Island

There's not really very much to say about the island.  I'll just post a bunch of photos and you can figure it out. The top is 2 book-matched slabs of cherry with an extra strip up the middle (to make it wide enough) from the Keith Hendee stash of cherry wood. (No, Keith, you can't have it back).  The blue color was matched from cobalt blue Fiesta Ware.  Power was run in a conduit under the slab (actually planned and done from the beginning). The drawer pulls are from our old cabinets.

The last thing to be done was laying the cork floor and setting the base trim. This is an engineered flooring product where the "planks" click together and the whole thing floats as a unit.  Cork is a totally renewable resource.  The cork is harvested every 7 years from trees on plantations, not harming the trees at all.  It has been used on floors for a very long time and lines up wonderfully with our "green" intentions as well as our design sense here where tradition meets modern meets organic.

So, that's pretty much it.  Now we can get the rest of our furniture out of storage.  We will need to figure out what works and what doesn't.  But already this space feels wonderful.  The room is a very nice size, it is very comfortable, and the views out all those windows are fabulous.  Yesterday an appraiser was out to look at our property and when she came in, she said "Should we call this the great room?".  Oh, ya, I think it is!

More Kitchen Progress

 

 

The tile went up without incident.  I decided to stop it just under the shelf.  It would be a huge problem (and lots of weird cuts) to run it all the way up to the ceiling and through the structural cables.  The top row ended at a very good place for the shelf, where the range hood chimney cover could end without any cutting or special fabrication. 

 

The shelf was something else.  I knew it would be tough because it needed to fit exactly between the two vertical slabs that are not very square to the wall. I also needed to provide support through the length. I did not want the supports to show, so I set steel pins into the studs and had to drill corresponding holes in the edge of the shelf.  Good luck with that, right?

 

I measured very carefully and did my best to drill level.  I still needed to drill the shelf holes oversize to get the pins to go in.  I do not have photos of me pounding on the shelf with a sledge hammer to get it to the wall.  But it did get there.

This part of the kitchen is basically done.  Now on to the island.

Kitchen Cabinets

Our basic design style for the new addition is organic modern.  The trim, shelf unit in the shop end gable wall, the kitchen shelves, island top, and kitchen cabinets will all be cherry.  Jan has a pair of secretary desk shelf units made of cherry that set the tone.  And, of course, we have all that great cherry from my friend Keith Hendee.

I am custom building all the cabinets using a technique I saw in an old carpentry textbook.  Instead of the modern way of putting a kitchen together as a bunch of boxes, I am building the cabinets in place.

 

 

In order to reinforce the modern style, the doors and drawer fronts will be flat panels with the grain running horizontally.  Also there will be no knobs or handles; the drawers and doors pop open with a bump.

 

 

I fabricated the Corian countertop with the help of the guys at FWS (http://www.f-w-s.net/).  The owner Al Kuczynski and I go way, way back.  In fact I did several projects with him in the earliest days of FWS.

Still need to design and build the island.  It will be in front of the range and most of the sink, pretty much covering the bottom left corner of the above photo and under those hanging pendant lights (they have very cool mod globes).  I do know it will be topped with live edge cherry and probably painted grey.

The wall tile should come in this week.  It is warm grey, 4"X16".  That should really add a lot to the look.  Then that very cool glass range hood and more live edge shelves finish off the wall.  Can't wait.

Appliances

It is always best to have the appliances (at least) chosen, (even better in hand), when doing the electric, gas, water, sewer, and ventilation rough in before the walls are closed in.  So I had been trying to pin these things down for quite a while.  The problem is, I couldn't make firm decisions early on.  I needed to be flexible on purchases to take advantage of the best prices.  I also didn't want to buy things way before I needed them; tying up money.  Most kitchen appliances are more or less standard in size, but connections can vary.  I found examples on line that I liked and set rough-ins to them, hoping the final pieces would match up.  We wanted good quality, quiet and efficient operation with stainless steel finish.

The one thing I knew could not be set as standard was the range hood.  I really wanted a special modern style one with a glass hood.  I wasn't positive I could find one at a good price, so my priority was to find one ASAP.  If I couldn't find one cheap enough, I would have to change my plan.

I had been watching Searsoutlet.com for a while.  This is a great place to get bargains.  Sears posts all it's clearance, closeouts, refurbished, returns, etc..  They have outlet centers all over the country, but also list things located in stores. There are 3 centers in the St. Louis area; close enough for us.  I had been looking there for this range hood for weeks.  There were several listed, but none cheap enough or close enough. Finally, just in time, one showed up in Paducah, Ky. (just 50 miles from here).  I jumped on it.

 

We have still been struggling with colors, so we took an excursion to Cape Girardeau, Mo. to look at furniture.  While there, we took a look at the appliances a the Sears store.  Jan saw an apartment sized refrigerator there that she liked.  It was nicely styled, not too small, and stainless steel finish.  We don't really need a big fridge and the saved space would be helpful.  I planned to go back with my truck in a couple of days to get it (while it was on sale).  Back at home, I took a look at Searsoutlet.com to check for better deals before we pulled the trigger.  There were several of the same fridge (new in the box) listed in Kansas City area at a big discount.  I needed to deliver some horse jumps to K.C. anyway, so why not just pick up a fridge while there?  A few days later, I saw even more of this model of fridge listed at the outlet center in Fairview Heights, IL (this side of St. Louis).  Apparently, they are closing out this model.  Great timing.  We hooked up the trailer and headed north. 

 

 

Since we were making the trip to the Sears Outlet Center for a refrigerator, we figured we would check for deals on a range and dishwasher as well.  We also wanted to be sure there wasn't some amazing deal on a full sized fridge.  There wasn't.

 

The range needed to be a gas slide-in with stainless finish.  I had researched them a bit and found that they are quite a bit more expensive than free standing ranges, but we really wanted the built-in look of the slide-in.  The outlet store had 2.  One of them was about half the retail price.  No noticeable scratches or dents;  must have been a return.  Sold.

 

 

The criteria for the dishwasher was stainless, good quality, and QUIET.  We did spend a bit more on this one than we had planned, but, again, our choice was a high end excellent quality and very quiet unit priced about half of the original price.  When I down-loaded the installation manual a couple of days later, I realized that the power cord was missing.  I called the outlet store and the manager told me to order the part I needed and he would credit my card for the cost.  Wow, that was the most painless complaint I have ever had!