Kitchen photos

[Tropicalsenior]

15 minutes ago, Norm Matthews said:

last on taken today. 

Beautiful kitchen! I love the deep blue with the copper. It must be a very relaxing atmosphere to cook in.

[gfweb]

14 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

In a couple of weeks I will have been in this house for 10 years.  I thought it would be fun to see how the kitchen has changed over that time. There are a lot of pictures. Maybe I should do one part of the kitchen at a time.  So the first picture will be of a part of the room as it looked just before or just after I moved in.The next one will be after a year or two, then some time later and the last on taken today. 

 

 

Cool!

 

Three stoves in 10 years?

 

 

[liamsaunt]

Thanks for sharing your renovation with us!  It is very interesting.  I love all of the storage space you have.

 

I just wanted to comment on the backsplash quartz.  If you are able, I really would bring it all the way up to your microwave, even if it means giving up the curve that you like the look of.  I am not a particularly messy cook (well, maybe a little) and I find splashes all the way up to and even on my vent hood sometimes.  At my old house, I had a shorter backsplash, and the paint above it got pretty grimy over time, even with frequent cleaning.  I am sure you can bring in some softer lines or color in another way in that large beautiful kitchen.

 

I really like your flooring color choice, by the way.  It is very restful. And I agree about the floor transition piece needing to go ASAP.  I would be tripping over that constantly!

[lindag]

15 hours ago, FauxPas said:

 

Was this the pantry area shown in these photos, @lindag? I remember admiring your storage!  🙂

 

Yes.  Love it.

[kayb]

Maybe an inlay of the curve into a two-piece backsplash that goes all the way up? Contrasting color? Mosaic?

 

@Norm Matthews, I most love the fact that the red wall phone has survived.

 

I just pulled the trigger on a dehydrator. I guess it will live in the garage except when I’m using it. Biggest kitchen I’ve ever had, and it’s full to overflowing.

[weinoo]

59 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

just wanted to comment on the backsplash quartz.  If you are able, I really would bring it all the way up to your microwave, even if it means giving up the curve that you like the look of.  I am not a particularly messy cook (well, maybe a little) and I find splashes all the way up to and even on my vent hood sometimes.

 

Agree - paint, grease, heat, water - not a great long-term idea.  In addition to running the backsplash all the way (up to the ceiling in this case), we went with an add-on to the range, which does a great job keeping the area clean.  It's also why I decided to (and pissed off my contractor) tile that area just to the right of the sink. Had to order extra tiles just for that. I make a mess cooking and cleaning up!

 

 

 

 

[FauxPas]

2 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

If you are able, I really would bring it all the way up to your microwave, even if it means giving up the curve that you like the look of.

 

I'm going to take another look at the fabrication layout and see how much leftover quartz we have to play with. I'm still thinking about how best to do the space behind the range and we don't finalize this detail until the final measure, so I have a bit of time and leeway. Thanks! 

 

And thanks to @weinoo, also!   🙂

 

[Norm Matthews]

10 hours ago, kayb said:

Maybe an inlay of the curve into a two-piece backsplash that goes all the way up? Contrasting color? Mosaic?

 

@Norm Matthews, I most love the fact that the red wall phone has survived.

 

I just pulled the trigger on a dehydrator. I guess it will live in the garage except when I’m using it. Biggest kitchen I’ve ever had, and it’s full to overflowing.

Thanks.  That is a vintage phone that has a real bell. Sounds loud enough to startle the cat.  It had to be modified to be able to ring with  lower voltage electronic ringers used now.  It still works but isn't connected anymore.  It is there to cover up the wall plug but it will always stay. 

[Norm Matthews]

11 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

 

Cool!

 

Three stoves in 10 years?

 

 

The oven in the stove when we moved in was not working.  I replaced it with an electric flat top stove.  Within three years the front burners were not working. One would be turned on high and as soon as the pan got hot, I'd turn it down but when I came back in a couple of minutes, it was still on high. It wouldn't work on any setting except high.  The other one would never get hot enough to boil water.  When I was looking for another one, I mentioned that it was too bad it costs more to run a gas line to the kitchen than would the stove. He told me that gas lines could be installed for gas stoves and fire places at a fraction of the cost they  once did.  That was the best news.  I had the gas stove put in about a month later.  It has been working just fine for nearly 7 years now..

[FauxPas]

Here we go...   🙂

 

[kayb]

Exciting!

[FauxPas]

Some real progress already! This is the main kitchen, the other two floor to ceiling pantries are to the left and they are still looking pretty rough, but the main boxes there are in place. 

 

I'll have room for a 36" wide fridge and taller than my last one (thankfully). A couple of people are trying to sell me on a counter-depth fridge. I like the idea, but the reality is that they just don't seem to have much capacity. I've only started looking for a replacement fridge (and we don't have to rush). @weinoo had a nice solution in his kitchen to accommodate a deeper fridge and make it look good, but I don't feel I can do the same thing here. In our last house, the fridge was situated in a corner next to a partial wall and I was able to get a 33" wide but extra-deep fridge (with 26 cu ft capacity, I think!) that looked good there, but here it's different. I am going to shop counter-depth for a bit, but not sure I want to go that way. I can't afford super-expensive, so I need something solid and with decent capacity. I don't know that I want a 36" wide fridge that only has 20 cu ft space in it. Is that the best I can expect? Or maybe it works better, because fewer items are hidden behind other ones? Maybe a 20 cu ft counter depth FEELS larger? Looking for experience and suggestions! 

