Tuesday, October 11, 2005

gellchom's kitchen

Gellchom's kitchen

In an email from gellchom 10/09/05:
"... please note that these photos are outdated. There is now a new table and chairs, pretty switchplates and backsplashes, and a beautiful glass clock over the sink. And the walls are now peach, not peachy white. I will try to update if anyone is interested."

Posted by gellchom (My Page) on Thu, Feb 20, 03 at 18:19
  • walls and pantry doors are now a warm peach, not the peachy off-white that looks stark white in these photos
  • hardware on pantry doors matches cabinet pulls
  • icky plastic switchplate & outlet covers have been replaced with really cool deco ones in black& nickel
  • beautiful new small glass-top cafe table with cool base & 2 nice cafe chairs (they coordinatewith the FR table & chairs).

Still looking for a sculpture or pendant light or something to be a focal point over the sink.

Here is a link that might be useful: gellchom's kitchen, almost as it is today!

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gellchom/album?.dir=/3d5b&.src=ph&.tok=phtZuwDBOx0sqOy


Follow-Up Postings:

 o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

  • Posted by: sammysassy (My Page) on Thu, Feb 20, 03 at 22:40

I love it as much today as I did when you posted it months ago!

Susie



 o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

  • Posted by: Dedtired (My Page) on Fri, Feb 21, 03 at 12:48
How about some details?? I am madly in love with your backsplash -- that
took courage!What's your granite? What's everything?? The cart is so
clever. Bravo!

Pam




 o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

Gellchom, thanks for posting this again, for some reason I never saw it the first time.

Very elegant! I especially like the details like the molding. And of the fabulous backsplash. Well done!



 o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

  • Posted by: mjpkirsch (My Page) on Sat, Feb 22, 03 at 11:45

  • Gellchom,

    Your kitchen looks great. I like how you mixed the granites. What is the backsplash made of?

    Thanks for all of the info on the Tapmaster. It's my favorite part of my remodel!

    Where did you get your new black & nickel switchplates?

    mj





     o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

    • Posted by: gellchom (My Page) on Tue, Feb 25, 03 at 22:40
    • Dedtired,
      here is (in slightly edited form) the post I put up shortly after we
      finished the kitchen, almost a year ago (including the first posting
      about the Tapmaster!), before I could post pictures. You wanted
      details, you got details! For those of you who were sick of this long
      ago, my apologies.

      I got the switchplates and outlet covers (not in the pictures yet) at www.switchhits.com. We chose "Mission" in black and nickel (like in the picture on their site):
      http://www.switchhits.com/mission_light_switch_plates.html. I felt like
      such a chump paying that kind of money for switchplates, but boy, does
      it ever make a difference not having those ugly plastic things on those
      pretty glass tiles. I guess it's true about hardware being the
      "jewelry" of the kitchen.

      Thank you all yet again for your encouragement, enthusiasm, and kindness.

