Our Dream Kitchen Comes to Life!

Well after careful planning, measuring, selecting colors, textures, etc, we came up with our dream kitchen.
It was quite the process. A bit more stressful than the bathroom as we had a carpenter who wasn't very bright or one with much common sense. I think that is the most difficult part of going through this kind of process. You can have a design in your mind, yet trying to convey that to someone else in a way they can understand and comprehend can be very challenging. We had to draw diagrams in detail, and be scrutinizing detail every step of the way.

So without further adieu, I'd like to show you all the pictures of our kitchen. I'd like to start with before and after pictures. I tried taking the pictures at the same vantage points so you can appreciate the changes that were made.

This first picture is the before picture of the kitchen. Its very 1975. Maximizing space was not a consideration in this 1975 design, nor was function. I couldn't wait for this kitchen to be gone. There was nothing I liked about it. To the right is the kitchen after our redesign. LOVE IT! Notice how we moved the stove away from the refrigerator. The area was very cramped. Notice the upper cabinets do not go all the way to the ceiling. When you opened the cabinet, the upper area was cut off. You could not store things up there. Again, a poor choice in design in terms of maximizing storage space.

Before Pic - Our Vintage 1975 Kitchen (click on picture to see a larger version)

The floor was a not so pretty pattern. We ended up getting a pergo at Home Depot. It was interesting shopping for that. There are so many types, brands, colors, etc. There were a couple of styles we really liked. One had a warranty 50 years, the other 25 years. Warranty doesn't mean shit. We took a sample of the flooring and literally struck a key against it to see how well it could stand a scratch. We wanted something that was very durable as the kitchen would be the most traveled area on the house. The 25yr warranty sample did not scratch. The 50yr warranty sample left a nice gouge. Decision was made. We went with the Red Jatoba Pergo. We think the color and grain is a perfect match.

After Pic - Our Dream Kitchen 2010  (click on picture to see a larger version)

Diamond is the name of the manufacturer of the cabinets we chose. We opted to get all wood cabinets. Typically, most cabinets come with some particle board on them somewhere. We made this mistake with the cabinets we got for the bathroom. We weren't about to repeat it in the kitchen. The timing of purchasing the cabinets was good. I guess due to the economy companies such as this are offering many incentives. We got a free sink base, we got a huge discount on the package, and a glazing discount. 

The cabinets we got are maple. The color is called Whiskey Black. The base color is the whiskey, while the glazing around the rope edges are black. Its difficult being in the showroom seeing so many styles and colors and trying to picture it in our space. The style we choose wasn't necessarily in the showroom. We knew the look we wanted and was able to put it together with the options that Diamond had available. It worked out well. 

Before pic, same vantage point as after pic (click on pic to larger version)

Looking at the sink in the before picture, you'll see that is a double basin. In our new kitchen we opted for a one basin sink. Part of this was due to the size restraints we had to be able to fit everything just so. Typically a double sink was something that was needed when one would do dishes by hand. One sink had the soapy water, the other sink was the rinse. Not being one to do dishes by hand and having a dishwasher, we thought it made sense just to get a single basin sink. The sink manufacturer is Kraus. This is the same company that made our bowl sinks in the bathroom. We were also able to get a Kraus pull out faucet. Gotta love Overstock.com. That is where we got our stuff. The sink is a 16 gauge stainless steel and insulated. Most sinks purchased at Home Depot etc are 18 gauge and not insulated and costs more. We are very impressed the the quality that Kraus puts out. Gotta love our German friends. 

After pic, same vantage point as before pic. (Click on pic to see larger version)

I bet you are looking at the counter top and thinking that its granite. Its not actually. Its a quartz counter top. A quartz counter top is a manufactured material unlike natural stone. It is composed of crushed quartz rock mixed and compressed with an epoxy. You'd swear it was a natural stone. We choose quartz for a number of reasons. First, I love quartz. Its an amazing mineral with very good spiritual and healing properties. Secondly, Consumer Reports rated a quartz counter top as a better buy than granite. Quartz counter tops are harder, more heat resistant, and almost scratch proof compared to its granite counterpart. The third factor that influenced us is that granite needs to be sealed every so often. A quartz counter top never needs sealant. Its pretty much impervious to anything. Also, unlike a natural stone, a quartz counter top will always have the same consistency from one batch to the next. You can always get a perfect match and not worry about one piece not matching the other piece exactly.

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These photos were pics that I've taken in the past on our travels. I had them blown up and I framed them myself.  
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