legallin's Kitchen

Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen



Posted by legallin (My Page) on Sun, Feb 15, 04 at 18:10

Our kitchen is not finished yet, but since it seems like it might never get done, I thought I’d better post some progress pictures. Actually, I am almost done except for the decorator touches, pictures, corbels, etc., and two BIG items: (1) stainless SxS counter-depth refrigerator – (just haven’t gotten around to buying one yet); and, (2) wood flooring (probably Kahrs engineered Oak Granada). We are putting the wood flooring throughout the entire first floor, and don’t want to have it installed until we are finished with the decorating and remodeling in the other rooms – probably another month or two. So, use your imagination and ignore the paint-spattered bare concrete floor and misfit almond refrigerator when viewing the pictures.

Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for your help, support, and great ideas.
You have been a life-saver and have provided so much valuable information. This is the first time I have tackled a project like this, and I did all of the planning, design, and quite a bit of DIY work. We downsized from a big house to this 25-year old townhouse in a great area which I thought "had potential." I knew the kitchen had to be remodeled, but I had no experience in this area and no idea what I was getting into.

This was an UGLY 9’x19’ galley kitchen (see "Before" pictures). There was also a small 6x9 "extra" room which we made into a pantry. Construction-wise, we ended up opening up one wall to add a doorway, and adding a wall & pocket door to close off the pantry area. We removed most of the soffits (or fir-downs as they’re called here in Texas), and tried to disguise the ones that we had to keep with moldings. We also moved the locations of all of the appliances, and added lots of lighting. We now use the dining room on the other side of the pass-thru for our main eating area, and just have a small table in the kitchen for a quick bite to eat. My favorite area is the desk area, since the kitchen always seems to accumulate paperwork. Here is the product info:

Cabinets: Premier Carleton fawn glaze from HD, frameless, full-extension drawers, super sink base, pots & pan drawers, lazy susan, and pull-outs.

Granite: Emerald Pearl, 2cm, waterfall edge

Sink/Faucet: Kindred 10" deep single bowl from HomeClick & Moen Aberdeen SS from faucetconnection.com

Appliances: DW = Whirlpool Gold; Range = Frigidaire slide-in with convection oven and warming drawer; Microhood = KA Ultima; and Refrigerator will probably be a KA or Whirlpool SxS counter-depth –those are the specs we used to build the enclosure.

Backsplash: Tumbled travertine from Expo

Knobs & Pulls: antique pewter birdcage from e-bay; matching plain knobs on upper cabinets from HD (this was a compromise – DH wanted all antique pewter, I wanted all plain knobs because I thought50+ knobs & handles in a small kitchen would be too obtrusive)

Paint: Ralph Lauren Suede "Rowan Berry" – Another "Red" kitchen (almost). I love this color – it is much better than the sage green I had originally used!

Lighting: Xenon undercabinet strips (on dimmers) from pegasusassociates.com; halogen recessed (on dimmers); fluorescent center ambient light and over the sink & desk area; rope
over-cabinet lighting, and regular incandescents in the ceiling fan. As you can see, I had trouble deciding what would be best, so I got some of each! Also used plug-mold.

Crown Molding: I installed this myself – not too bad for the first time with a compound miter saw! I saved a ton of money by buying the molding from a local lumberyard (and the grapevine molding online) and then painting and glazing it to match the cabinets, rather than using the matching Premier molding. And, I think it looks better, too. The refrigerator cabinet was also built out of plywood by my carpenterand painted to match.

Almost Free Pantry: We used a second HD free sinkbase and repaired the upper cabinet (which was damaged in shipping), added a prefab laminate counter, Pergo floors and our china cabinet, a sparerefrigerator, and a few shelves, and we have an "almost free" pantry!

Again, thanks to all of you for your encouragement and great advice!

Linda

http://community.webshots.com/album/118556831bHvXQh


Here is a link that might be useful: Legallin's Almost Finished Kitchen


Follow-Up Postings:


RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Here's another link in case the first one doesn't work. Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Legallin's Kitchen




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Linda ~~

WOW!!!!!!
What a beautiful transformation you've completed. I love your cabinets ~ you did a great job with the crown molding and matching the paint/glaze. You'd never guess they didn't come from the cabinet company.

Relax for a while and enjoy a remodel well done!!

