Parental Kitchen Remodel: Choices

When they began their kitchen remodel, my mom knew two things; they wanted to tear the wall out between the kitchen and dining rooms:

and she wanted the new cabinets to coordinate with their existing dining room furniture:

Wouldn't be my first choice, or my 100th for that matter, but she loves it so that's all that matters right? 

The cabinets are Kitchenaid - Sonora cherry with a chocolate glaze.

Her old cabinets did not reach to the ceiling and she is definitely not a "top-of-the-shelf-decorator-and-duster" sort of lady, so all that space was going to waste. So there's another decision made, right? Ceiling height cabinetry in whatever color matches the existing furniture. Done. 

The DR furniture has crystal knobs with oil rubbed bronze fittings, so the top 12" cabinets got special ordered matching crystal knobs:

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The rest of the hardware needed to be ORB as well and she decided simple was best:

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She did, however, add three of these guys in ORB for a little extra fun touch:

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Two of them live on the pantry and one on the side of the island. They are all in a different position. I thought three different types of hardware was going to be a bit much, but most everything is in place now and you don't even notice.

They already had the stainless FisherPaykel double dish drawer, so stainless appliances were a given. My uncle happens to be an engineer for GE, so they got his discount on the range, hood, and refrigerator. Nice.

She knew she wanted cork floors. My cousin has had them for years and loves them.

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I am not totally loving the floors, but like I said earlier, it is her kitchen, not mine. 

My kitchen has stainless steel countertops that are original to the house (59 years old). They show hardly any wear and tear, just a few small dings and no scratches that I am aware of. They don't stain and you can have them crafted to any specifications. And, of course, my mother wants to be cool like me, so they decided on stainless steel for the countertops with sinks built right in. No seams to clean, lovely!

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I wish she had gone with the white cabinets - they really pop against the stainless! Isn't this a lovely kitchen?

The tile took a long time to choose. There are soooo many options at such varied price points! It came down to four, so she took them home and set them all up against the example cabinet she had and a stainless cookie sheet (as the mock countertop)and ended up choosing the one she had initially liked the least! It just goes to show that context is everything. 

The only example I found of what appears to be the same tile in a kitchen environment is actually the kitchen from the Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie! Which I never saw.

Although, it looks like they actually topped the island with the tile. Not very practical from a daily cooking standpoint. Unless you put a glass top on it, maybe. And they have my fancy slim line trash can! Yay!

The island has two height levels. One counter height for cooking, baking, etc. and one bar stool height. The counter height section is receiving the stainless treatment, but the bar stool height gets a zebra wood counter.

The desk on the opposite wall also got a zebra wood top.

It all sounds pretty busy, doesn't it? I even put a composite together for my own benefit to try and "see" her vision.

She didn't end up choosing those lights (they were my pick, thanks to Suzie!) and the blue tile didn't end up making it's way in. Luckily. She wanted to put it on the side of the island where your knees would be. The guy at the tile store talked her out of it. Thank God. 

The kitchen is almost finished, IRL, so stay tuned for more pics!

Check out the beginning of this project here and here.