My Kitchen (WIP)

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John Loftis

KKF Vendor
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After living in the same home for 14 years, we finally moved last Fall...6 streets north. :) The house we bought hadn't been updated since it was built in 1991, and is full of golden oak cabinetry with white laminate counters. So I decided to start by updating the kitchen. As often happens, "the kitchen" turned into a wholesale remodel of everything in sight. So the pattern for the last couple months has been to work in the shop all day, come home, work on the house. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Thought I'd share the vision for the kitchen. I designed this in Google Sketchup. I've built all the cabinets and they are waiting in my garage. Haven't started the island yet. Cabinetry is birch and maple, sprayed with 2 coats of basecoat in Benjamin Moore "Shoreline" and 2 coats of conversion varnish. Counters will be Caeserstone London Grey. For the island, I bought a large walnut log and will use two of the big slabs for the waterfall/bar seating. The rest will go into the big honking butcher block behind the sink. Appliances are pretty pedestrian since I can't afford the fancy stuff, but I think they should work better than the 27 year old microwave. :)

I'll try to post some pictures as work continues.

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View attachment 39773 -original pantry
View attachment 39771 - original pantry
View attachment 39774 - pantry framing
View attachment 39775 - final pantry
View attachment 39772 - ongoing demo

First step was to tear down and rebuild the pantry, and also bump it out 6" so the fridge was flush with the pantry. Our family of 5 needed more storage than the old 24" wide pantry provided. This required walling off the entry to the utility room, moving that door to another wall, and framing and drywalling the new pantry. It's still not a walk-in, but it's 6' wide by 30" deep now.

(Please let me know if these attachments aren't working).
 
Original photos from previous owners just prior to our buying the house (an explosion of golden oak):

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Rendering including fridge and expanded pantry:

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24" pantry expanded to 72" pantry:

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Destruction ensues:
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Lowers are installed; counters installed today. I'm worried now that things are too monochromatic. Counters are grey; cabinets are grey. There will be a big splash of (dark) color with the vent hood, and we'll have some trendy satin brass pulls... but I think it's pretty washed out right now. I need a good backsplash option stat.
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150 x 75 (6 x 3) subway tiles: gloss black with white grout, moss green with grey grout, or tangerine orange with white grout :)
 
150 x 75 (6 x 3) subway tiles: gloss black with white grout, moss green with grey grout, or tangerine orange with white grout :)
Bold choices... I'm not that brave. We'll try to pick something with a little color, though.
 
John, Coming along nicely. Just remember, before you leave the house, always take one accessory off. Coco Chanel. Especially in a small space, you're better with a simple neutral backdrop and accessorizing with kitchen equipment, and knives of course.
 
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Just finished building out the pantry. Should be great after caulk and paint. Also found some nice solid 5 panel shaker doors at the local builders surplus place.

Countertops looked great until we tried to install the dishwasher... turns out the installer slid my farmhouse sink 1/4" into the dishwasher cavity and now the dishwasher doesn't fit. They are ripping out the counters and starting over on that side. Hopefully they don't jack up my sink.
 
Bummer about the sink opening -- glad they are taking care of it without a fight.

The 'monochromatic' issue will improve a lot when the vent hood is installed and you load up parts of the counter with cooking utensil holders, small appliances, cutting boards, knife blocks, etc. Backsplash will help, but matching the gray will limit potential. I'm not a fan of the glass tile 'slivers', but I could see a blend of backs, white, clear and grays maybe getting the job done. Other then that, take a cabinet door to a tile place and start holding it up against a variety of tiles to see what seems to match well while providing the contrast you seek.
 
It is monochromatic, but in a good way. That grey looks like it would work well with the Scandinavian color palette. What’s going on the floor?
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Floors are finally in. White oak with a fairly dark stain. Vent hood installed. Puck lights and undermount lights in... Island cabinets just waiting for the walnut top and butcher block to be made...
 
What is the wait time for the walnut top and butcher block
 
Hoping to start it tomorrow. The log has been sitting in my shop for 2 months now.
 
Finally, some more pics... down to the backsplash, the cabinet over the fridge, and some little punch list stuff. The island top all came from a single log. Two huge book-matched slabs for the waterfall top and the rest comprised the 40" wide end grain butcher block. Incidentally, I just glued up the remnants of that log and made one 18 X 24 end grain board for a customer and should have a pretty 13 X 19 X 2 board available as well. Those are some big blocks-- around 2 1/2" X 4".

Now that it's all coming together, I'm wondering about the backsplash. Thinking maybe a white hexagonal marble tile with grey would be a good way to go. Need some contrast with the grey cabinets, but I'm not as worried about things being monochromatic now. There seems to be plenty of pops of color. Thoughts?
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Wow! Congrats on almost completing the project! That walnut board is stunning and super functional! Great idea to integrate it into the island. Hope you can soon start enjoying the new space.
 
Really nice job. Very inspiring given our kitchen renovation is about to begin.
Now having seen the complete color scheme, I’d go with light gray hexagonal tiles and white grout. This will tie the darker island bench and range hood to the light cabinets without adding too much more contrast.

Look forward to seeing the result!!
 
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