Kitchen Remodel

We gave the specs to the cabinet shop and chose (tentatively) the materials (maple) and are waiting for a quote right now.

I'll try and remember to take a couple of shots of the demo site that was the kitchen!

[Jenise]

Cool. What's the width of your appliance bar going to be?

Cool. What's the width of your appliance bar going to be?

Around 50" I think. Enough for a mixer, a Cuisinart and a coffee station (grinder, brewer and espresso machine).

We need a foot and a half for the recycling stuff at the end and the freezer takes up the other side. Nothing as grandiose as your appliance 'hanger' (picture the culinary equivalent of the Spruce Goose hanger)!

[Jenise]

Cool. What's the width of your appliance bar going to be?

Around 50" I think. Enough for a mixer, a Cuisinart and a coffee station (grinder, brewer and espresso machine).

We need a foot and a half for the recycling stuff at the end and the freezer takes up the other side. Nothing as grandiose as your appliance 'hanger' (picture the culinary equivalent of the Spruce Goose hanger)!

Actually, mine's only around 50". No more than 60" for sure. Only grandiose because of the chain mail curtain. 50" should do well for you, and the Panini press can go there, too. Just make sure they give you some depth so things can rotate from back to front. Other small items can get stored in a cabinet above for occasional uses. Recycling--not going to be hampers/pull-outs in the cabinets underneath the bar? Recycling wouldn't need vertical space.

Other small items can get stored in a cabinet above for occasional uses. Recycling--not going to be hampers/pull-outs in the cabinets underneath the bar? Recycling wouldn't need vertical space.

Thinking of havig a couple of shelves up top for cook books. . Recycling will go beside it (waste goes in two cans in the island).

[Jenise]

Other small items can get stored in a cabinet above for occasional uses. Recycling--not going to be hampers/pull-outs in the cabinets underneath the bar? Recycling wouldn't need vertical space.

Thinking of havig a couple of shelves up top for cook books. . Recycling will go beside it (waste goes in two cans in the island).

You'll have cabinets underneath, though? Something has to support your 'bar', might as well be storage! I put all drawers under mine. A row of four shallow drawers then four deep drawers, two upper, two lower. That's where all my Tupperware-ish stuff goes, also all the extra blades for the Cuisinart, etc. My bar is 60" across with a 20" deep granite counter, with shallower cabinets above whose faces pull up like a garage door (which I love). That's where I keep tall stuff like decanters and water pitchers.

Yes, definitely drawers underneath and I think book shelves above for cook books.

We aren't going to continue the maple and granite into the pantry - just white with the same door design - simple shaker style with a bevel.

Right now it is a battle between my pantry counter length and Suzanne's recycling centre at the end. I'll let you know who wins the contest.

May as well have counter depth in the panrty th same as the freezer depth - around 26/5", no?

[Jenise]

Yes, definitely drawers underneath and I think book shelves above for cook books.

We aren't going to continue the maple and granite into the pantry - just white with the same door design - simple shaker style with a bevel.

Right now it is a battle between my pantry counter length and Suzanne's recycling centre at the end. I'll let you know who wins the contest.

May as well have counter depth in the panrty th same as the freezer depth - around 26/5", no?

Definitely agreed on the counter depth. Mo' is bettah, as long as the path width allows you to take that much. IIRC, the bench already there was fairly shallow, and the refrigerator inset alone was deeper. I recall measuring that depth vs. the depth on the other side by the door (wondering if flip-flopping the locations was a possibility), and they weren't equal.

Meeting with the cabinet shop next week for them to measure and me to discuss the plan. In the mean time, nothing but waste and devastation!

But the wine cellar is progressing - cooling unit is on site and the window and doors are removed and framed in, waiting for the spray insulation to happen. And my wife is laughing at the stained glass grape related light I picked up for it.

[Jenise]

Cool!

Btw, on your appliance bar, I take it you DID provide task lighting directly over the appliances and allow for the height of your mixer, right?

Cool!

Btw, on your appliance bar, I take it you DID provide task lighting directly over the appliances and allow for the height of your mixer, right?

You bet. I need clearance for my coffee maker to have water poured in and my Kitchenaid mixer to tilt up, plus a bit.


Here is the lamp my wife is laughing at me for - around 20" across, quite areg and intended for use in the wine cellar.

[Jenise]

You bet. I need clearance for my coffee maker to have water poured in and my Kitchenaid mixer to tilt up, plus a bit.

Good. I spaced my appliance bar overhead cabs based on the Kitchen Aid mixer I owned (16 1/2" tall) and now that I have to replace it, I'm limited to the same kind. Can't have the tilt-up I'd kill for, though I did get one with a larger motor.

That lamp is amusing. Should fit nicely into the house...just a few more pieces, and you could start a stained glass museum!

You haven't seen the stained glass window that I'm having set in my study door.....

[Jenise]

You haven't seen the stained glass window that I'm having set in my study door.....

Seriously? Cool. It's not coming from Palmerston, is it?

You haven't seen the stained glass window that I'm having set in my study door.....

Seriously? Cool. It's not coming from Palmerston, is it?

No, something I picked up recently - my intention is to have it mounted in the door to my study. It is modern, but I like it. Sorry for the poor picture snapped in haste as it lay on the closet floor for safekeeping.

[Jenise]

I like it! Keeps privacy, let's light in. You realize, I hope, that any time anyone gives you a gift in the future it will probably involve stained glass? You're doomed.

Jut call me Mr Chiaroscuro!

I'm contemplating a stained glass mural in the family room, involving fauns, lots of wine and various nymphs and naiads. Might be hard to keep it 'G' rated though.

Next question - with maple cabinets and oak flooring, and neutral paint colour wherever it shows, what colour tile backsplash would work best?

I'm thinking green....

Likely dark or black granite counter tops.

Or maybe earth tones....

[Jenise]

Personally, I wouldn't go earth tones, if by that you mean shades of brown. Your cabinetry and wood floor are already earth tones. Nor would I do green: remember, you have a huge red/white/black used brick wall to live with and you don't want it to look like Christmas or Joseph's coat of many colors. Warm smokey grays or off-whites are going to be your ticket--either would provide the contrast needed to pop the cabinetry while at the same time come from the same palate that the non-red tones in the brick and dark granite does and thus bring it into the room purposefully, as compared to just being something that came with the house.

[Jenise]

Think how gray, btw, would pull that sparkle out of that uba-tuba granite shown in your picture--the browns do nothing for it.

So would you favour paint rather than tiles for backsplash....or subway tile...or.....

[Jenise]

So would you favour paint rather than tiles for backsplash....or subway tile...or.....

Backsplash where, behind the stove? Or everywhere there's counter?

So would you favour paint rather than tiles for backsplash....or subway tile...or.....

Backsplash where, behind the stove? Or everywhere there's counter?

Over all counters. I was thinking about tile for behind the stove anyway though.

I am a fan of tile. So many colors and sizes and shapes.