Designing your Dream Kitchen

I don't know if you've already finished your design or not, but we FINALLY got our own kitchen remodel done after a year and a half of planning!

We gutted our kitchen down to bare walls and designed all new cabinetry. I had it painted white, even though white requires more cleaning (fingerprints, smudges), because if you get a ding or scratch, you can paint over it. I also love how light it makes the whole space look. We had a large walk-in pantry with its own round sink and tons of cabinets.

We designed a breakfast nook with window seats on two sides in an L shape with extra depth for lounging (drawers underneath for tablecloths, etc.). We have two giant mattress seats that I covered in a blue microseude/microfiber slipcover and put lots of pillows. Facing the window seat/breakfast area is a wall-length china cabinet and bookcase. It's extremely sunny there with huge windows and views and opens up to the kitchen.

We have an island in the kitchen and tons of cabinetry with a bar area opening up to the dining area, so the whole space is very open. I put a lot of glass in the upper cabinets because I love the look but kept other cabinetry without, so plenty of room for mismatched items. I had lots of drawers, including pot drawers, put in, as well as a spice drawer near the range, a file cabinet for looseleaf recipes, baking pan drawers near the wall ovens, and one my favorite features - a pop up stand for the KitchenAid mixer so I don't have to drag it in and out that comes right out to make it level with the island. Highly recommend that feature!

We put in tons of lighting and an old vintage chandelier over the island, and I used white carrera marble on the countertops. Tons of people tried to talk me out of marble, but I did it anyway and I'm so glad. It looks gorgeous. We had it honed so as to worry less about polish stains or scratches.

For appliances, we got a Wolf 48" dual fuel range with double ovens, 6 burners and the grill. Vent-A-Hood 48" range with warming shelf. We are putting in a mosaic tile backsplash behind the range and put a pot filler faucet in as well.

We installed a Miele dishwasher, KitchenAid trash compactor, a Marvel wine fridge (we don't have fancy wines so the Subzero wine fridge seemed a little overkill), two Subzero fridge drawers in the island, a warming drawer, built-in Wolf microwave and a Gaggenau steam combination convection oven that has side opening. Most of the appliances are integrated except a few that are stainless steel.

We put the trash compactor and dishwasher near the main sink, which was the largest Kohler stainless steel sink I could find. We put in a second sink (both have garbage disposals) on the island near the range for food prep - this one is a long trough sink so that for parties, you can also fill with ice and put drinks inside. I also put in a sliding cabinet that has two trash cans, one for recycling glass/cans and one for paper items. I hate seeing that stuff in bags around the pantry or kitchen.

Lastly, we wired it for cable and put in an under cabinet 10" TV with DVD and radio so that I can entertain myself while cooking, and while we were at it, we wired the kitchen (and other parts of the house) for better speakers.

So far, my only regret is that I forgot to double check that our kitchen designer put built-in cutting boards (I listed it on our plans but he forgot to put it in the final and I didn't catch it). Also should have incorporated the little built-in foot-stool that I've seen in some kitchens for high spaces. But overall, I absolutely love the kitchen - it is the perfect combination of traditional and contemporary. We also kept our existing oak wood floors, though I must say that they have taken quite a beating from the remodel.

jjonak in Cookware