Kitchen Questions & Comments . . . Answered

My post on our kitchen remodel has generated a lot of questions and comments so I thought I’d answer them here.

1. What color did you paint the walls?
Greenmount silk (HC-3) from Benjamin Moore Paints.

2. Where did you get the light fixtures over the island?
Finding the perfect light fixtures was a challenge! I looked at more than 400 before finding these. We bought them online from Lighting By Lux in Georgia. #2334-47 Manhattan 4 Light Iron Pendant from World Imports. The only change I made is that I did not hang the amber glass globe at the bottom.

3. Why did you cover the entrance to the dining room?
We did this because having more storage space was more important than two entrances into the dining room. It was space that could be put to better use for upper cabinets and the corner unit. Our kitchen isn’t large and you can never have too much storage!

The formal dining room is accessible just to the left of the sink and cabinets - about two steps right around the entrance of the kitchen. The new pass through window adds character but is also perfect for passing plates if we need access. In most new construction around here, formal dining rooms are down the hall from the kitchen very near the front door – much, much farther than the few steps we have to ours.

Also, keep in mind the rest of the space you’re not seeing. Hopefully after Christmas we will start “Phase II” of the remodel – making the screened porch right off the kitchen into our new dining room. The existing dining room will become a “game & music room” for my hubby’s huge CD collection and keyboard.

4. Why did you put a skirt under the sink instead of doing cabinets?
It’s a personal choice, of course, but wall mount sinks were/are traditionally skirted and rarely had/have cabinets under them. While we designed a modern-functioning kitchen, I selected finishes/treatments to create an old-fashioned, timeless appeal.

Brooke Giannetti has a great collection of photos of old-fahioned wall mounted sinks . Toward the end of her post she features apron front, farm house sinks. These are the “updated” version of my wall-mount sink. An apron-front sink just about always has cabinets underneath because the cabinets support the weight of the sink, that’s not the case with wall mount sinks which use wall brackets to support the sink. You’ll see on Brooke’s examples that a few are not skirted – I don’t like seeing the water pipes. I also really like the way a skirt helps to soften an entire wall of cabinets – lots of hardscape. It’s nice to be able to break that up with a punch of pattern and a pop of color.

5. Why didn’t you use schoolhouse pendants above the island?
Well again, it comes down to personal choice but that choice was influenced by other finishes in the kitchen. I actually never considered schoolhouse pendant lights above the island because they are just so predictable and over used. Open up just about any kitchen magazine and there they will be. Plus, the scale of the schoolhouse pendant (even 2 or 3 of them) would just be too small over the 8-foot island.

As a designer, one of the things I’m most known for is my attention to detail, it’s one of my “signatures”, if you will. Having an eye for detail takes a room from being decorated . . . to designed and there is a major difference between the two.

A major consideration in selecting the light fixtures was creating visual balance in the room. We used a maple cider flooring which is a great anchor for my mostly white kitchen. I wanted to bring that color up into the room to help ground it. I used the blinds (20% off at Bed, Bath & Beyond) and the light fixtures (used my designer discount) to achieve this goal.

The light fixtures function not only as a source of light but also as an ”anchor” of the entire island area. If I had selected schoolhouse pendants, that entire area would be floating. The fixtures I selected bring the floor & wall color to the middle of the space.

6. What size is your finished kitchen space?
The space measures roughly 15 x 17.5

7. How do you like your honed marble?
I love the look of the Carrera marble and it is fabulous for rolling out dough - I can totally understand why you find Carrera in bakeries. The reality of honed marble, however, is that you have to be willing to live with imperfections. I’ll do a separate post on this at a later date.

*****

I know the blogosphere is filled with lots of DIY and thriftstore makeovers. If you’re a regular reader of TDH, you know I love (and do) those kinds of projects both for myself, friends, family and clients. Over the past 25 years I have done my share of those projects in my homes. I’ve taken up carpet and painted subfloor, painted hideous fireplace brick, and given kitchen cabinets that had seen better days a fresh look with primer and paint, etc.

I know how rewarding it is to transform my house into a home by the sweat of my brow and slight of hand. My new kitchen, however, was not that kind of project. It was a project of my dreams. I know most of you are just like me - you’ve spent years looking thru shelter magazines dreaming of one day being able to do one of those projects. So to be able to create my own dream kitchen instead of just doing them for clients was magical. I feel very blessed!