Kitchen demo & remodel

Trash80toG4

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Very nice, good to hear you know Murphy and his tricks. I've had a great working relationship with Murphy myself, when he screwed up the projects of others, it was my business to bail them out. This put me in good stead to turn his mischief around to my advantage whenever he messes with my projects. I get along quite nicely with the help of his sib, Serendipity. We team up to drive him up the wall! :D

What's going overtop your industrial pots-n-pans washing station? Have you further considered treatment of the cubic above a/o to the right of your Pantry closet overtop your fridge?
 

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Have you got a floorplan of your kitchen handy? Curious about your work triangle, window and door placement.

I don't have one at the moment that I can photo but did start with one (I think wifey has it in her office). If I can dig it out, I will attach it. So the tile will go to the ceiling above the sink. I am puting two magnetic strips to hold/display my nice kitchen knives. Over the stainless prep table I am going to install a horizontal pan rack (one bar with S hooks to hang my most used pots and pans) The door is in the sw corner next to the refrigerator (south wall). When I take those panoramic pics, I am standing in front of that door. The stainless prep table is along the west facing wall and there is a large bay window there. The rest of it you see in the pics and follows the north and east facing walls.

I have not reimagined the space above the refrigerator beyond where I store my cast iron dutch ovens and sauerkraut fermenters.
 

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Quick update - I finished the tile. I like how it looks & am a fan of keeping everything neutral - shows off the counter top wood grain.
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So while completing the tile job I realized that the light over the sink is not perfectly centered lol. Uhhhhhh SO, if I cannot find an a-symmetric light that will extend somewhat centered in that space, I am considering building a facade out of really nice grained wood that will extend across the top there, tie in the wood grain counter top, use a low profile circle or recessed led option thus masking
the center left light socket. I honestly did not notice this when I bought the house lol.

One other thing. NEVER GROUT SHIRTLESS. My wife was baking a 4th of July cherry cake in the kitchen so it was HOT. In my infinite wisdom I opted to move forward & grout shirtless. Let’s just say that by the end, I had little bits of grout that cemented themselves to my chest hair, back hair, everywhere hair and it hurt like a MOTHER getting that sparkly elf sh*t off my person.

So again, NEVER grout shirtless.
 

Trash80toG4

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YOWCH! :eek: Grease up all exposed surfaces of person with cocoa-butter before even painting with latex. 😬

Now that we have low voltage LED light fixtures, it might make sense to have a pull down light fixture counterbalancing your pot washing pull up faucet? Thinking dentist's/surgeon's light but dreaming inverted balans bulb thingy:

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Go waaaaasymmetric?
 

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That is a great idea. Off to the pool right now but will investigate this idea later in the day. That is quite industrial/masculine, so unsure if the better half will approve but I personally like the idea. I did get the electrical socket/switch covers on - opted for a brushed aluminum to match everything else.
 

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I put up the hardware today. We chose a 10” large drawer pulls. Things are starting to pull together for me. This was a PITA. I ended up making templates out of cardboard for consistent drill holes. Four different templates for four different placements. Anyhow, it ended up working well.
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I still need to put smaller pulls for above the microwave but that should be no problem.
 

Trash80toG4

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I still need to put smaller pulls for above the microwave but that should be no problem.
Nice! When you get the smaller pulls buy an extra one and two of the long ones. Take the false front off the sink base and staple the bags to the back of it.*** That way you can reach up benind, identify by feel and pull the spare out of the bag. By the time you'll need one, sure as shootin' they'll have been discontinued. ;)

Tinkertip for all kitchen kind. Rotate the handles from heavily used doors and drawers with those that see little use after a year or three. Even the wear so you won't need to replace the whole set unless you decide you want to.


*** I had the installers do that for every kitchen I designed and the customers loved it. More creativity needed for placement if pocket/hinge kit is installed on false front (panel in front of sink basin above doors of sink base cabinet) for storage.
 

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Hey, @Certificate of Excellence, beautiful kitchen! Is that a pizza oven on the wheeled tray by the window? Do you have pizza often? :D🍕
I do eat pizza often (it is one of my favorite food groups after all) and consistently make it in house for the fam but use a ceramic "stone" in my large oven for Pizza Fridays. That little oven you see is a Wolf Elite Gourmet convection/conventional countertop oven. If any of you are ever in the market for a quality CT oven, these are amazing and I highly recommend them - absolutely worth the money. As you can see, I keep it under my prep table vs on the counter top to maximize prep space. Counter top clutter is unacceptable. I like nice, open and clean work surfaces so keep all of my appliances under counter (aside from the hood microwave & coffee brewer). Anyhow, I do use this little oven all the darn time as it is very efficient, heats up/cools down faster and reduces kitchen heat vs firing up a full size oven all the time ... and it will fit a full size casserole dish, is deep enough for a typical 12-14" frozen pizza or pie, and is tall enough to accommodate a loaf pan+oven rise for baking bread, proof doughs etc. Wolf (in typical fashion) engineered this unit very, very well for a multitude of purposes. Aside from my air fryer, this oven is one of my most used pieces of "gadgetry".
 
