Suzi's Second Option

Suzi's second option reduces the number of cabinets by doing more drywall.  The cabinets go to 9'-9" and then a large crown treatment.  The ceiling crown goes around the room.  There is a drywall pantry with a niche above, to the right of the back door.  


She put shelves over the windows as an option to glass door cabinets.   This plan has a single, 2 level island.  A steamer unit in this plan, but the refrigeration was reduced to a 36" wide unit (2 freezer drawers).  The 60" Aga is surrounded by drywall with recessed shelves for spices, oils & vinegars on the inside and curved wood bookshelves facing the living area.  The bookcase option would probably be less expensive than a cabinet unit and the curved shelves was just to do something different.   The main sink along the back wall looks out into the side garden, with a standard DW & trash cans flanking it.  It's a large single bowl sink which is a great option for the clean-up sink - large pans will sit inside - no divider to get in the way.  The prep sink and a single dish drawer are in the island.  She included the drop down door microwave and the coffee system. She added the lamps to the island because I thought they were neat.

Suzi's first option

Suzi's first option takes the cabinets to the ceiling.  It has a 60" Aga range, separate refrigerator & freezer units, a wine captain, drop down door microwave, coffee system, a standard dishwasher and a single dishdrawer.  There are 2 islands and 2 levels for seating - stools with 24" high seats & stools with 30" high seats.  The round top could be glass or wood - making it a focal point and differentiating it from the other tops. 

 She lined up the Aga with the opening between the islands so it would be visible and she flanked it with windows.  She put the prep sink in the corner so you would go from the ref., to the prep sink, to the cooking surface - a natural progression in preparing a meal.  She has pot & pan drawers flanking the Aga and spice pull outs flanking them.  The double trash cans will hold garbage in one and recycles in the other.  Suzi thinks the pull out towel bar is a must. The tall bookcase faces out into the living area, giving a decorative end to the cabinets.  The single dishdrawer is near the prep sink.  There are bars over the windows for hanging pots.  The wine captain could go under the coffee system instead of the microwave, making for a true serving/entertaining zone. 

This option would be the most expensive as far as cabinetry is concerned.

The door to the back yard is a glass door and provides a straight-thru view from the front entry hall out to the back yard.

Our First Kitchen Drawings

Suzi has been on vacation. She told me up front she wouldn't be able to start until she got back, but I was so anxious for the first drawings.

She has sent me three designs. Suzi tells me that each design is trying to show different layouts, cabinet heights, window placements, appliance options, etc.  Each option will have a floor plan with the basic details and perspective views.  She couldn't get everything I wanted in each plan but as we move forward we can figure out what's most important and needs to stay and what can go.  She didn't include the fireplace/pizza oven as they take up a lot of room and require lots of clearance (not to mention the pizza ovens are rather pricey). 

She suggested we make a few copies and write all over them - what parts we liked, what parts we could do without, what appliances are a must and which may go, etc. The plan was to mingle her ideas together and over time to come up with the perfect plan. It was a starting point.  She cautioned me that if we tried to take to cabinets up to our 13 foot ceilings that we were going to be looking at a lot of money.   The most expensive part of a cabinet is the door, so the more doors, the higher the price.  And with 13' ceilings it would require 3 doors as you go up, even if you do a large crown treatment.  

So I took the plans everywhere with me. If I had a spare moment I was studying the plans. I did exactly what she suggested, looking at the parts I liked and didn't like and tried to mesh the plans together.

A Kitchen Designer?

So Tim says upfront I am not an interior designer. He says that you can call a custom cabinet shop and they will help you lay out a kitchen. But I have a client whose wife is a Certified Kitchen Designer, so I call her instead. Her name is Suzi Brock and she is in Tallahassee Florida. I contact her first through Linked In. And that's how our long distance relationship begins. I had contact Suzi several months earlier but I wasn't in any hurry so we really hadn't made any progress until I contact her again this month.

I now have a pretty solid idea of the space we have to work with and I have my dream list ready to share with anyone willing to listen. I have collected pictures from kitchen design magazines for nearly three years. I don't know what I can afford but I know what I want.

The wish list I share with Suzi is pretty long:

• Commercial Grade Stove;
• A warming oven;
• A double drawer dishwasher and maybe a regular dishwasher;
• Two Islands;
• Two sinks;
• Lots of storage; and
• A wine captain.

Horace and I want to work in the kitchen together, but we have very different styles and need distinct space. We want to entertain and have plenty of seating area around the kitchen islands. I want a pizza oven but know they are prohibitively expensive, but I have seen counter height gas logs that create the same look. I want a hood over the range and a maybe a pot rack.

I think after I have shared all this with Suzi we'll have a drawing that works in no time. But Suzi is a professional and she knows there is a lot more to it than a wish list. Suzi, like Tim, proves sometimes you just need a professional.

So Suzi sends me a list of questions for homework:

• How high will the ceilings be?
• Melodie's height _______________, right or left handed
• Horace's height ________________,  right or left handed
• Grocery shopping - daily, weekly basis, in bulk
• Do you know yet what material you will use on the floor?
• Any children/others living in the house?
• Any pets __________, if so, where are they fed and do you know of any specific provisions you want/need?
• Where do you intend to eat daily meals; do you want a table in the kitchen or is bar/island seating sufficient?
• What entrance will you use to bring in groceries?
• When entertaining do you have a sit down meal or buffet? 
• Are there any physical limitations or dietary needs to accommodate?
• Do you use the microwave for cooking or simply reheating?
• Do you do any specialty cooking: baking, canning, pasta making, etc, with special equipment that needs to be considered?
• Thinking of your current kitchen, previous kitchens you've worked in and any friends kitchens:  what did you like, what did you dislike?
• Do you like symmetry or asymmetry?
• You mentioned a private garden off the kitchen ~ will that be behind the house or through the double french doors off the family room?
• Do you like having a pot rack?

The questions seem simple, we'll have to wait and see if this is simple.