Varmint

Excellent! Varmint +1 phlawless +1 Al Dente ?? scottie +1 ?? weka +1 Random Alias +1 Edemuth That's 12, and let's try to arrange a Magnolia Grill outing on Friday, the 7th. Start thinking of the dishes you want to make, as we need to have some variety.

Thanks, but the one important point that you haven't read in this thread is that I curse my kitchen every single day. I'm mad as hell and I can't take it anymore. With the budget limitations, it's an interim plan or nothing at all. And nothing at all is not an option. Thus, this is where we are. In order for me to update the equipment, I must rip out cupboards (see the current cooktop photo). I expect to spend approximately $8-10K on equipment (36" range, hood, sink, wall oven). I expect to pay a few grand for new cupboards where they're needed. The floor will stay, and what we'll probably do is have the L'il Varmints make new tiles to go in the empty spots as a semi-mosaic. What could be more fun, whimsical and unique than that??? Demo will be cheap and easy. Moving plumbing and wiring around won't be god awful. In the end, I'll have a functional kitchen where most of the expense went into the appliances. Sounds like a good solution to me!

Oh, most hated items? You should probably go back to the beginning of this now very long thread, as there are so damn many. The range. The location of the dishwasher. The maze design. The upper cupboards. The lack of ventilation. The hardware on the cupboards. That's just a start.

Of course it doesn't make sense economically. But that's not the point -- I can no longer tolerate the current configuration and I don't have the money to do a complete gutting and renovation. Thus, the interim solution! The range and hood will stay where they are in the final arrangement -- that's my biggest expense. The cost of the new cabinets will be a couple grand, but we can handle that. I won't be tearing up the floor and putting something new down. I'll be adding complementary "highlights" in the areas where there currently is no tile. Really, this is a pretty simple job and will conform to my "no longer than 1 month" requirement.

There will only be a few new cabinets: The ones around the range, the lower ones housing the sink and dishwasher, the lower and upper where the marble slab is, and we'll make the upper oven space and the cabinet above it into one large recessed cabinet with pull out drawers. Although I'd want the wall oven to be in the upper spot, Mrs. Varmint won't let me. That's the only time she's made a demand (other than the budget, of course!).

Remember, it's an interim plan. As far as the sinks are concerned, we have a double sink where one side is very large and the other is small. The disposal is in the small side. Mrs. Varmint wants two large sinks, or at least, the sink with the disposal to be fairly large.

Here's the lousy pictures of the knives: Here's the same shot, but closer up:

Here's a lousy job of reworking the plans, but you get the picture. I hope this shows up OK.

Right now, the prelim plan is the way to go. I may even be able to post a picture. One thing that isn't evident from the plans Dave sketched out is that there's a wall that juts out approximately 8 inches at the end of the counter where the grill and compactor is. That would be at the top part of the sketch, jutting out to the left.

Am I interested in foie gras? Do I need a new kitchen design? Do I sweat when I play basketball? Do serranos make my lips burn? Do I make myself perfectly clear?????? I'll get you a date if you want.

I can almost picture that... I love you guys!!!!!!

I'm thinking a little prep sink with its own disposal to the left of the range (in an otherwise useless corner) might be a decent idea. One other thing is that the backsplash area behind the range should be a brushed stainless sheet. I want to be able to have a foldable and removeable wire rack that's installed onto that stainless sheet. Something that I can remove in a jiffy to tuck into the dishwasher.

Here's the current list of attendees, not all of whom have confirmed. Please confirm: Varmint +1 phlawless +1 Malawry ?? Al Dente ?? scottie +1 ?? weka +1 Random Alias +1 ?? Edemuth ?? I think there may be others. We'll start "assigning" dishes before long. Weka has agreed to do something with truffles and porcini! Yum. Phlawless is getting beef cheeks.

I took pictures last night, but I couldn't get the lighting right. I used the Shun last night, and it's wonderful to have a knife that really works. It does have a bit more of a German feel to it than the Ryusen, but I ultimately liked the handle a bit more. Give me some time with it, and I'll try to give y'all some details. I still almost sent both knives back to get the big Ryusen, but I ultimately decided that the only reason I'd be doing that was because Shuns are so much more common than Ryusens -- it was an elitist thing. And I shun elitism (sorry, I couldn't help).

