Swimpy's Kitchen Remodel Thread

I bought my first piece of art to go on the walls. This is going to be way too small for you to see, but the color is the important thing anyway. This is a photograph by an Iowa wildlife photographer named Larry Stone. His work is incredible. This one is called Heron, Egret, Sunrise.

very evocative photo...

In real life the photo has a real ethereal feel. The sunlight off of the water glows like gold. I asked him how he does it and he just shrugs. No filters, just getting the right angle he says.

Oh, that's nice, really nice. Love that golden reflection.

Are you planning a wall of photographic art?

Maybe, Piff. I haven't decided. I just fell in love with this photo. It will be featured prominantly. Larry said his work will be for sale on the web soon. He'll let me know when. I'll post the link here if anyone is interedted in seeing more of his stuff.

So, some good news on the money front. I've got all the bids and I should be able to do this job without any compromises. Yea!

The FP dishwasher is the first casualty, but not because of price. My contractor has had clients who have had bad experiences with this machine. I'm going to see what I can get from Kitchen Aid or some other manufacturer. Going shopping!

How long ago were the bad experiences?

F&P used to have some problems but have since worked them out, KitchenAid is a good brand but it is a very deep DW, they almost always stick out past the cabients, I would look into Bosch or Miele also.
Hope this helps.

I'd like to see his website when he gets it... I went looking for Larry Stone online -- found this. That shot on the bottom has the same dreamy feel as yours. Have you ever been to a Birds in Art show? Great stuff. There's something about birds that makes them wonderful models.

I had a great dishwasher that lasted for eighteen years of hard use but they don't make 'em anymore -- a Waste King. It was loud though, so when I went shopping for another, my first criterion was it had to be quiet. We ended up with a low-end Bosch -- it doesn't have any of the water-saving devices but is otherwise the same as the pricier ones. It works well and is quiet. I refuse to rinse dishes before I put them in the dishwasher so I have to have one that can really do the work.

One thing, they had to shave down the wood floor in front of the space for the DW in order to get it in... kind of weird. Just a little slant to the floor right there.

Thanks, sublime. I just went to the appliance stores. bosch has the reputation of being the quietest. It also allows you to do small loads by just using the upper rack. I like that feature. It has a great smooth face too. Just the door and a sleek handle. The FP was a bit pricier here in town. I think I can get it cheaper at another dealer in another town not too far from here. There is also a guy who will go the chicago and find anything you want. I'll call him on Monday and see what he has to say about FP. I really like the concept and, if what you is true. I would consider it.

Piffka, Larry doesn't just do birds, but his birds are incredible. He has one with two baby pileated woodpeckers peeking out of their nest in side of a tree-one on top of the other.

I'd appreciate some help on choosing colors. I'm going with wood floors, natural red oak. Cabinets will be natural cherry. I'm thinking a Corian like one of these:




I'm going to do a tile backsplash and would like to pull in some color there. I'm leaning toward a slate-look ceramic, but not really sure on that. I don't want to do painted tiles or anything ornate. Looking for simplicity. I'll choose the wall color after choosing the tile. Oh yea. I was thinking about upolstering the bench seats in an ox blood red. What do you think?

Is the third from the top green or gray? I think I like it best -- the first one is too Mardi Gras, the second one's too dark, and the fourth one would be my second choice but I like the third one better.

I second that

I third that, and it goes with the slate/tile sample you showed earlier...

I'm with Sozobe... I like the greenish ones, too, though it would be best to see them next to the cupboard samples to make your choice. I think the floor is too far away from the countertops to be an important factor.

Bench seats are going to be in leather or leatherette, right? Oxblood red sounds good... goes with the natural theme. This is nice... a little fancier than I'm thinking you want.

The third one is my favorite, too. I need to see it in person because I don't want it to be too green. It might restrict changing the color scheme in the future. Soz, the first one is called (you guessed it) Mardis Gras.

Piffka, I'm going to do leatherette. It is a kitchen after all and easy clean is a must. I don't think I'll do the tufted thing.

I went to the tile store today and absolutely fell in love with the natural slate tiles they had. The ones I liked had rusty/blue/green-grey tones. It looks great against the cherry, but not against the countertops I already showed you. It looks similar to this only the tiles are 4" x 4" and don't have that much weird stuff going on.

I ended up going with more of a brown countertop. It's not Corian, but a solid surface material called Staron. It's manufactured by Samsung. Here's a sample, but it doesn't really have those big flecks in it. I think it's magnified for the website.



I'll probably be a lot quieter on this thread for a while. The major decisions have been made. As soon as the money is released by the bank, I'll put the downpayment on the cabinets and they will be ordered. That'll be in the next couple of days, I hope. Then we wait. I'll let you know when the tear out begins. I can't wait to see what's under that floor.

Fingers crossed that it is old oak flooring for you Swimpy.

I love those slate tiles too. I think we've been looking at something very similar, except they're 12 inches square, for a wood stove surround we're redoing. I thought they looked good set off by the black stove... probably similar to how yours will look, set off by the dark "Aspen Mine" countertop.

I need to stop thinking about this damned kitchen all the time. I was wide awake at 2 AM thinking about what the crown molding is going to look like. I think it's going to look too chunky. I was disappointed in the small selection they offered. I need to talk to the cabinet guy again. I don't know why there even needs to be any crown molding at the top of the cabinets.

Update: The cabinets and countertops have been ordered. I expect the tear out to begin around the middle of March.

I don't remember if I mentioned that I am trying to get a table made through the state prison industries. The benches that I'm getting will be a little higher than the average chair height. I want to make sure the table is high enough to get good leg clearance.

So, I need a favor from all of you. Would you measure the distance from your dining room chair seats to the underside of the table top? Please report the overall height of your table as well. I'm trying to get an average. Thanks for your help.

Swimpy
My table top is 29-1/2 inches above the floor. There are 9-1/2 inches between the chair seat and the underside of the table.

BBB