Elizabeth



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Absolutely gorgeous!! I love the cabinets, and the way you did the backsplash.
Great job with the crown molding, too. You must be a "natural" with tools- I'm too intimidated by them to ever attempt what you so spectacularly accomplished!
Just a wonderful job.




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Your new kitchen is spectacular. I cannot believe what all you were able to get into your galley kitchen - Wow! Now, that's what I call space-planning. Most of all, I love how you trimmed out your soffit with the carved molding painted to match the cabinets. It is very elegant.

I may borrow your idea for Saran Wrap storage. Where did you find the holder that you attached to your sink drawer???

Great job. It looks 99% done to me!

Karen



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

knroberts had the right word - elegant!

It looks so fantastic. You should be proud!




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Beautiful kitchen - I love emerald pearl granite. What did you use on the floors?



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Beautiful kitchen! I love the details! The molding is beautiful and looks like a
perfect match. Your kitchen exudes character and charm! ENJOY!



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Wow, it is just gorgeous!!!! I love the cabinets, granite and all the
wonderful touches -- congrats on a job well done! Spectacular remodel!
I love all of the kitchen pull-out gadgets too!
Kathy




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Dear legallin,

Love the kitchen! It looks great. So elegant, so lovely. You must be
thrilled. I'm sure you've begun cooking in it, right? We're not quite
there yet, but maybe this week. Backsplash is going in tomorrow and by
Wednesday, trim should be finished and I think we'll be set to go.
Can't wait!

You emailed me, I think, about having a good laugh about the picture we posted of me taking and counting steps from the frig to the prep area, right?

Where did you get the slide out white wire unit above your frig? And also the step down spice unit?
Both look exactly like something I'd like to have.

Be well and congrats on a job well done!



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Thank you all for your complimentary comments! It's the encouragement of my
kitchen friends like you that has helped me through some of the more
trying times of this remodeling process. Sometimes you wonder if you
can make one more decision, or if the dust will ever settle! Karen, the
paper holder is a Rubbermaid -- I don't really remember where I
purchased it. Most of the pull-out gadgets (spice rack, over
refrigerator, trashcan) were purchased at Lowes -- very inexpensive.




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Linda, your kitchen looks great! You did such a wonderful job and I cannot
believe the difference. The moulding looks awesome. I'm so happy for
you to be this far along because I know you had a really tough time
getting started and I can relate. :o) ENJOY!!!



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Linda everything looks so beautiful! I love everything about it...you can
tell that you put so much into your kitchen. You're almost there girl,
keep up the good work :)



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

You are so talented! That is a fabulous looking kitchen in more ways than
one! Love the trim moulding and the backsplash especially. What a huge
postive change from before!




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Looking at your before kitchen I really agreed with you that it just all had to
go. What were they thinking in that era? Your after pictures are
stunning!

I love the faucet, of course :)

The counters are ones I remember stroking and envisioning in my family room someday
- so beautiful. You did a great job on the molding - that is a very
difficult DIY job! And the red is amazing. Wow, wow wow!

Congratulations on a job well done!

Lauren



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Linda,

CONGRATULATIONS!

Remember back when you and I were "kitchen buddies," not all that long ago! We
started around the same time and got finished around the same time. Of
course, you have some things to finish, and I do too, but we're really
almost there!

Wonderful job! I love it! You know, your cabinets
were the ones I wanted originally when I started thinking about a
remodel. And I'm so glad you went with the red walls! That looks
awesome...I can't imagine another color that would go so well with your
cabinets.

And that stove looks familiar (wink wink!) Don't you
love yours? I love mine! Cooking is a joy for me now, because of that
stove.

And if you coud see me right now, you'd see that I've
turned green with envy over your granite. I'm so jealous! It's
gorgeous.

And I agree about the molding. How amazing that is
that you did it yourself! How were you able to matching the color of
the cabinets so well? Congrats to you for saving money, too. And if I
remember correctly, you found an installer for your backsplash for a
very reasonable price. He/she did a wonderful job!

It's just so nice! I'm so happy for you!
Beth




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

What a beautiful kitchen! I love the molding, and am so impressed that you
DIY. I see you've gone from no landing space by the old stove to plenty
of landing/work space. Your floor is beautiful. What is it?



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

great job!! excellent. gives me inspiration for mine (still in the planning stages)

congratulations!!!




