Kitchen remodel progress photos!

[Jenise]

Last night, after dark, in this the ninth month of construction, in this the ninth month of living in one bedroom and eating off of paper plates, I turned on all the lights in my new kitchen. And as I looked around the room, I saw all the grains in all the wood reflecting back at me--the reds, the golds, the browns and the blacks, the swirls, the stripes, and the streaks. And I also saw that the lighting I'd chosen was subdued where it didn't have to be bright, and bright where a cook needs it the most, and I saw that the shapes worked and the distances were good, and most of all I saw that we had accomplished what we set out to do, take the kitchen out of the dark and lifeless corner it had been relegated to and pull it into the center where it will be the true heart of our home.

And then I sat down on the floor and cried.

Here are some pictures. The first is looking north. The cabinets on the left back up to the prep counter and will be both wine glass storage and the support system for the eating bar.

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Looking east. The big Franke sink will go under those curly white lights, and a pot rack will be mounted over that peninsula which will create a second prep zone if I am so lucky as to have someone else cooking with me; also a good place for rolling out doughs, plating pre-dinner and staging dirty dishes for cleanup afterward.

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The new stove with the 'fish scale' backsplash and slate apron.

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The vent stack is 11 feet tall. This had to be built and rebuilt twice, and took something like 15 hours over four different visits and two months to install. I know it doesn't look that complicated and it shouldn't have been, but it was unexpectedly one of the bigger and longer headaches. In fact, that little fish scale collar piece at the bottom of it wasn't installed until Friday--I'd been staring at a two-inch gap for a month. The vent is powered by a 1500 CFM remote blower mounted on the roof--it's a lot quieter. The upper loft-like area behind the stack will become a sitting room for the master bedroom behind it.

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Sigh. I love it. So happy for you, Jenise. The fish scale splash back is gorgeous - we considered one of those, but had to discount it because of price. Nice to see that it looks as good in situ as I'd always imagined!

Oh my gosh Jenise, that kitchen looks gorgeous. I know its been rough going, but look what you did! Congratulations on nearing completion!

[Jenise]

Sigh. I love it. So happy for you, Jenise. The fish scale splash back is gorgeous - we considered one of those, but had to discount it because of price. Nice to see that it looks as good in situ as I'd always imagined!

You've actually seen something like this? Wow, I'm impressed. I had this custom made because the off the shelf options here were plain or a pressed diamond pattern, and I wanted major bling since everything else I was doing was so tailored and severe.

[David M. Bueker]

Drool...

Jenise, something similar. From memory they were benchtops, but when I look closely at yours, they definitely weren't as shiny. But they did have a swirly pattern.

Trying not to envy....

So well done. When to the countertops go in? This is just spectacular.

Looks fantastic and I understand the tears, with the emotional challenges that hit you along the way.

regards

Ian

[Jenise]

Here are two more views not addressed above.

The first one shows the prep counter which is directly opposite the stove. It's going to have a six foot wide butcher block set into the granite. The wine cooler at the end and on the other side of the arch has a hooch cabinet behind it, and both will be topped with granite to create a wine-serving area for indoor entertaining. The empty rectangle will have a warming drawer in it. A small rinsing sink will be on the right, and there are trash, compostable waste and recycling bins built into it, too. The prep counter faces the view. The room in the back there is the den, of which that east wall is going to be my cabinet guy's next project. (Btw, every wall and ceiling you see in these photos is brand new, had to be torn down to the foundation and rebuilt due to rot. The bennie? Recessed lighting! Recessed speakers! This house previously had NO overhead lighting except for a florescent fixture in the kitchen and the dining room chandelier.)

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This photo shows the entrance to the walk-in pantry behind the refrigerator cabinet. The pantry is 6 feet wide and 13 feet deep. The counter you just see part of here is actually 5' wide and provides the surface for the appliance bar. The bar will host the everyday small appliances like toaster and coffee maker behind a chain mail curtain that will hang from an overhead cabinet that can't be installed until the granite comes in. The microwave, a small shallow bookshelf style, will be in that part. There is a tall 2.5' wide cabinet opposite it that has a hanging space for aprons etc over the electrical panel, and a low shelf a foot up from the floor that creates, underneath it, a space for the cats' dry food and water bowls out of the way of foot traffic. All the rest of the storage will be metal racking. Btw, of all the impressive things my cabinet guy did, probably nothing is more so than the way he built that three inch thick end panel for the fridge and book-matched the side panel of the pantry cabinet on the other side of the wall to it.

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In combination, these photos show how we met the rather unique challenges presented by a kitchen with only two walls and two different ceiling heights (9' and 18') that isn't so much a room as a space between spaces. The 9' part was the old windowless kitchen. The 18" part was freed up by the demolition of two closets and a galley-shaped wet bar (that was also the access to the kitchen) complete with ginormous ice machine built for the appetites of a party boy bachelor pro hockey player. That demolition is also important in another big way, because where the dining room and kitchen used to be completely separated by the closets and wet bar--you couldn't even see one from the other--they are now open to each other. The dining room is no longer the remote place it used to be.

Jenise, Hi......

Well worth the pains. Both beautiful and pragmatic. I cannot, however, resist commenting that the only thing missing is a photo of the place in which you intend to hang whole hogs, lambs or sides of beef.

