My Kitchen Metamorphosis

We have lived in many homes but I have never had a good baker’s kitchen. Could I bake successfully…sure but it was not easy. In one of our homes the sink was about 12′ from the refrigerator and the refrigerator opened on the wrong side. Every time I baked I was exhausted afterwards! In another home I had about 2′ of counter space and had to cool cookies on the stove top!

So when my husband decided we were doing a complete renovation and remodel on our home, I so wanted the kitchen of my dreams! But when I started pricing cabinets I knew my baker’s kitchen was still going to be a dream, a very distant dream. Cabinets are so expensive! But then I came upon a cabinet that was very reasonably priced and the quality was wonderful! Because the cabinets were so reasonable I could have every single thing in my kitchen I ever wanted and then some. It was like a Fairy Godmother had waved a magic wand. I don’t think I need to tell you how much fun designing my kitchen was from this point on!

It took me at least three months to design my kitchen. The over all design I finished in about a month, but the tweaking took forever! This might sound silly but deciding which cabinets for dishes, food, mixing bowls and where to put the trash did take some consideration and hard decisions. Every inch was important and could make a huge difference! But when the design was finalized and the cabinets ordered, I was so happy.

My kitchen has an eating area in a 7-window bay so I wanted something that would accentuate the entire kitchen and eating area which meant I had to do something special with the ceiling. After looking and researching for months I finally found a tongue and groove foam board to put on the ceiling. It was not expensive and light weight and worked out perfectly.

Here’s my carpenter, Steve, and his son Josh putting in the ceiling.

Here’s the completed ceiling. You can see how the tongue and groove ceiling accentuates the expanse of the kitchen and eating area bay.

I know I’ve had several questions on the material I used for my kitchen ceiling and I’m happy to announce I FOUND IT! After going through all our receipts for 2007 and coming up empty handed I started calling my suppliers and thankfully Greg at Alexander Lumber tracked down the ceiling material!!!! Please click on Moulding and Millwork Catalog and scroll down to Page 43, under Wainscot, M&M# 5834M; 5/8″by3″by16′ Ultralite.

Because I have large breed dogs, Rottweilers, and my kitchen has heavy traffic I chose ceramic tile for the flooring. Love the checkerboard pattern! In the eating area and almost throughout the entire house we have oak hardwood.

Then came my hickory cabinets with shaker door style. My cabinets are Monarch, a small family owned cabinet maker in Illinois. These cabinets were so reasonable about half the cost of Omega, a well known brand, and I think Monarch Cabinets are far superior. I loved my cabinets when I bought them and I love them even more today!

And finally my cabinets were being installed. It was a wonderful day because I could see my dream kitchen, bit by bit, coming to life.

And so it began with Steve studying the kitchen layout and obviously deep in thought!

I’ve wanted soapstone countertops forever. Of course my husband let me make all the decisions for the house until he found out that soapstone was black. He was not happy about black countertops. So on a Saturday we drove down to Humming Bird Soapstone so he could see soapstone up close and personal and he loved it. In fact I think he liked it more then I did!

The first step for countertops is templating and it took two days to template my kitchen and bathroom. They made cardboard cut outs of every inch of counter space and they were so precise it was amazing. I love hiring people that are pickier then I am, it makes my job so much easier. I am so happy I hired Humming Bird Soapstone!

And next is really, REALLY exciting, the installation of my soapstone! I can’t tell you how excited I was when the day arrived for my soapstone installation. OH MY GOSH..it was one of the best days of my life!

Soapstone is so heavy they had four men to deliver all the soapstone. Here are the guys bringing in the soapstone for my island.

Okay guys 1…2…3…groan!

Sanding the soapstone was a real mess but I did not care, my kitchen was coming to life right before my eyes!

And then the soapstone was completely installed!

And Walt started applying the Soapstone Oil to bring out the true beauty of the stone.

And then for the main event came the beast, my Wolf Range. I designed my entire kitchen around the Wolf. It dominated the kitchen with it’s big red knobs and that’s exactly w
hat I wanted!

Okay now I just need to complete the electric including installing the light fixtures, install the cabinet hardware, finish kitchen plumbing and install faucets, garbage disposals, dishwasher and a few other things that I can’t remember now.

And then we were done and this is how it looks today!

Microwave: Advantium
Built-in Oven: GE
Range: Wolf 6-burner, double oven with griddle
Dishwasher: KitchenAid
Faucets: Brand: Perrin & Rowe; Finish: Polished Chrome
Main Sink: Herbeau Luberon
Island Sink: Extra deep copper bought on Ebay
Garbage Disposals: Insinkerator
Refrigerator: Sub-Zero Built-in
Tile: Ceramic 12″
Countertop: Soapstone
Cabinets: Brand: Monarch; Style: Shaker; Stain: Colony; Wood: Hickory

Next week I will post all the kitchen details: Lighting, Cabinet Hardware, Faucets, Specialized Cabinets and Stations.

I was looking for a kitchen youth chair for my new kitchen and I just happened upon the right garage sale at the right moment and found this beauty. The owner told me it was made especially for her husband when he was born in 1926. It is stamped on the bottom Schmidt Wood Products in Barrington, IL. I live in the Barrington area and Schmidt Wood Products is still in business today!

Cost: $20

Metamorphosis Monday is hosted by Between Naps on the Porch. Please visit Susan’s site and you’ll find some fabulous ideas freely shared by many gracious and highly creative people.

Links of Interest:
Kitchen Details Part 1
Kitchen Details Part 2

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Tagged as: Art Deco, Copper Sink, Craftsman Architecture, Farm Sink, Farmhouse, Kitchen Cabinets, Light fixtures, Period Kitchen, Soapstone, Tile Floor