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Linda,

I can hardly believe that is the same kitchen space! You've done a
wonderful job. I love the colors, and the cabinets, and the crown
molding. And your puppies!

Your granite is so pretty. You've
fit an amazing amount of storage in that area. How does that fold out
spice rack work? It looks really neat.

You should be very proud of your work. I can see great dinner parties coming out of that design!



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

WOW! WOW! WOW! The cabinets, crown molding, backsplash, the overall
transformation, everything is simply stellar, Linda! I'm most impressed
with the molding. So creative.
All that wallpaper in your before
pictures, it must've been really overwhelming to have so many different
patterns covering the walls. I'd have gone into sensory overload in no
time!

Lovely, truly lovely. I hope you enjoy it for many many years.




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Linda: It's definitely a WOW kitchen! I'm really impressed that you took on
the crown moulding and did such a fantastic job. The word for your
kitchen is definitely "elegant" which is what I'm going to try to
achieve with our remodel. I just like everything about it. What is the
floor, and is that a Kohler Vinnata faucet?? Great job.....



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Love it, love it, love it! It looks fabulous, congrats on a fantastic job! I
think my favorite part is also the mouldings (and how wonderfully
creative you are). It turned out beautiful.



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Linda, you know I love your kitchen because it is so much like mine! You know we have exquisite taste!

Seriously, I went to your pics and thought I had clicked on a "before" shot. Up
popped those beautiful painted and glazed staggered cabinets and I
thought "That has to be after, because no one would rip out those
beautiful cabinets!" LOL!

Congratulations on a beautiful new space. Like Beth, I feel like we went through this process together and are better for it. Thanks for all your help and enjoy your new space.

Kelly




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Well Done Legallin. Great attention to detail. Custom touches everywhere.
As others resoundingly agree... the crown molding is the icing on the
cake. You are so creative and ambitious to have done all this yourself.
You must be bursting with pride.
I feel especially connected since we have made the some of the same choices (Aberdeen, Premier, Suede paint, similar granite, a touch of RED).
Thanks for sharing your
knowledge and tips throughout the process. For those of us following in
your footsteps you've provided generous help as well as inspiration!
Congratulations!



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Linda,

Loved your kitchen! Question for you - how did you decide on the Fridgedaire
slide in range vs. a Kitchenaid model since you were going with the KA
Ultima OTR unit?

Just curious since the Kitchenaid range looks
very similar - only it looks like the Fridgedaire has a nicer sized
window inthe door. Was is price/specs or what? I can't decide if I
should go with one vendor for all applicances or not. I'm concerned
about having the stainless match, but it looks like yours matches
perfectly...




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Thanks again for all of your compliments and encouragement! It does feel good
when you are almost done. Now if I could just say that about the rest
of the house!! Yes, the wallpaper was hideous, and it was on every wall
in every room -- I just tore the last of it down yesterday!! YES!

Beth,
I really enjoyed being your "kitchen buddy." You have nothing to be
jealous about -- your kitchen is gorgeous. Yes, I have granite,
finally, but you have to remember, that my first FOUR kitchens were all
laminate (gosh -- I didn't even know about granite back then!)

For those of you who asked about the floors, I'm assuming you mean in the
pantry -- that is Pergo Presto in white oak from HD. The "main kitchen"
is currently concrete with leftover mastic and paint splatters from all
the colors I tried out! Hopefully I'll have the Kahrs white oak
installed in a few weeks. I used Pergo in the pantry because that is
the doggies' "home base" and thought it would hold up a little better
with their food, water and accidents -- this brand/color was the best
match for the wood I will be using.

Carol, I didn't go with the matching KA slide-in because it was a LOT more expensive than the Frigidaire (which has so many features, and which I love). I was going
for price/value for most items, as this was a "semi" budget remodel.
Fortunately the two items match perfectly, even down to the same
handles!

Linda



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Thank you, Linda, and congrats once again! I bet it looks even better in "real life"!

Beth




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Linda, a very belated congrats!

It looks so wonderful; somehow I was imagining you had a much smaller
kitchen, but this looks so *grand* (yet not at all overdone). The
moldings came out so well! Love all the choices; enjoy what you've done
and post those little updates down the line.



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Boo Hoo! I can't get in!
Ainsley




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Sorry you couldn't get in Ainsley. Try the link in my SECOND message.

