This is the kitchen as it was. The cabinets are high end custom, very well made and still in great shape after 16 years, just dated. They are original to the house. But the layout is poorly designed.
The dual level, angled island was in vogue about that time (I remember delivering lots of cabinets for kitches with them, way back when I started in this business). But as you can see, the angle reduces the walkway in front of the fridge. The wall ovens and fridge terminate the counter space, creating a closed in feeling. And the island contains a cooktop, which cuts it's usable work surface into two chunks. Then entire left wall is waisted space.
The bulkheads over the wall cabinets where also very hot at the time, but they really just waist perfectly good storage or display space. This kitchen has 9' ceilings so it could easily accommodate 42" tall upper cabinets and still have a foot of display space above them. Instead they installed empty bulkheads and 30" tall cabinets... and not many of those!
The end of day one. The home owners tore out the tile floors themselves. Since the builder had them installed wrong (they were glued directly to the sub-floor, rather than to cement board!) they had had problems for years with the tiles coming loose and needing to be re-glued. So they had no problem pulling them out.
Mike and I removed all the cabinets, most of which will be reused for garage storage. Then we cut into the bulkheads an tore them down. The plumbing will stay right where it is, with the exception of the ice-maker water line, which will be re-routed to another wall. most of the electrical will have to be redone, since it was inside the bulkhead. That will happen next week.
Besides putting the wiring back inside the walls, some will be moved for the relocated ovens. We're also adding under cabinet lighting, spot lights over the new island and pendent lights over the new peninsula.
This is the new cabinet layout. I've moved the fridge and wall ovens to the perviously unused wall and added 2 pantry cabinets. The new island is 36" deep by 60" wide with just under 4' of walkway on all four sides (the fridge will be "built-in depth" so it won't stick out past the cabinets). Now the main counter is unobstructed, and the peninsula adds more work surface.
All the cabinets go to the ceiling, 108" on the oven wall (that is ONLY available as a single cabinet from very cleaver custom cabinet makers, usually two stacked cabinets are used creating unsightly seams in the wood), with 54" tall uppers on the other walls.
For utility, all the base cabinets, except one (a tray base for cookie sheets and the like), are exclusively drawers. This allows easy access from the top without having to kneel down and dig around from stuff in the back. Even the corner cabinets have drawers instead of lazy susans! There will even be drawers under the sink and cook top. This is the latest thing, but it's also important since one of the home owners has had both her knees replaced. The back of the island contains 4 working doors with shelves inside for storying cookbooks.
The main cabinet will be stained a dark "espresso" brown. The constant horizontal lines of the drawers create a nice linear effect which will anchor the counter space. The tall cabinets and uppers use doors creating long vertical lines emphasizing their height, which will make the ceiling seem higher and open up the room despite the dark wood on three walls.
The island and peninsula wall will be made of natural Santos Rosewood, a beautiful South American wood with a strong linear pattern in grain. This will contrast with the smooth dark stain else where. The graining will run horizontally, again to anchor the cabinets.
Not shown in this design is a floating glass bar top which will overhang the peninsula wall, supported by custom made stainless steel supports. This raised glass top will provide a seating area overlooking the kitchen, but the clear glass reduces it's substance so it doesn't disrupt the visual flow of the open counter space. The stainless supports will tie in with the stainless appliances.
The final accent will be a custom made copper farmer style sink, which will be left unsealed, allowing it to discolor naturally. The juxtaposition of the contemporary lines and materials with the old world look of the sink will be pulled together by the colors chosen for the custom tile back splash, which the home owner (a tile artist herself) will do.
The floors will be a natural cork with a subtle random pattern.
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