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by FauxPas
spelling (log)

[gfweb]

Re counter depth fridge...if that means fitting under a counter then you have to bend over to get in to it? That would be a big pain. 

 

We have a refrigerator with French doors over a freezer. Works pretty conveniently. 

 

My one suggestion is to not get an ice maker. They are big space hogs and break down A LOT. 

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

My one suggestion is to not get an ice maker. They are big space hogs and break down A LOT. 

Agreed. My daughter worked for a warranty company and the biggest problem in electrical appliances is ice makers in refrigerators. You couldn't give her one as a gift.

[MaryIsobel]

1 hour ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Agreed. My daughter worked for a warranty company and the biggest problem in electrical appliances is ice makers in refrigerators. You couldn't give her one as a gift.

Know many, many peope who have had this issue. I used to want one, now I don't.

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by MaryIsobel (log)

[chromedome]

9 hours ago, FauxPas said:

Some real progress already! This is the main kitchen, the other two floor to ceiling pantries are to the left and they are still looking pretty rough, but the main boxes there are in place. 

 

I'll have room for a 36" wide fridge and taller than my last one (thankfully). A couple of people are trying to sell me on a counter-depth fridge. I like the idea, but the reality is that they just don't seem to have much capacity. I've only started looking for a replacement fridge (and we don't have to rush). @weinoo had a nice solution in his kitchen to accommodate a deeper fridge and make it look good, but I don't feel I can do the same thing here. In our last house, the fridge was situated in a corner next to a partial wall and I was able to get a 33" wide but extra-deep fridge (with 26 cu ft capacity, I think!) that looked good there, but here it's different. I am going to shop counter-depth for a bit, but not sure I want to go that way. I can't afford super-expensive, so I need something solid and with decent capacity. I don't know that I want a 36" wide fridge that only has 20 cu ft space in it. Is that the best I can expect? Or maybe it works better, because fewer items are hidden behind other ones? Maybe a 20 cu ft counter depth FEELS larger? Looking for experience and suggestions! 

 

 

Tough call.

 

I've joked for years that "I don't want a counter-depth fridge, I want a fridge-depth counter" but it's not easy to balance the esthetics/practicality of a fridge that protrudes into your working spaces. I'm a couple of years away from facing that dilemma myself, but fwiw I'll note that I have a smaller-capacity fridge in my current rental and have a 3.3 cu ft mini fridge nearby for extra storage (and an upright freezer). It's just the two of us, so you'd think even a modest refrigerator would work, but in practice that's not the case.

[lindag]

10 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

 

My one suggestion is to not get an ice maker. They are big space hogs and break down A LOT. 

In this new house I have a GE Café fridge.  Even though I had to repair the icemaker twice in my old fridge I simply couldn't live without an icemaker; l just use it too often.  This fridge has a smaller, more space efficient icemaker that is also enclosed so to not pick up food odors.  It also has a very sturdy water hose.  I'll take my chances.

[weinoo]

Anything but counter depth fridge would be acceptable in my world. They just don’t hold enough.

 

I’ve never hooked up an ice maker, nor a water spout, because I live above others and it can only lead to problems down the road. 

[kayb]

12 minutes ago, lindag said:

In this new house I have a GE Café fridge.  Even though I had to repair the icemaker twice in my old fridge I simply couldn't live without an icemaker; l just use it too often.  This fridge has a smaller, more space efficient icemaker that is also enclosed so to not pick up food odors.  It also has a very sturdy water hose.  I'll take my chances.

I’m with you.

[weinoo]

I've never quite understood how it became so difficult to make ice cubes with ice cube trays, which I have in multiple cube sizes and shapes.  

 

Then again, other than for cocktails and the occasional iced coffee or tea, the need for ice in this home is minimal.

[Tropicalsenior]

6 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I've never quite understood how it became so difficult to make ice cubes with ice cube trays,

I'll second that! I break the ice cube trays out into a plastic bag so that I can grab two or 20 whenever I need them. I've never had the desire for an ice maker.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Here in Pátzcuaro (and elsewhere in México) the water isn't considered safe enough to drink directly from the tap. Therefore ice makers are out of the question, plus being real space hogs. That being said, my LG with bottom freezer and french doors has a very petite ice maker tucked up under the refrigerator section with a bin underneath for the cubes. If I could trust the tap water it would be useful. But I have plenty of ice cube trays instead and I find that perfectly adequate. What really frosts me (heh heh) is when someone who shall remain nameless uses all but 2 or 3 cubes from the tray but neglects to refill it. 

 

There are people who have water-sterilization systems who can use their ice makers, but the maintenance on those systems is more than I want to contemplate. Or we could rig up a system that uses water from the garafon (5-gallon plastic bottles) we buy to use for drinking water, but that's too cumbersome. So it's ice trays for us.

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I'll second that! I break the ice cube trays out into a plastic bag so that I can grab two or 20 whenever I need them.

Exactly how I keep them. And they don't pick up any weird odors by hanging out in the freezer for weeks.

[weinoo]

The real problem these days is finding a fridge/freezer combo without one.

[Tropicalsenior]

19 minutes ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

when someone who shall remain nameless

I had one of those, too. That's why I started putting them in the plastic bag and then I always refill the ice cube trays. Finding two cubes in an ice tray always caused me to have enough steam coming out of my ears to melt the rest of the ice.