Kitchen Remodel

You had the smarts to pick a timeless classic look. It will never get old. Job well done! :love:
Everything gets old or "dated" as they say on HGTV. When stainless FINALLY meets a well deserved death, millions of kitchens are going to be "dated".
 
Everything gets old or "dated" as they say on HGTV. When stainless FINALLY meets a well deserved death, millions of kitchens are going to be "dated".
I still don't get the bottom freezer thing, my wife "bullied" me into getting one when we built the PA house and now even she hates it and she is only 5'1". Me being 6' I knew I would hate it, thankfully we only use the place once or twice a month on a weekend.
 
I still don't get the bottom freezer thing, my wife "bullied" me into getting one when we built the PA house and now even she hates it and she is only 5'1". Me being 6' I knew I would hate it, thankfully we only use the place once or twice a month on a weekend.
The house we're in now had one of those French door, bottom freezer units. I didn't think one way or another about it - I can take it or leave it. But my wife *DETESTED* it from day one - so we eventually got rid of it and went to our old fave, the side-by-side (in Black). What we both detest are stainless stee - wait, I mean (per HGTV) STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES! Those and the above mentioned stand alone range hoods which both waste space and look like they're trying too hard. Don't like - again per HGTV - the so-called "open concept" floorplans either - which seem to be dying out everywhere but HGTV. Its like living in a damn barn. Kitchen needs to be in its own room, preferably closed off from the rest of the house like it was in Victorian times - but we *really* like Victorian houses and floorplans. Wife doesn't like white kitchen cabinets either - I can take them or leave them myself.
 
Everything gets old or "dated" as they say on HGTV.
Of course they say that. The object is to sell more services and crap. Stainless is timeless, unless of course it's on a 1981-82 DMC DeLorean! ;)

280px-Delorean_DMC-12_side.webp
 
Of course they say that. The object is to sell more services and crap. Stainless is timeless, unless of course it's on a 1981-82 DMC DeLorean! ;)
I remember the last time Stainless was "in" - when it went "out", it looked REALLY "dated". Nothing "timeless" about it - its a recent fad like all others. But it does have superior flux dispersal properties...
 
The house we're in now had one of those French door, bottom freezer units. I didn't think one way or another about it - I can take it or leave it. But my wife *DETESTED* it from day one - so we eventually got rid of it and went to our old fave, the side-by-side (in Black). What we both detest are stainless stee - wait, I mean (per HGTV) STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES! Those and the above mentioned stand alone range hoods which both waste space and look like they're trying too hard. Don't like - again per HGTV - the so-called "open concept" floorplans either - which seem to be dying out everywhere but HGTV. Its like living in a damn barn. Kitchen needs to be in its own room, preferably closed off from the rest of the house like it was in Victorian times - but we *really* like Victorian houses and floorplans. Wife doesn't like white kitchen cabinets either - I can take them or leave them myself.
yeah we went all stainless in PA, in NY mostly black, not changing appliances just for the look. Microwaves above the stoves. I do like the open concept in PA, as cooking is part of the entertainment when friends and family are there. Don't have finished kitchen pic on this computer.
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kitchen1.webp
finished den.webp
 
yeah we went all stainless in PA, in NY mostly black, not changing appliances just for the look. Microwaves above the stoves. I do like the open concept in PA, as cooking is part of the entertainment when friends and family are there. Don't have finished kitchen pic on this computer.
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I do *love* those cabinets - very pretty! Actually, very similar to what was in our kitchen when we bought this house. Microwave belongs over the stove or at least built-in somewhere. Wasting the space above the stove with one of those silly stand alone range hoods doesn't make any sense to me. Putting the microwave on the counter is even worse!

We dumped the stainless fridge, reskinned the stainless dishwasher, dumped the stand alone range hood and replaced it with a cabinet and microwave. All in black. But the look I *really* like are the appliances with the wood fronts that match the cabinets. That's classy. And timeless if anything is. And *EXPENSIVE*!

We also had to close in the kitchen. There's a nice snackbar between the kitchen and living room - with no cabinets above it. We had a hell of a time finding someone that could make a cabinet to go there, and match the door style with the existing. I wanted a double bottomed cabinet as well - the cookie cutter kitchen places all looked at me like I had 3 heads! When we found a custom cabinet guy - he understood instantly why I wanted the double bottom: "You're installing LED light fixtures!". Yep - it wasn't rocket science but the cookie cutter outfits had never even heard of such a thing!

Anyway, the Kitchen is now a partially separate room, not a noisy barn and has a LOT more storage!
 
