urspider's Kitchen

Our finished kitchen

Contact: URSpider (My Page)
Posted on Mon, Sep 26, 05
Link to kitchen photos: http://community.webshots.com/slideshow?ID=327518458&key=yitjJR

Details:

• Cabinets: Decora cherry "Plaza" with natural bronze glaze
• Countertop: Blue Mahogany granite
• Floor: WilsonArt laminate "Cordoba" tiles
• Sink: Blancowave undermount D bowl
• Faucet: Grohe Alira in stainless steel
• Backsplash: Roma Stone "Adelia" tumbled marble 4x4s
• Appliances:
  KA bottom freezer refrigerator,
  AEG induction cooktop,
  JennAir 27in doubleovens,
  JennAir OTR microwave,
  GE Monogram wine refrigerator,
  Kenmore dishwasher

We found Blue Mahogany granite by accident. We were looking for something that would tie together the cherry cabinets, stainless steel and black appliances yet have some pop of its own. Blue Mahogany fit the bill perfectly. I do mean "bill" because we found another granite, Amazon Star, that was lovely but beyond our budget. We found Blue Mahogany at a stone importer and had our fabricator special order it. Like Dakota Mahogany, it has excellent scratch and stain resistance.

The induction cooktop is fantastic. Can't say enough about it. It's the perfect marriage of form and function. I think induction cooking is going to take off here in the U.S. once people see it carried in more stores. Ours is a German unit imported from Canada. It is so incredibly easy to clean. Nothing ever gets cooked on to the surface because the surface doesn't get super hot. It has all of the power of a professional gas range but none of the high powered ventilation requirements. Our OTR microwave vents to the outside of our house and does an excellent job. The responsiveness of the induction cooktop is lightning quick-- both heating up and cooling off.

I must admit that the one feature of the cooktop that I thought I'd NEVER use is one that I have now become a slave to: the timer. Because the residual heat of the cooktop dissipates so quickly, you can set a timer to cook something. The burner shuts off automatically when the timer goes off and you don't have to worry about overcooking your food.

We ordered the induction cooktop from a U.S. appliance store-- Eurostoves-- sight unseen. The store is in the Boston area and we're in Baltimore. Buying an induction cooktop was a leap of faith but we were hooked when we read the rave reviews from the Appliances forum. We saw a Diva de Provence unit in a store locally but it was twice the price that we paid. That said, it wasn't smooth sailing. The frame was dented in transit and the replacement came directly from Euroline in Canada, the North American distributor for AEG.
Sears is supposedly going to sell induction cooktops in October. The unit is made by Electrolux (parent company of AEG). It will soon be much easier to buy induction cooktops here.

Thanks to so many THS kitchen forum members who helped us along the
way, esp. those who posted pictures of their kitchens which we used as inspiration for
ours.

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