Appliances...

Refrigerator: current pick GE Profile GSCS3KGYSS (this is essentially the same fridge we have now (it's 12 years old) in stainless instead of white)

Dishwasher: current pick Whirlpool 24" GU2275XTVY

Double oven: current pick KitchenAid Architect Series II KEBS208SSS

Gas Cooktop: current pick Electrolux EW36GC55GS

Hood: current pick Broan Elite Series E549OSS 36" Chimney Hood

Still looking for a built-in microwave and an under counter beer fridge... both should be fairly easy!

More Countertop Thoughts... Part 4 already? LOL

Yep still thinking/investigating countertop options.

This is one of my new "top 5 favorites" Solano by Viatera:

(the one above and below are from LG Surfaces.)

(and the two below are from an actual kitchen, via Casa de Suhrstedt.)

The Trentino, also by Viatera, is one of the current favorites:

(I agree it looks great with the darker cabinets and lighter floor. It has a very masculine feel. Here's another pic. Both of these are from the  from LG Surfaces website.)

My Kitchen To-Do List

... which doesn't seem to be shrinking at all! This is just the short-term list:

1. Choose countertops. We have more options than ever so currently have 5 favorites... none of which look anything alike!!
2. Get a plumber to come over and run the gas line for the new stove top.
3. Choose appliances. Easier said than done!!
4. Cabinet design is pretty much set - now we need to pick the color. Luckily we have a range in mind so this should be fairly easy.

Kitchen Project Underway - Day 5

Not much excitement here Friday but the foyer is now ready for the new floor!

There's still a lot of work to do before the new floor can be laid... maybe toward the end of this week coming up?

Our Temporary Kitchen

Thought you might like to see how we've set up our temporary kitchen while the real one is under renovation. We have 3 stations (plus a table covered with miscellaneous stuff)

(microwave and blender for those ever-important after-school smoothies)

(water cooler (with hot water for tea and oatmeal) and toaster... can't live without bagels)

(and a little storage area with all our essentials)

Kitchen Project Underway - Day 4

Today we said goodbye to the tile in the foyer... with the help of some power equipment!
(getting underway)

(... hours later, complete!)

(even in the alcove)

We're about done with demo - only the carpet between the foyer and kitchen and the linoleum in the utility room/laundry room/pantry remain. After those jobs are complete, the prep work for the new flooring and the finish work on the new sheet rock are next!

Kitchen Project Underway - Day 3

As promised, today was soffit day. The rest of it came down and all the new drywall went up. In other news, I found out today that all our scrap from the project goes to a big facility where it's sorted and recycled. How great is that?
(big view from day 3 - you can see our sink, dishwasher, fridge and now stove are all in working order, which is soooo nice!)

(close up)

(table and chairs back in their regular spot... for now)

Have I mentioned there is a serious echo in the room now? I'm sure having an actual floor in will mitigate that!

On tap for Thursday: ripping up the tile in the entryway. Hope that goes well. I think we're about a day behind (due to the soffit project; it would have been so much easier if there had been a full ceiling in the room!). The floor (material) is arriving tomorrow. It'll probably be Monday, maybe Tuesday before they can start to install it.

Kitchen Project Underway - Day 2

lots of progress again Tuesday as (most of) the rest of the kitchen cabinets went out as well as the carpet in the space adjacent. The first section of soffit is down.
(the carpet is all gone! @bmds99 says "get excited!")

(and the cabinets are gone! that strip of dingy-looking wall is wallpaper lol)

(progress on removing the first section of the soffit - one side off)

(look you can see right up into the attic!)

(and here it is with that first section out... 1 down, 3 to go!)

Tomorrow the rest of the soffit comes down and sheet rock goes up to cover all the exposed places. Also on tap this week - goodbye to linoleum in backhall, tile in foyer and a small strip of carpet in hall between kitchen and foyer.

Countertop Thoughts Part 3

... of what seems to be a never ending saga!

We're on to 2 more potential manufacturers - Hanstone and LG Viatera. Not impressed with the LG website, the samples are tiny and lots of the links don't work. The Hanstone website is full of goodies though! Here are some of my favorites:
(not only do I like the way this counter looks (it's called Maple Canyon), I like the kitchen itself (maybe not the backsplash but the color of the cabinets and the floor (which you can see in the 2nd photo below)

(this one is really interesting (and yes I am working to let go of my disdain for their practice of giving all their colors double names... lol) Caribbean Blue

but so far have not seen CB on a counter... and in some pictures the base color looks really really orange. and last but not least - Coronado:

Kitchen Project Underway - Day 1!

I was amazed how fast demo goes! The guys were here today for 3 hours and half our cabinets are out and all the tile (and the linoleum underneath the tile) is gone as well. We even had a few surprises...