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I do *love* those cabinets - very pretty! Actually, very similar to what was in our kitchen when we bought this house. Microwave belongs over the stove or at least built-in somewhere. Wasting the space above the stove with one of those silly stand alone range hoods doesn't make any sense to me. Putting the microwave on the counter is even worse!

We dumped the stainless fridge, reskinned the stainless dishwasher, dumped the stand alone range hood and replaced it with a cabinet and microwave. All in black. But the look I *really* like are the appliances with the wood fronts that match the cabinets. That's classy. And timeless if anything is. And *EXPENSIVE*!

We also had to close in the kitchen. There's a nice snackbar between the kitchen and living room - with no cabinets above it. We had a hell of a time finding someone that could make a cabinet to go there, and match the door style. I wanted a double bottomed cabinet as well - the cookie cutter kitchen places all looked at me like I had 3 heads! When we found a custom cabinet guy - he understood instantly why I wanted the double bottom: "You're installing LED light fixtures!". Yep - it wasn't rocket science but the cookie cutter outfits had never even heard of such a thing!

Anyway, the Kitchen is now a partially separate room, not a noisy barn and has a LOT more storage!
yeah, my family makes it noisy especially when we have the sonos system cranking, have 16 speakers in the ceilings between the bedroom, main floor, basement and outside.
 
Microwave belongs over the stove or at least built-in somewhere. Wasting the space above the stove with one of those silly stand alone range hoods doesn't make any sense to me. Putting the microwave on the counter is even worse!

Microwave belongs hidden IMHO. They are eyesores that shouldn't be used half as much as they are. I love the look of the stand alone full hoods. They actually work too. Those crap "vents" in the microwaves are completely useless. My hood actually vents outside. When we did our remodel, I insisted on it.
 
I still don't get the bottom freezer thing, my wife "bullied" me into getting one when we built the PA house and now even she hates it and she is only 5'1". Me being 6' I knew I would hate it, thankfully we only use the place once or twice a month on a weekend.

Funny how different people are. We went with the bottom freezer and I would never go back to freezer up top or a side by side.
 
I am 6'2" and the microwave down low in the island doesn't bother me. I also have a bottom freezer, french door top fridge. I like that too. Way more storage in the freezer, and the fridge is wide open to see everything when the doors are open.

My range hood vents to the outside... It kinda works. Way better than a microwave unit, but not as well as a full, stand alone hood. We talked about going that way, but my wife has been suffering from a lack of storage for the 17 years we've been in this house. She wanted ALL the cabinets she could fit!
 
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Microwave belongs hidden IMHO. They are eyesores that shouldn't be used half as much as they are. I love the look of the stand alone full hoods. They actually work too. Those crap "vents" in the microwaves are completely useless. My hood actually vents outside. When we did our remodel, I insisted on it.
My microwave vents outside as well - and doesn't waste space. The stand alone hoods look stupid to my eye - they're trying too hard and waste a shit ton of space. Apparently the stand alone hoods have some kind of pseudo-"prestige" attached to them (much like STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES for that matter) - whatever. I ripped out a stand alone hood to install the microwave and a cabinet there. The microwave vents just as well as the hood did, maybe slightly better as its lower.
 
I am 6'2" and the microwave down low in the island doesn't bother me. I also have a bottom freezer, french door top fridge. I like that too. Way more storage in the freezer, and the fridge is wide open to see everything when the doors are open.

My range hood vents to the outside... It kinda works. Way better than a microwave unit, but not as well as a full, stand alone hood. We talked about going that way, but my wife has been suffering from a lack of storage for the 17 years we've been in this house. She wanted ALL the cabinets she could fit!
My friend is 6'6" and he put the microwave down low as well. Everyone here has posted great pics of very nice set ups for a kitchen, personal styles aside, there looks to have been much thought and great construction above.
 
My friend is 6'6" and he put the microwave down low as well. Everyone here has posted great pics of very nice set ups for a kitchen, personal styles aside, there looks to have been much thought and great construction above.
Your "cabin" is gorgeous. IIRC, it's going to be your retirement home?
 
Your "cabin" is gorgeous. IIRC, it's going to be your retirement home?
Thanks, maybe a first step retirement or maybe the northern one with another down south somewhere. My son is living in NH and my daughter is in college in NC, so need to see where she ends up. Right now my parents are 1 mile away in PA and we go up pretty often. We ski for free in the community and there is a full bar/restaurant, stables and motor boat lake as well. The hard part about being there full time is nearest shopping is 45 minutes away. Nearest hospital is 45 minutes away but the one you want to be in is an hour twenty in Scranton. We found out how much that sucks when my father was in both hospitals for 3 out of 4 weeks last year. Working from a parking garage with no wifi really sucked as they would only let one person in the hospital.
 
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