The Granite is IN!

Well we got the granite in last week and it looks absolutely spectacular.  Honestly I was unprepared for how much I was going to love how it looked in there.  Here's a photo of the main counter area with the island in the foreground:

Now it's on to tile for the backsplash.  I'm thinking a crackle subway tile and now the biggest consideration is how high up to go with it.  I've been all around the block on this one - started thinking I wanted some detail above the range that set it off from the main tiled area, and now have evolved to wanting something more sleek and less interrupted.  My initial thought is to tile up to the bottom of the range hood, and then drop down to the side of the sink to the level of the windowsill.  Stay tuned!

Following are some photos of my claycraft tile fireplace that I'd like to use as inspiration:

And some details:

cabinet pulls

are ordered for the spice cabinet and file drawers.  We've gone with the original milk glass knobs for everything else.  Here are the pulls:

http://www.coolknobsandpulls.com/index.cfm/product/4376/53719-amerock-pull-satin-nickel

things are moving along

Well despite what's been referred to as 'snowpocalypse' here locally (the big ice/snow storm of January, 2011), work continues.  We now have our island in place:

Our cabinet guy made this from alder wood, but managed to mimic our existing cherry cabinets perfectly.  The island is configured to handle trash and recycling.  We're going to add electric to make it possible to use small appliances on top.  Like any old house, we have a shortage of outlets....particularly in the kitchen!

Now for something of a boo boo.  This is my spice cabinet which I was so excited about, but when I returned from a weekend trip to NYC I saw that the placement just wasn't going to work.  Besides the fact that it sticks out like a sore thumb, it would keep me from being able to cook on the burners closest to the cabinet.  Change had to come......








So we moved the spice cabinet over to the opposite side of the kitchen against the wall.  There's a shelf above for cookbooks, and eventually the microwave will go below the shelf.  Then below that will be a file cabinet that suspends the desk made of the granite in the rest of the kitchen.

The new solution next to the range is to put a small cabinet and to frame in the refrigerator.  The cabinet is configured to accommodate baking sheets and other baking necessities.

Other details that have taken place is the removal of all wall tiles and the running of electricity.