      ***
      3/21/02
      Dear friends on the Kitchens & Baths Forum,
      Our kitchen renovation came out great, thanks in part to all of your
      helpful advice, encouragement, and information, both in answers to my
      questions and in the answers to others'. It made a big difference, and
      I want you to know I appreciate it. You gave us information,
      confidence, and perspective. Everyone here is so kind and helpful,
      homeowners and professionals alike.
      Some people have said they like to hear how others' projects came out, so here it is. For the rest of you, just skip it and accept my thanks for all your help.
      **********
      Here are three things we did that aren't so common, and we are really glad we did, so I'm passing them on to you all:
      1)
      We had a foot control installed for the sink. It's not a pedal
      (although one like that is available, but I thought I'd stub my toes a
      lot), it's a steel plate in the toekick; you just push forward with
      your foot. You can disable it when you want to fill a big pot, etc., or
      even leave it disabled. We adore it: it saves water, keeps the faucet
      handle clean and germ free, and makes so many tasks so much simpler,
      because both your hands are free (e.g., filling glasses). Not expensive
      and doesn't take up room under the sink. Fun to tell kids it's magic:
      "Just think about water, Ilana ..." Tapmaster by Integra.
      http://www.integradynamics.com
      2) The luxury of plenty of space allowed this one: Our kitchen is not near the back door, where the groceries come in, and it's even a pretty good hike from the dining
      room table back to the sink with dirty dishes. The solution: a cart that slides right under the counter. The back of the cart is made from cabinet doors, so it "disappears" when you put it away; it looks just like another base cabinet (unless you notice that there are wheels instead of a toe kick). Our wonderful builder made it for us. He even stained and beveled the frame pieces to match our cabinets and used
      leftover cork flooring tiles for the shelves, so it's quiet and protects the glasses a bit better. Sure makes clearing the table a lot easier!
      3) We built out a wall a bit to put in a pantry -- not a walk-in, 7' long shelves (Melamine, not those wire grids; I find stuff falls on that), not too deep (so you can see everything) with bifold doors. I like this much better than cabinets for food storage, and it's cheaper, too. You see everything at once, and it's so easy to unload
      groceries. I leave the doors open while I'm cooking -- you don't hurt yourself on them like cabinet doors -- and it's like having open shelves that don't get dusty and that I can quickly hide when the doorbell rings. We did this in our last kitchen when the cabinet budget ran out, and I liked it so much I did it again.
      Those are the only things we did that we hadn't seen elsewhere (well, except the cork floor, but I know that's not so unusual). As some people seem to be
      interested in descriptions of final decisions, here's the rest of what
      we did:
      - Holiday Kitchens frameless cabinets, medium dark cherry,
      with a beveled-edge slab door. The molding is a sort of
      "ribbon-and-flower" design. At the end of the island, on the side
      facing the family room (it's open, so it had to look nice), there is a
      glass-front base cabinet with lights. There's also an upper one with
      glass on the sort of "buffet" area. We used pewter hardware that has a
      little bevel on it. I chose cabinets with pull-out shelves instead of
      pot drawers, but I think both are good.
      - Black granite counters on the island, violetta granite everywhere else. The black needs a little extra attention to look its best, and the violetta almost
      doesn't show dirt enough, but we are happy with both choices; they look
      good with each other and with the cabinets.
      - The backsplash is 1" x 1" glass tiles from Oceanside Glasstile ("tessera" style in "Morrocan Desert" color); sort of variegated from bronze to black and even some
      very dark blue (if you look very closely). Way cool. The flash distorts
      how it looks in the picture. The photos with the cart in them are the
      closes. www.glasstile.com
      - Jelinek "Melody" cork floor -- love it. We chose it to pull in the look of the cork wall covering in the hall outside the kitchen, and we're so glad. Very easy on my legs,
      totally easy to care for, and seemingly indestructible. I have previously written the story of when the builder dropped the 22-oz. hammer, and it BOUNCED 3 feet -- leaving not a trace of a dent. Usually about the same price as wood, but we got a great price from Jelinek on a "close out." www.corkstore.com
      - Lots of recessed can lights in the ceiling, and xenon under-cabinet lights.
      - Thermador dual-fuel downdraft range. I find the oven a bit too small,
      and the downdraft barely works (but it's fun), but the burners are
      terrific (I love the simmer burners) and the convection oven does seem
      to bake things very evenly. I may live to regret not having a second
      oven (other than the toaster oven), but so far it's okay, especially
      because we put the old oven in the basement, so it's there for
      holidays, etc. I had space for either a 2d oven, a 2d sink, or knee
      space at the island to put a stool (we don't have an eating bar; we
      prefer a table), and we chose the last.
      - 2 Asko dishwashers, one on either side of the sink, with panels to match the cabinets. A splurge. I thought they looked small, but they seem to hold more than
      my old KitchenAid. Extremely quiet and the dishes come out great.
      Blanco ss undermount sink, with 2 large bowls, one extra deep. No instant-hot
      water; ours have always broken quickly, and anyway we don't make
      instant coffee or much tea. But we did put in a soap dispenser.
      - We kept the previous owner's SubZero refrigerator, although I don't see
      what the big deal is. I'd prefer a bottom freezer unit of a "lesser"
      brand -- this is side-by-side, which I don't like. We had panels put on
      to match the cabinets. We got a cheapo fridge (I prefer it to the
      Sub-Zero, actually!) to put in the back hall, so it's not as big a
      problem that nothing large fits in the side by side.
      - We had 2 windows and changed one to a door (with a glass panel), because there
      is a porch there, and I thought it would be nice to have access from
      the kitchen.