I forgot to post the picture of my cabinetry hardware. What I have is a recessed pull. The problem with this is that the 4 corners are not necessarily flush with the surface of the door. As a result, I've lost 5 or 6 pairs of pants by snagging up on the pulls. If I remove the pulls, then I have a circle bored halfway into the door. I'd like to find a piece of replacement hardware (temporary, of course) that would essentially be a plate that covers the circle and is the base for a shallow handle. Does that make sense? Anyone know of such hardware?

You could use a worktable instead of an island. Boos has some nice ones. I like the Cucina Laforza, with the simple stainless steel base, or the Cucina Grande, which incorporates drawers, with or without the pot rack. The Flex model would even make up for the fact that you'd have less storage than a traditional island, but any of them would probably cost substantially less than cabinetry. You could re-use it when you do the full renovation, and I think the modern look would work well with what you've got. My brother has been using a Boos table as an island for several years and it still looks great. That's a great suggestion. Thanks, Blondie!!!

Just got finished with a designer. Might have the temporary solution, but I can't draw it. Remove the sink area. Insert 36 inch range centered along wall where cooktop currently resides. Sink now goes to a new counter area to the left of the grill. The counter closest to the doorway (by the word "Driveway") will need to be angled somewhat to allow passage. The diswasher will go where the compactor is. The marble slab will be removed and replaced with a smaller counter area with a cabinet above it. The lower oven will be removed. Get a new upper oven, and add cabinet beneath it. This totally opens up the center of the room. Perhaps too much so, as traffic will walk through the center of the workspace. Perhaps a small island cabinet might help. However, this works well in the giant scheme of things. We'll see.

The drawing is exceptional. Can you email me a larger version of this (assuming one is available)? What the drawing doesn't capture is the upper cabinetry, how it's totally unnecessary and gets in the way. Also, there is a big ol' "I" beam that is embedded in the cabinets above the L'il Varmints' bar. Also, the track lighting. Don't you love those light cans??? I'm meeting with a designer-builder at 1:00 today. Maybe they can come up with a decent idea.

He's an architect who has never made a piece of toast in his life. Their new kitchen is 1 million percent more functional.

The extension of the L'il Varmints' bar should be toward the sink. That bar is L-shaped, so it extends about 8 inches toward the bottom of the drawing -- not towards the closet. Also, the load bearing wall is the line between the ovens and the closet, not the new one you just drew. A few other minor things you may want to add. Just to the right of the mini-sink sits the wine fridge under the counter. And to the left of the fridge (from the drawing's orientation) sits a Scotsman ice maker that isn't working well right now! That's awesome!!!

Damn, that's almost spot on, Dave. The L'il Varmints' bar extends about 8 inches beyond the plane of the wall ovens. The other thing is that the top part of the dishwasher (from these plans' perspective) does not quite reach the plane of the ovens. Finally, and somewhat importantly, is that the marble slab ends at the plane of the ovens, too. There's a wall there. On the other side of that wall (where the dishwasher part is) is a coat closet. The remainder of that wall houses the ovens. Does that make sense? The importance of this is that we may tear down the closet and oven walls, but there's still a load bearing wall between them.

It may be an option. It's pretty much an open book. We could do the demo of the existing kitchen, but then what???

Again, there isn't enough money in the budget to do a total demo. Also, if I were to do a total demolition, I'd go further than what we've already described. I'd move the entrance to the kitchen, so that a major portion of the space isn't taken up with a hallway (see the first picture). Hell, I'd consider moving my kitchen into our "formal" living room, which is hardly utilized. It'd be beautiful! But then, I'd have to gut the old kitchen to make it into better living space!

I am remarkably lucky in that we do have a second kitchen, which is located in a loft above the master bedroom. This kitchen has 2 burners and a grill with a downdraft vent (it sort of works). It has a table that sits 6. It has a small single bar sink. There's room for a dorm fridge. I just don't want to eat up there for 3 months.

That's why I've raised the issue of temporary flooring. I think we can find a quick fix that isn't aesthetically ideal. But then, the current floor ain't all that gorgeous, either.