(kitchen after demo day 1)

(same time, new angle)

(first of the surprises - this entire 12 foot long cabinet was all one piece!)

2nd surprise was we have two spots on the subfloor that are discolored, one looks like old water damage.
3rd surprise is that the linoleum in the pantry/utility/laundry room goes around the hot water heater, not under it! so we have to have it un-installed in order to put the new floor underneath it.

On tap for day 2 - out goes the carpet and we'll find out if the tile in the entryway comes up as easily as the kitchen tile...

More Countertop Thoughts

I think we are getting closer to choosing a color for the countertops... and here it is:

(Cambria Sutton (quartz))

Once again, the counter top color looks different depending on the photo and the lighting. This is really similar to the previous color I talked about (Victoria) but has more of a blue/gray tone to it (whereas Victoria is more yellow).

I don't particularly like the overall look of either of these kitchens, except maybe the wine rack. What do you think?

Update 1/26/10: our vendor is not 100% happy with Cambria so he's going to bring us samples that are fairly close to the one we like from two other manufacturers. Stay tuned!

Kitchen Project Before Pics - Part 3

Here are the last set of before pics - the kitchen itself
(from the eating area)

(looking into the kitchen)

(a different angle... the door on the right goes to the pantry... the door you can see in the pantry leads to the breezeway.)

(I moved the microwave before taking the photo. It usually sits there next to the fridge. This will be the fridge and wall oven(s) in the new kitchen.)

(A close up of the beee-uuu-tiful soffit... which is coming out. You can see where the drop ceiling used to be mounted. We took that down a long time ago.)

Christening the New Stock Pot!

After much discussion, we decided to make a family favorite last Friday night for the first meal prepared in the new stock pot: 

Hearty Italian Soup

½ pound Italian-style sausage, cut into ½ inch pieces

¾ cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced (can use powder)

3 (14 ½ oz) cans beef broth

1 (14 ½ oz) can stewed tomatoes

½ cup dry white wine (optional)

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon basil

½ teaspoon marjoram

2 oz fettuccine, linguine or spaghetti, broken into 2 inch lengths

1 (16 oz) package Italian-style frozen vegetables

freshly ground black pepper (optional)

chopped parsley (optional)

grated parmesan cheese (optional)

In a large pot, sauté sausage, onion and garlic. Drain and return to pot. Add beef broth, tomatoes, wine, sugar, oregano, basil and marjoram. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add pasta; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 to 6 minutes. Add vegetables and continue to simmer until vegetables and pasta are tender, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with black pepper and parsley to garnish. Serve with parmesan cheese. Makes 6 to 8 servings (for small people… in our house this is about one meal!)

My notes: I generally make a double batch of this since sausage comes in 1 pound rolls/packages. If we are not planning to eat it all at one sitting, I put in the vegetables and wait on the pasta. It tends to break down and get starchy if reheated a lot. So once the veggies are about where we like them I move one meals’ worth into a smaller pot and add pasta to that pot. Then I refrigerate or freeze the rest and add the pasta in while reheating it – after it has come to a boil. We also tend to double or triple the amount of pasta.

Kitchen Project Before Pics - Part 2

Part 2 includes the eating parts of the kitchen (stay tuned for Part 3, the cooking/food prep areas)
(kitchen table. the biggest change in this area is new flooring... cuz that 80s marbled carpet has got to go!)

(same end of the kitchen but with the back door)

(this section will be the baking center and bar/beverage area... if everything goes according to plan! are you digging the light fixture? the kids table and chairs went to Good Will today... end of an era!)

Kitchen Project Before Pics - Part 1

I'm going to split the before photos into three posts: kitchen work areas, kitchen eating area, and the ancillary spaces. Starting with the latter, our kitchen remodel extends into our foyer/entryway and down a hallway that serves as our pantry, utility room and laundry room. There's also a little half bath at the end of that hall. These areas will all get new flooring (same throughout the whole project, medium red oak engineered floor) and fresh paint.

Looking from the kitchen through the pantry/utility room/laundry room into the powder room:

Same view, with shelves et al moved out of the way:

(and yes, those are my reusable grocery bags hanging on the door knob in the foreground! :) )

The pantry section - we plan to reuse some of the old cabinets from the kitchen by hanging them above these shelves for extra storage. The door on the right leads into the kitchen.

Here's the entryway:

(from kitchen looking at front door)

(from front door looking into the kitchen)

(view from living room)

we're widening the entry to the kitchen so it matches the entry to the foyer - it's only about 15 inches though it looks huge in this picture!

This is the tile in the entryway that I'm really looking forward to saying goodbye to:

more tomorrow! we're making good progress getting everything moved in preparation for Monday (when demo starts)!