Here is a link that might be useful: Linda's Kitchen



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Mary, thanks for the compliments on my kitchen. Good luck to you with your
choices -- I know how hard it is to decide (I think I had about 30
samples of granite on my counter at one point --
http://community.webshots.com/album/119065203AputMb). I like the way
the emerald pearl sparkles. However, in the lighting in my kitchen, the
effect is mostly that of blackish/dark counters, with several shiny
highlights. Only a few of the "sparkles" catch the light and shine at
any one time. However, as you move, or look at different areas, the
granite grains that catch the light change, and different ones "shine".
It gives it a constantly changing effect.

Also, good luck with your great college tour! I remember traveling all over the eastern U.S. with my DD (who is now 29, a doctor and mother of 3!). You picked four great
campuses to visit -- and, they are even prettier in the spring/summer/fall! I'm very familiar with the schools you visited: I went to Denison (and spent a lot of fun weekends at Kenyon, which was all-male at the time); all four of our children went to Miami (which is an outstanding school, great value and is considered a "public ivy");
and my daughters went to tennis camps at Wooster in the summer. You
have so many choices to make -- enjoy! Linda




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Kathy,

Thank you so much for all the kind comments! I'm glad you like my kitchen,
and I would be glad to help you in any way that I can (sorry it took so
long to reply -- we were having work done on the other part of the
house and the computer was unhooked for several days).

I did the soffit molding in 3 steps. Crown on top (4-1/4"), grapevine molding
(that I purchased on the Internet), and then a smaller molding at the
bottom edge to hide the unevenness between my unlevel soffits and the
cabinets. The grapevine molding was composite, rather than the solid
wood, since I was painting it anyway. I forgot what the website is, but
I will look it up and let you know. I did have my contractor cut my
soffits back a few inches so that they were even with the wall-cabinet
fronts (instead of sticking out), and so that the corner angle matched
the corner cabinet.

I am very happy with my Premier cabinets. They look great, the operation and quality of construction seem very good, and they had all of the options I needed at a price that was so much lower than other cabinets I was considering. Premier customer service was also very good on the few items that had to be exchanged.
Do get the full-extension, dovetail joints -- it was only $15 extra per
drawer, and well worth it. I also really like the fact that the fawn
glazing is very subtle -- I thought some of the glazing on other brands
was very heavy and almost amateurish looking. The only suggestion I
would give concerning the cabinet color is to check it out in your
kitchen if at all possible. Depending on the lighting and what color it
is next to it, the cabinets can look more yellow than they did in the
store. I do like the warmth of the color, though. I had an all-white
kitchen before and was ready for a change, yet I wanted to stay "light"
colored because of the lack of windows in my kitchen.

Anyway, good luck, and let me know if I can answer any more questions.

Linda



RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Your kitchen is stunning and has so many great ideas. Did completely rip out
the sofit and then rebuild something to hold the molding? We are
keeping our soffits and I'm considering adding molding in a way you did
to cover them. Just beautiful!
Missi




RE: Legallin's Partially Finished Kitchen

Pauline, you e-mailed me some questions about my desk area, and how the molding
was made. I thought I would answer on the forum in case anyone else
could benefit from the information: I'm glad you like what we've done
with our kitchen. The desk area is one of my favorites, both for
working and with the decorative effect. The desk is 5 ft. wide (two 15"
drawer units and 1 30" middle computer keyboard slide-out) and 31 high
by 22 deep with the countertop. The cabinets (Premier's standard desk
units) are a little smaller. The upper cabinets (on each side) are 42"
x 15" (placed about 14-1/2 inches over the desk by the time you add the
light rail) and the center cabinet is 36" x 30 wide (placed 26-1/2 over
the desk with a light underneath). The center cabinet was also set-out
from the wall another 3". I made the crown molding myself from standard
HD lumber and color-matched the finish -- MUCH CHEAPER that way, and I
think it is more interesting! The molding consists of 2" standard
"brick" molding, and then the crown molding which I attached to the
brick molding (so only about 1" of the brick molding with the
decorative trim shows) and then the 4-1/4 crown molding. Using crown
and brick together made it very easy to attach the crown molding and
easy to attach to the cabinets. Good luck with your project and feel
free to ask if you have any more questions. Linda



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