THE PROGRAM The existing kitchen was not bad. The basic layout was alright, but the cabinets were late 70's vintage with a dreary finish, and the lighting was horrible. Grandma Zi complained about the lighting everytime she did her holiday cooking. We had more functional problems though. There was not much work space between the cook top and sink. The kitchen island was great for chopping but because the Jenaire grill was located on the cooking end, there was an excessive distance from the chopping block to the saute pan. All of the preparation activity took place at the island, backing to the main sink, so it made it difficult for others to be at the sink while chopping and mixing was going on. To make matters worse, the old sink was a self-rimming cast iron type that was too small on one side to be useful. Wiping off the adjacent counters was a pain due to the large lip on the sink. The trash compactor to the right of the sink was never used and functioned as a garbage receptacle. Although the kitchen is fairly large, there did not seem to be enough storage, especially for dishes.  kitchen before  room divider before  to family room  sink area | THE DESIGN CONCEPT The concept for the redesign was: 1- choose all new materials that would support a rustic Italian theme and 2- make functional improvements. We began by centering the cook top on the back wall, an asthetic improvement which also resulted in more work space between the sink and the cook top. A nice stainless steel exhaust system from Viking was selected to serve as a focal point for the kitchen while providing a much needed improvement in the extraction of cooking fumes. We loved to use the Jenaire grill, but by moving the unit to the opposite end of the island, we could get a second work space by the cooking center. The trash compactor was replaced with an 18" wide cabinet containing a top drawer and two 22 quart rubbermaid bins that pull out with the door. One is for garbage, the other for glass and cans to be recycled. The sink cabinet was enlarged to accomodate a 38" wide stainless steel undermounted sink (a true "undermount" style sink requires you to drill holes in the stone, which means you will have a wet spot around your faucet most of the time). The larger bowl (21") on the left side is convenient to the new dishwasher, while a smaller but adequate prep sink (12") is available on the right, adjacent to the preparation areas. A spice drawer was located to the left of the cook top and puts all of the spices in order (one of our favorite features!). The pots and pans are now located in deep drawers to the left or right of the cook top or in roll outs directly below the cook top. This space below the cook top is partitioned to have a convenient storage spot for chopping blocks. The end of the island facing the cook top was changed to include a 36" wide x 12" deep cabinet with full height doors that open to retrieve oversized cook books and other items needed for cooking (olive oil, wine vinegars, etc.) All of the drawers are on full extension undermount glides. The Sub-Zero refrigerator allowed integration with the cabinetry but left no place for photos. To solve this problem a side panel to the right of the refrigerator was fitted with a piece of magnetic steel behind 24 gauge stainless; this allows magnets to work like before. Recessed lighting with low voltage halogen was used to provide nice ambient light as well as task lighting for the island and sink areas. Under cabinet task lighting with warm fluorescent lamps was incorporated under the wall cabinets. A multi-step chestnut finish was chosen for the alder wood cabinets. The style of the door was not too fussy, but has enough detail to show off the skill of the cabinet maker. A light colored, honed finish Jerusalem limestone was found to provide a continuous and natural looking work surface. The extra maintenance that comes with a softer stone was traded off against the intrinsic beauty of the limestone. A natural patina is expected to emerge after years of use. In keeping with the rustic Italian theme, a "crater" design was used as a focal point under the hood and mosaics continue as a border along the backsplash. The kitchen now allows multiple cooks to function simultaneously. Cabinet storage capacity has improved dramatically with the use of frameless construction for the cabinets. The finely finished and detailed cabinetry helps to give a more luxurious feeling to the space and ties in to the rustic aspects of the architecture. See the photos below for some views of the finished kitchen:  cook center  entry from garage  dishwasher  spice drawer  recycling  lazy susan  pot storage  panel lighting detail  dining area  desk top  arched valence  mural at desk  room divider  island  photos  ovens-pantry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