      This is truly a dream kitchen, and we are very happy with it. Thank you all for helping it come true with your advice and encouragement. Good luck to you all with your projects, and enjoyyour beautiful new kitchens.




       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: Joiful (My Page) on Wed, Feb 26, 03 at 9:24
      Gellchom....beautiful! I love the look of your kitchen, the cork floors and especially the beautiful molding!

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: civilmind (My Page) on Wed, Feb 26, 03 at 10:08
      I knew I had seen this one before! I think it was in the long gone "Post
      Your Kitchen Pictures Here" thread. Your kitchen is beautiful. I love
      the cabinets. The finish, door style, and construction is exactly what
      I want! And I couldn't help but notice the mod table.

      Thanks for sharing your pictures again.




       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: gellchom (My Page) on Thu, Feb 27, 03 at 12:27
      Thank you all for your nice comments. Civilmind, I wish I could give you that
      table! We have a beautiful new one there. It was looking pretty beat up
      -- I'd had it for probably 10 years, and my parents had it for probably
      20 before that. Also, as the adjacent family room is sunken, we needed
      a table without an ugly underside. The top is in the basement now, and
      the base is out on the porch with the black granite cutout for the
      range on top as a tabletop. The molding was from another company our
      designer knew about, whose name I forget. He sent the molding to
      Holiday to stain to match the cabinets.

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: Hadley (My Page) on Sun, Mar 2, 03 at 6:56
      Gellchom--so beautiful, so rich looking. The molding is just the right thing, I
      would be looking at it every day. You really went for it and got a
      phenomenal result.

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: toes_first (My Page) on Mon, Mar 3, 03 at 18:03
      Beautiful kitchen. What kind of door pulls are those, and where did you get them? They look great against the wood.


       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      Toes first: the pulls are from a company called Metakor. I don't think they
      have them on Myknobs.com, but I'm not sure. I must have picked up a
      brochure at a showroom. kitchencabinethardware.com has them, as does
      cabinetknob.net. I think I ordered them straight from Metakor, but I
      really don't remember. I chose them because they have that little
      bevel, which I thought would go nicely with the beveled cabinet doors.
      Talk about obsessed! I also love the way they feel in my hand.

      I have a few extras if you want them! We changed our minds about putting
      them on the "hidden" cabinets in the island. We're still looking for a
      really good touch latch that can handle the weight for those.

      Here is a link that might be useful: picture of Metakor

      http://www.kitchencabinethardware.com/Metakor/elegance-sm.jpg


       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      I would like to know if the glass tile was difficult to instal? My
      supplier says you need an expert and I wonder if any good installer
      could do it or does it have to be some expensive specialist?


       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      Some interesting lighting can be found at the link below.

      I've never purchased from them, but the range of styles seems pretty wide.
      Here is a link that might be useful: Lighting



       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: terry4331 (My Page) on Tue, Apr 8, 03 at 20:34
      This kitchen is the bomb! I like everything.


       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: Eileen3G (My Page) on Tue, Apr 8, 03 at 21:09
      Gellchom
      -- A treat to check out your kitchen again -- one of the first I'd seen
      when I'd found this forum. The glass tile backsplash -- so cool! The
      hidden rolling cart -- so clever! I love it!

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: gellchom (My Page) on Mon, May 19, 03 at 22:36
      Beamish,
      sorry to take so long to answer. Yes, unfortunately, they are hard to
      install -- you do need someone who knows what s/he is doing. But it was
      worth it.

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: cgpaytas (My Page) on Tue, Jun 3, 03 at 13:50
      gellchom,
      can you post the link again? I keep getting an error message. TIA!


       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      here you go, cgpaytas. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this:
      http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/gellchom/lst?.dir=/kitchen&.src=ph&.view=

      We finally got a new camera, so I will try to remember to post some new
      pictures soon with the current wall color, table and chairs, etc.