Best
Rogov

[Jenise]

the only thing missing is a photo of the place in which you intend to hang whole hogs, lambs or sides of beef.

Best
Rogov

Oh darn, we forgot to build one.

Hey, I suggested the walk-in coolroom...

[Jenise]

Hey, I suggested the walk-in coolroom...

I thought that was for something else, you bad girl.

Hey, I suggested the walk-in coolroom...

I thought that was for something else, you bad girl.

Hahahahaha!!! Remind me never to use the expression "hanging meat" with you again, Jenise. Tut tut.

Gosh, Jenise, that's completely stunning! A lot of blood, sweat and tears, but it must be so wonderful to see the results forming! cheers, Bonnie

Nice. Congratulations - this has been a hell of an odyssey but it's clear now that all of the trials will be well worth it.

That wood is beautiful!

Terrific kitchen! I would love a kitchen that enables more than one person to work comfortably together. Ours is a bit of a cramp.
Love the big range hood and wipe-off splash back.

Wow!! It looks gorgeous Jenise, the contrasting wood grain on the cabinets, contrasting itself with the darker wood floor creates a stunning effect; dramatic and warm at the same time. I can't wait for the pictures with the countertop and the appliances installed.

[Jenise]

Terrific kitchen! I would love a kitchen that enables more than one person to work comfortably together. Ours is a bit of a cramp.
Love the big range hood and wipe-off splash back.

I feel your pain--the old kitchen in this house actually had one generous work counter, but the kitchen sink was set on the diagonal in a corner behind an island which created such constriction that only one person could fit back in the corner for washing up. That made clean-up after a dinner party feel like twice as much work. Now at least one person can rinse while the other loads the DW. You cause me to reflect on all the kitchens I've had and known, and comment that creating space for more than one person to work comfortably at any stage of meal prep has probably never been a consideration in good kitchen design--for those of us who don't have staff, that is.

[Jenise]

Wow!! It looks gorgeous Jenise, the contrasting wood grain on the cabinets, contrasting itself with the darker wood floor creates a stunning effect; dramatic and warm at the same time. I can't wait for the pictures with the countertop and the appliances installed.

Thanks, Jacques. It's the reverse of what's being done these days (the trend is dark woods, or dark cabinetry on light flooring), which actually makes me like it all the more. But I just liked it, and too it accentuated the concept of the kitchen as the heart of the home. Really lucked out on the flooring--got it for half price (this is Kahrs engineered wood--not cheap stuff) out of Toronto where someone had ordered it and then gone tits up. The caveat ws I had to buy the whole pallet. I jumped at it even though I thought it was 150 ft more than I needed. Not sure where the miscalc was but when we were done, we had just five boards left. That's ALL.

Jenise,
Gorgeous photos and again hearty congratulations on finally being able to see your vision realized and tangible. I love the appearance and the layout looks very cook-friendly. Like others, I am also insanely jealous as our large kitchen area was renovated by the couple who sold it to us and who, unfortunately, had no understanding of proper kitchen layout. Some day, perhaps... One question for you: did you consider putting the ovens in a space not under the cooking surface? When my mother redesigned her kitchen (in 1970) she put the ovens opposite the cooking surface and it makes for far easier two-person cooking efforts in the kitchen. Just curious.

Many, many congratulations,
Mark Lipton

[Jenise]

Jenise,
Gorgeous photos and again hearty congratulations on finally being able to see your vision realized and tangible. I love the appearance and the layout looks very cook-friendly. Like others, I am also insanely jealous as our large kitchen area was renovated by the couple who sold it to us and who, unfortunately, had no understanding of proper kitchen layout. Some day, perhaps... One question for you: did you consider putting the ovens in a space not under the cooking surface? When my mother redesigned her kitchen (in 1970) she put the ovens opposite the cooking surface and it makes for far easier two-person cooking efforts in the kitchen. Just curious.

Many, many congratulations,
Mark Lipton

Mark, thanks for the compliments. About the ovens: if there's something I regret, it's that. It's a stand-alone range and I bought it four, almost five years ago in a fit of lust for one-piece ranges and before I ever dreamed we'd relocate the kitchen. I had planned, at that time, to simply rip out the existing island (and it's 25 year old Jennaire cooktop and single oven) and replace it. I never stopped--or should I say stooped?--to think about the ramifications of having to bend over every time I used the oven let alone get out of the way of a second person. By the time all the delays occurred and we started thinking bigger, I had realized that I would much rather have had separate cooktop and double ovens, but the range was already a sunk cost so here we are.

But speaking of proper kitchen layouts, I go into house after house and see almost zero quality thought in re the kitchen designs. Most are simply the result of deductive reasoning: here's the window, so the sink's under it. Over here is the only place there's room for a fridge, which means the stove has to be there because otherwise it would block the door to the laundry room. All inset objects tend to be centered, even if that cuts available counterspace down to two separate surfaces just two feet rather than one long run four feet wide. It's completely useless symmetry, but architects and kitchen designers all subscribe to it. Even a friend of ours who is also an architect criticized some of my choices at first, like he hated the peninsula. But when I acknowledged the impediment and explained all the ways in which that little tail was still worthwhile, as well as addressing his other issues by showing him how the layout was task-related according to storage, prep and cleanup, he immediately retracted his criticisms and said "if only all my clients thought like you." What it comes down to is, you just have to be a real cook to think like one.