steam pans and water jug are rinsed and drying in and about the sink. My son is doing a photobomb in the picture with the tapmaster activation of the faucet from the other side.
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Better picture of the trash pullout. This is the standard Dutchwood pullout trash unit but I asked them to put in only one hard plastic unit and to leave the back open for my paper recycling.
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I use doubled regular grocery bags for my trash and the hard container is too large, so I store my extra bags underneath, ready to grab when I take out the full trash. You can see that I also store my extra paper bags for recycling right there also.
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Here's my Progressive collapsible dish tub that actually fits for storage in a very tight space under my sink.
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The next picture will show you the handiwork of a wonderful plumber who was here a full day to make this all work on the 18 inch side of the sink not taken up by the trash. Can you see my collapsible rinsing basket nestled in there?
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Oh I forgot to show you the toekick drawer which houses all the Kohler accessories as well as the additional Ikea cutting boards that I use. This toekick drawer forced the tapmaster control to the left and we are only just getting used to using our left feet for kicking it (hence the red Avery dot), but that is well worth the tradeoff for the local storage of all those items. There is also a hinged tipout face front but the internal drawer part is not yet installed.
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Whew that was much longer than I intended it to be. You made it to the end!
Here is a link that might be useful: scrappy25 renovation Part 2- Julia soapstone installed
This post was edited by scrappy25 on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 23:15
scrappy25Original Author