      Here is a link that might be useful: gellchom's kitchen



       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: cgpaytas (My Page) on Wed, Jun 4, 03 at 13:54
      gellchom,
      Thanks for reposting. I love the kitchen it's beautiful! The hidden cart is a
      fantastic idea. YOur cork floor, is it tile or floating? It looks like
      tile in one of the pictures. Great job!


       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: gellchom (My Page) on Sun, Jun 8, 03 at 17:40
      thanks, cgpaytas.
      The floor is floating. It came in 3'x 1' floating tiles, and the builder
      said it was VERY easy to install (it was the first time he'd done cork).

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: RuddMD (My Page) on Mon, Jun 23, 03 at 17:52
      gellchom - beautiful!

      I checked this out again to look at your glass tile backspash. Did you
      install this yourself or have it done professionally? What color is the
      grout? Did you see that tile at a local tile store or order it on-line?
      Is this glass tempered?

      Sorry for all the questions!

      Thanks!

      Doris




       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: gellchom (My Page) on Tue, Jun 24, 03 at 13:01
      Doris - don't apologize for asking questions. That's what this board is all about!
      - I don't know if the tiles are tempered -- I doubt it.
      -
      We had it installed professionally, and I think that's a must.
      Evidently there is something tricky about installing these tiles -- our
      builder, who did almost everything else himself, brought in an expert
      for this.
      - Our grout is gray (I had to go look).
      - I found this at a local tile store, kind of a fancy one. But they have a great
      web site, www.glasstile.com, which I wish I had seen first, as I might
      have chosen one of their mosaics (I think they call them "quilts").

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      A bump up for someone looking for cork in the kitchen....

      Gellchom,
      can you please add a link that goes directly to your pics to the newish
      Gallery thread called "Finished Kitchens, Pic Links Only?"

      This thread was ready to scroll off, and we don't want to lose your lovely
      kitchen (or any of the others)! Thus, the new thread--link is below.

      Here is a link that might be useful: Gallery thread--Finished Kitchens, Pic Links Only




       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: Rice_Rocket (My Page) on Sun, Aug 24, 03 at 15:43
      Kudos! I especially like the floor and the backsplash. Nice fruit bowl also.

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: gellchom (My Page) on Tue, Sep 30, 03 at 21:13
      lol!
      Thanks, Rice Rocket. The bowl was a gift from some friends in Israel,
      so I can't tell you where to find it. I like it, too.

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: voxfire (My Page) on Thu, Oct 30, 03 at 1:41
      Susan,
      Thanks for the email telling me your photos were here. Your kitchen looks
      great- very sophisticated- love the rich dark cabinets and the
      backsplash especially. I checked out the glasstile website. I'm going
      to have glass tiles also, and I've always loved mosaics, but I think we
      have to have large tiles instead of mosaic, as our zephyr torino island
      vent hood is going to be enough of a focalpoint and I want everything
      else to be fairly simple. It seems this unusual vent hood is dictating
      a lot of what our kitchen will look like!
      I see what you mean about your wanting perhaps a metal sculpture or something above the sink (if you didn't have a recessed light there, I would say hang some
      interesting metal pendant light above the sink, or perhaps something
      mirrored). But really, it doesn't seem to me that something is
      "missing". I think everything looks fabulous!


       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: gellchom (My Page) on Thu, Oct 30, 03 at 14:17
      I thought I COULD put a pendant light in where the recessed light is now. Is that a problem?

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      • Posted by: voxfire (My Page) on Thu, Oct 30, 03 at 23:57
      I think you CAN put a pendant light there- it would be the perfect
      finishing touch! Were you thinking of taking the recessed light out- or
      leaving it in and adding the pendant light? I'm sure it would work
      either way. It's great to see such a fabulous kitchen finished. It
      gives me hope for our poor kitchen......Can't wait to start ripping it
      all out!

       o RE: Gellchom's kitchen

      Gellchom,
      you are dangerously close to the slippery cliff at the bottom of page 2
      of the gallery. We can't have your kitchen falling off the edge.

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