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I said it over at "Rate my room" and I'll say it again here...I LOVE your kitchen. My husband and I are in the planning stages right now for our entire house with the kitchen being #2 on my list. Thank you for having this blog and giving insight through this journey.

Posted by Tami – March 5, 2007 4:08 PM

I was just curious, if you don't mind sharing. How much did you spend? I am going to be redoing my kitchen in the next year, although I can't say it will be this big (how I would love it to be), but I'm afraid of the cost will be. Also, how did you get those counters? I know you said something about painted or something. Pls explain.

Posted by dejesus – March 6, 2007 10:43 PM

Will you add more pictures of the finished area... the whole area... we have an area very similar to what you started with so I would like to see your whole area finished if you don't mind.... I would appreciate it!!!

Posted by Blake – March 7, 2007 10:16 AM

Nice job! I just realized something. An initial illusion was that the insides of the glass cabinets were dark, then I realized they are not. It could be a great look to take some dark colored paint and paint the insides, I think it would tie in real well with the island. Don't be afraid, I've done it numerous times, and it adds a sophisticated touch. You can even comb it or do some other effect. I think that would add a whole lot of bang for the buck. If you have light colored objects, that would pop beautifully as well. Enjoy your kitchen.

Posted by susan – March 8, 2007 6:45 AM

Wow! Absoultly gorgeous.
I did my kitchen over also and we are in the process of doing the floor. We have wood cabinets, so would you put wood floor down or ceramic tile? Can you advise me?
Thanks
Glo

Posted by Gloria – March 9, 2007 11:59 AM

Hello Glo,

This is Angelique Medow. I designed this kitchen for the Sexton family.

You were wondering what kind of flooring would work well with your wood cabinets. Without seeing a photo of your place, it is difficult to give a certain recommendation, but I will share a couple suggestions.

The best way to decide whether to go with wood or tile is to ask yourself how you want your floor to feel. Warm? Cool? Soft? Hard? You can probably make either tile or wood look good, so what would you like better?

Visually, the most important part of your decision is the color of the flooring. Unless you love a monochromatic look, I recommend choosing a flooring color that contrasts the cabinets. For example, if you've got natural pine cabinets that have a golden tone, go with a floor that is much darker (brown, black) or lighter (whitewashed-be aware that this will show scuffs and dirt). Make sure that the flooring does not have any golden tones in it, otherwise the room will look too warm and log-cabin-like, especially if you choose wood flooring. Remember: opposites attract. If your cabinet color is warm, choose a cool color for the floor, and vice versa.

Let us know what you decide!
angeliquemedow@aim.com

Posted by ANGELIQUE MEDOW – March 11, 2007 11:00 PM

Please help! I am having a hard time deciding the color of granite. I have cherry wood cabinet, with a brown glaze and I was looking for the "Tan Brown" granite. I am not sure whether to go with a lighter granite in the "golden" browns. I have a small kitchen but I wanted something warm and elegant. I actually saw a mahagony cabinet with the tan brown granite countertop and it was gorgeous. Any suggestions?

Posted by zee – March 12, 2007 9:53 PM

WOW! Your remodel is beautiful, my husband and I are in the first stages of a remodel on our kitchen too. I hope we have the insight of space as you have. Do you have any pic's of before your remodel? Please add more of the finished pic's also. Kuddo's again!

Posted by Dee – March 13, 2007 6:52 PM

It appears as though there are undercabinet lights. What kind were used?

Posted by dorothy – March 14, 2007 3:55 AM

love your kitchen. what are the dimensions of the area seen in the photo?

Posted by terri – March 14, 2007 9:44 AM

Hello Zee, this is Angelique Medow. You have a great name!

The colors you are talking about using sound great. Tan/Taupe/Creamy Blonde/Golden colors all work really well with cherry wood in the darker finishes (browns and reds). Although I can't see the colors from here, they sound like they would look good together- warm and elegant. You may want to keep in mind that the lighter the countertop color, the more the contrast against your cabinetry. If you like contrast, you will like the combination with the lighter granite. Also, the lighter colors do tend to make a space feel larger, so that may work well for your small space. I recommend choosing a countertop with a visable pattern, so that spills and crumbs are less noticable.

Hello Dorothy,
The undercabinet lights are common 3" halogens available at most home improvement stores in packages of 3 to 9 fixtures and are located in the lighting dept. They add a good amount of light and some heat.

Hi Terri,
The kitchen dimensions are about 19'6" (window wall) by 9'7" (fridge wall).

