Sunday, June 30, 2013

Second Meeting with the Kitchen Designer.

Remember how I said I didn't think I wanted to spend the money on granite or solid surface, and some upscale Formica would be good enough for me?  Yeah.  They had so many good discounts on the cabinets, etc., that I could get a little fancy with the countertop in the kitchen.

I realized that I didn't have to go all or nothing. The kitchen countertop will be Silestone in Bamboo. 
That includes the large expanse of counter space separating the living room from the dining room.    The wet-bar-no-longer and bathroom vanities will be upscale Formica in Giallo Granite.  Similar in tone to the Silestone, but richer and not so matchy-matchy, and I will do the fancy rounded finished edge, not the usual squared-off edge.  The cabinets will be the same, but we'll mix it up a bit with the countertops. 

All of the cabinets - both bathrooms, the bar area, and the kitchen - will be Kraftmaid Northwood in Maple, in the Saddle color.  Not too far off from these renderings by the designer: 


The appliances will be stainless and flat cooktop, and the countertop is a light color, and the walls are white. So it won't be nearly as dark as this, but that's the overall look. We are adding a cabinet to the left of the microwave, and making the cabinets above the pass-through to the dining area 18 inches high instead of the now fairly useless small ones there now.  I'm thrilled with the design; we are adding TONS of useful storage while staying in the original footprint.

 That cabinet to the right of the fridge (that is not my fridge) is the sexy pantry cabinet of my dreams. The working space is bigger than this rather distorted image makes it look, and will have some nice bright task lighting.

This is the hall bath vanity, more or less floating in space.  It actually will still have the big mirror over it, and the wallpaper will come down and be replaced by nicely painted walls in something I love - maybe that Sherwin Williams Clary Sage that is my favorite green ever, and not wallpaper.  The wallpaper removal and paint will be my job, unless the bastards wallpapered right over bare sheetrock, in which case I'll have to call in a pro.  Cross fingers. That's one of the unknowns I have to budget for here.

Master bath vanity above. Ditto about the mirror - picture it with a huge mirror above, and a newer, nicer light fixture, and white walls and a lighter countertop.  I'm going with deep drawers and one big cabinet for storage, instead of the odd mess of cabinets and nearly useless drawers there now. 

I have many more decisions to make, mostly involving lighting.  The current kitchen is very poorly lit, and better task lighting and a better light in the eating area are a MUST.  So I'm far from done with these decisions, but happily, I'm still within my budget!  


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

OK, your decorating is great. Now, how's Murphy?

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Anonymous said...

I'm thinking of doing a saddle kitchen as well from Kraftmaid. Would you mind posting some pics of the kitchen all done up? There aren't that many pics available online of Saddle kitchens.