Design of any kind usually begins with a sketch. Or, most likely, a series of sketches. It is the way designers and clients communicate ideas and refine their visions.
These are the sketches that Kevin began the kitchen with. Well, he began with these, and ended with them as well. They were that good.
This is the "big picture". From the back wall, moving forward to the island where the drawers are visible from this elevation, and forward again to the curved eating counter that separates the kitchen from the rest of the sanctuary. A very nice beginning. The carved pieces on the front of the counter were salvaged from the back of the altar during demo and will be also be used on the sides of the island.
Never able to resist making a complicated endeavor positively monumental, we added a "Juliet" balcony to the space above the kitchen, offering easy communication between the second and third floors. It is a vast space up there on that wall, in need of a point of interest, and it offers the added benefit of more natural light to both areas.
And at this point in the festivities, I would just like to ask..."Wherefore in-the-heck art thou, Romeo??"... Oh, sorry, where was I again?...
This is a detail sketch of one of the cabinets that flank the back wall. These bad boys are 10-and-a-half feet tall. I have no idea how I will ever know what is in the top cabinets, but they really needed to be tall to fit the scale of the space. Maybe we could run a sliding "library ladder" around the perimeter?
The door on the bottom left, (with the handle on the top), is an old-fashioned potato/onion bin, that will pivot forward when pulled. Kevin loves to add these unexpected features. I don't really eat potatoes all that often, but I'm all about the onions. Although it will probably take about forty pounds of them to fill this up!
Here, on the opposite side of the room, is the cabinet that will house the double ovens and the warming drawer. Love, love, love having double ovens, and this will be my first time having a warming drawer. These bad boys are 36" wide, commercial size, so I am envisioning quite a bit of cooking going on in here when it is all said and done. Mostly because there will be no money left for eating in restaurants. I'd better start visiting here every day, and not just for the pretty pictures.
Thanksgiving at the church, anyone?
So here is where we are. Sigh. A million miles from where we began, yet still a few hundred miles from where we need to be.
This week the templates are being taken for the stone countertops. The appliances will be installed in about two weeks, as will all the doors and drawers. Painting/staining the whole thing will take place somewhere in the middle of all that. There is electrical that still needs to be finished. The copper sink is being manufactured as we speak.
The final design of the forged iron railings for the balcony is still "up in the air". See, I have managed to maintain my sense of humor through this process. (But don't tell my family I said that, cause they would probably beg to differ.)
I am dreaming of creating a fantastic glass mosaic for the backsplash above the sink. Because I am a glutton for punishment like that. Pray for me.
Amen.