Posted by ANGELIQUE MEDOW – March 14, 2007 11:43 PM

Thanks for the measurements, anglique. you have done a good job of responding to people's questions. what a plus!

Posted by terri – March 16, 2007 11:04 AM

Fantastic!! u all have done a great job. Your Kitchen looks lovely..

Posted by Deepal - India – March 17, 2007 7:20 AM

We are just now looking into ideas of how to redesign our kitchen. Unfortuneately, there are no designers in our area so we are left to our own ideas and that of Home Depot (not the best help here). We have a U shaped kitchen now, but would like to seperate the bar part of the counter into and island. We have also purchased a convection oven, and were looking at stove tops. I noticed a comment about not using a vent hood. We were thinking a bout putting the stove top on the island and venting it downward. Is this not a good idea?

Posted by Shannon – March 17, 2007 10:59 PM

Gorgeous kitchen! We are moving from traditional South to the relaxed, more casual Tucson. Color of the kitchen/ greatroom has become a point of contention. We are newlyweds and each is willing to compromise so we need an unbiased opinion. The kitchen is quite large, the cabinets are a cinnamon stain over maple, the counters are tropic brown and the floors are 18in ceramic tile that are layed on a diagonal and truly mimic travertine. They are in a beige/grey. All ceilings are nine feet and the windows are huge in the bay-walled dining space and the triple windowed great room . No windows in the kitchen. We intend to have a tile backsplash put in. There are 10 recessed lights and a space waiting for a triple pendant or billiard fixture over the 5-stool breakfast bar. I vote for a southwestern shade of red in the kitchen and single wall/bayed dining room with the other walls a butterscotch color. All the walls are custom troweled and will look similar to venician plaster when painted. My prince of a husband wanted a dark gray brown on those previously mentioned walls and on the ceiling ( to give this large space height,,,,,,,,,Rather than butterscotch, he feels the remaining walls including the fireplace-entertainment center wall should be a gold color. He says if I want red, go for it. Obviously, we are not afraid of taking risks but need some feedback on this one. Thanks!

Artene

Posted by Arlene – March 18, 2007 1:36 AM

This kitchen is beautiful and love the cabinets. My wife and I are remodeling our kitchen and really like the cabinets you have and we went to home depot to purchase them but they wanted a model number. Would it be possible if you can get us the model number for the upper, lower and the island's cabinet model number? We would greatly appreciate it and thank you.

Posted by Leonard – March 18, 2007 10:11 AM

I love your kitchen!...and it match our project 95%. Currently we are building our house and this layout is exactly what we need. could you please send me more pictures? would love to see the cooking area. could you also please send dimensions?
thank you so much. Ana

Posted by Ana Frausto – March 19, 2007 1:02 AM

Hello, this is Angelique Medow, designer for this kitchen. What great questions! Below are some thoughts and ideas that might be helpful to you.

Hello Shannon.
Creating a separate bar area/island
Creating a separate bar area/island and breaking up that "u" shaped kitchen sounds like a good idea. That should create an easy pedestrian flow instead of blocking things off with only one entry/exit.

Range with a Downdraft
If you are hesitant about whether a downdraft will give you the suction that you want, check it out first hand. Does your local appliance retailer have a working floor model? If not, would they be willing to give you a name of someone who purchased a range/downdraft through them? Give them a call and see what they think. Maybe they'll invite you for tea so you can see if the suction of steam from the boiling water seems adequate to you.

Hello Artene,
You have some fun stuff happening in your kitchen.

Ceiling Color
Glad you are taking note of your nine foot ceilings. If you want to give the illusion of greater height, make the ceiling color lighter than the wall color. It opens things up and makes the room feel taller by making the ceiling appear farther away.

Wall Colors
It is impossible to visualize all the color tones you are debating for the walls, but here are a couple thougths:
1. Balance warm and cool colors. Too many cool colors can make a place feel sterile and too many warm colors can make a place feel nauseating. You've got cinnamon glazed cabinets (warm), travertine tile (usually a warm beige) and brown countertops (usually warm, but could be cool). It seems as though you've got a lot of warmth right now.
2. Highlight the custom finishes. To highlight your custom, rough-troweled walls, you might like to paint them a creamy custard color and then apply a brown glaze to provide depth in the wall texture and bring out the brown color in the countertops.
3. Use bright colors as an accent. Like red lipstick, reds are best used as an accent color. For the same reason that a red-haired woman doesn't look her best in a red dress with red hose, shoes and lipstick, a room with all red walls does not look its best. Painting one, terracotta-red wall as an accent might really do the trick.
4. It's only paint! No matter what, it's only paint- if you don't like it, you can paint again! Fear Not and paint away!

Backsplash
Sheets of hammered or patterned copper, or a copper-metallic glazed tile or accent pieces could be stunning. The naturally softened patina of the true copper is gorgeous with the cinnamon glazed cabinets.

Hi Leonard.
Each separate cabinet piece has its own model number, so there are LOTS of model numbers in this kitchen. If you print out a photo of what you want, and bring it to Home Depot, they will have to use one of their books to look up the model number. They will need to know that all of cabinetry is made by Kraftmaid. The off-white cabinetry is called "Brockington" in a "frost glaze" finish over maple and all of the dark cabinetry on the island is called "Manchester" in a "peppercorn" finish over oak.

Posted by ANGELIQUE MEDOW – March 20, 2007 2:59 PM

We have just about finished planning our new kitchen, which is part of a larger project to expand part of our house (we've lived there since it was built, almost 30 years). Work should start in April... This blog has been a great story to follow, and I love your end product.

My overall look was inspired by cooking shows like Barefoot Contessa and Healthy Appetite -- simple white cabinets, some glass-fronted uppers, lots of wide drawers and pullouts for storage, and probably a wood counter on the peninsula. Layout will not be all that different from my current kitchen, which has worked well. After looking at LOTS of counters, we are going with soapstone: granite was just too glossy, and honed granite too expensive. The soapstone I have seen seems to "weather" over time, and has a more organic feel that I love.

For the wood counter, we are thinking about using the reclaimed wood company that you worked with, Jim. How was that experience? And how are you liking the finished product?

Posted by sonia – March 26, 2007 11:52 AM

I am getting my ducks in a row for my kitchen remodel. I have 8 foot ceilings but am considering doing the full height cabinets. Any opinions?

Posted by Lisa B – March 26, 2007 2:35 PM

This is beautiful. Nice job. We are fixing to do a major remodeling job of our home here in Bridge City, Texas. Our kitchen is kinda set like this one now with the sink and window. I'm guessing the stove in on the island! Could you send me the mesurements of the island?

Thanks.

Posted by Molly Sartin – March 28, 2007 11:54 AM

This has been a big help - from the Sexton's blog to all others comments. I've almost picked out all the parts of our 1910 bungalow kitchen remodel and am right there with KraftMaid cabinets! I really want as white as possible and can't decide on the finish. We are picking Maple Thornton style and are torn between Vanilla Bean glaze, Bisque glaze or Frost glaze. The frost is "distressed" which I do not like as much on the 2x1 sample at Home Depot but looks good in the pictures and brochures. Does anyone else have an opinion on the finishes? Thanks.

Posted by Nancy B – April 3, 2007 11:18 PM

Gorgeous kitchen! You have guts to be so bold with black... it turned out great! We are just about to get our kitchen finished; we ordered cherry cabinets with a mid-tone stain (I know they darken over time). I really like the glaze that accentuates the lines of the cabinets but we couldn't afford to add that. Do you know if that is something we could hand-apply ourselves over the finished cabinets, or does that have to be applied before the polyurethane?

Posted by Laurie – April 14, 2007 12:22 AM

I just found this bolg and boy was I happy about that. My husband and I just closed escrow on a home in NV yesterday. This is a fixer upper house to say the least.
Not only does it need all the floors replaced, paint everywhere and more, the kitchen needs to be gutted.
The kitchen is about 9x23 including a breakfast nook.
We are planning on taking down the wall between the kitchen and the family room. This will give it a more open look and feel and bring it up to the more modern style of today.
There is a doorway from the dining room to the kitchen which we are thinking about closing off because we can use that wall to place the refrigerator so it can be flushed with the cabinets. There’s another doorway that leads from the kitchen to the laundry room, that doorway will stay. However we are thinking about removing the door and putting in a pocket door to make the area less cluttered with doors. I say that because there are 5 doors in the laundry room area which is the room right off the kitchen.
My question is this, what do you think about removing the doorway from the dining room to the kitchen? Would this cause a problem for resale down the road or would it be a selling point because it will increase the storage space in the kitchen?
Also, I would like to know which is better in an island bar (like the one you have in the pics), a skin or a stove. Currently the stove in where we want to put the island and the skin is on the wall. We want to switch them. Is this a good idea?
My last question is, where do we start?
We purchased Home Architect 3D for $450 and my husband has created a great kitchen wit the software. But we are wondering if we should take the original floor plan to a professional to see what they come up with. We know that this remodel will cost a lot of money so we want to get it done right the first time.
I hope someone can help us out.

Posted by Bea – May 16, 2007 2:49 PM