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Certificate of Excellence

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Nice! When you get the smaller pulls buy an extra one and two of the long ones. Take the false front off the sink base and staple the bags to the back of it.*** That way you can reach up benind, identify by feel and pull the spare out of the bag. By the time you'll need one, sure as shootin' they'll have been discontinued. ;)

Tinkertip for all kitchen kind. Rotate the handles from heavily used doors and drawers with those that see little use after a year or three. Even the wear so you won't need to replace the whole set unless you decide you want to.


*** I had the installers do that for every kitchen I designed and the customers loved it. More creativity needed for placement if pocket/hinge kit is installed on false front (panel in front of sink basin above doors of sink base cabinet) for storage.

This is a great idea. I will pick up a few extra and attach them to the under sink space or above the microwave if under the sink is inconvenient.
 

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Wolf is a great kitchen cooking workhorse! (y):)🔥🧑‍🍳

Another question - which commercial grade mixer? Boston or Kitchen Aid?
So I dont use a commercial mixer. I'd love to have a Hobart 8qt stand mixer but just have never had the room for one in my kitchen (and don't now LOL). I use the same Kitchen Aid 600 series that I've had since culinary school (1996-99) if you can believe it. The thing is an absolute workhorse and has worn like iron for me - granted I take care of it and have maintained it. Anyhow, I am firmly in the KA ecosystem for home cooking/baking as I have many of the attachments ie: pasta/sheet maker, meat grinder, sausage piper, and shredder function. At some point I figure I will upgrade to their newer model when this one finally bites the dust but the engine is still going strong, no oil seeping/weeping, weird engine noises, smells etc. Mine lives in its cover in under counter storage with my KA hand mixer.

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retr01

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Cool @Certificate of Excellence! :)(y)

I prefer Kitchen Aid as well, commercial-grade, that is. Many consumer-grade brands for the kitchen are cheaply made of lower quality and do not last like Kitchen Aid from 40 or even 50 years ago.

Hobart is great! I happen to prefer KA Professional / Commerical for the home kitchen. Take a look. :sneaky: It's gorgeous. :love:

 

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Cool @Certificate of Excellence! :)(y)

I prefer Kitchen Aid as well, commercial-grade, that is. Many consumer-grade brands for the kitchen are cheaply made of lower quality and do not last like Kitchen Aid from 40 or even 50 years ago.

Hobart is great! I happen to prefer KA Professional / Commercial for the home kitchen. Take a look. :sneaky: It's gorgeous. :love:

Ohh, I like that very much especially with the safety cage feature. Very nice. Does the cage while open disable the start? With all of the commercial mixers Ive used over the years, they have all included this feature as to prevent appendages from being torn off and with curious little kids that love to stick their fingers/hands in everything, that feature is appealing to me. That and it looks like it will allow me to use all of my add-on bits n bobs.

My stand mixer is a magnet for these kids ever since they watched me make pizza, bread & enriched doughs in it a couple times. Between my two boys and my nephew swirling around me, I am paranoid that one of them will get hung up in the dough hook, whisk or paddle in the future so a cage would be ideal peace of mind. Maybe I will pick one up this summer for that alone. I've had an insanely good run with my elderly 600 series.
 
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retr01

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Ohh, I like that very much especially with the safety cage feature. Very nice.

Yes, VERY NICE! 🤩 Mine did not have a safety cage. That is good to know. 🙂

Does the cage while open disable the start?

Good question! I dare you to walk into a KA dealer and ask. I think you will empty your pockets and walk out with this brand new mixer with all accessories unfazed and smiling! 😄

My stand mixer is a magnet for these kids ever since they watched me make pizza, bread & enriched doughs in it a couple times. Between my two boys and my nephew swirling around me.

It was a magnet for me and still is! I will admit one thing, though, I wish KA would bring back the arm lift style where you tilt the motor, which those older KA heavy-duty stand mixers had. 😏
 

Trash80toG4

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I have not reimagined the space above the refrigerator beyond where I store my cast iron dutch ovens and sauerkraut fermenters.
Customized storage shelves in that space for what's now there and more would balance things out nicely. ;)

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In our 50's Cold War era Apartment Building/Co-op there was nothing above its fabulous gas range . . .


edit: design detail of above; the shelves are built into the wall that converted our "Junior Four" into a Two Bedroom. Behind the cookbooks on the shelves is the wall below. It's the thickness of 1/2" drywall finished both sides.

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Hats and straw whisk broom kinda thingie on left are opposite the kitchen's built-in shelves.
 
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I thought I did not have a photo of the old 70's kitchen as it was when we bought the place around the end of 2019 so have attached this for posterity before I forget. Where the fridge was is where the trashcan is in the pic. I see we have the advent hanging over it, so this must be Christmas season 2021 or around there. It was such a cramped ugly kitchen space. Quite the difference now but I am also very glad it is over.


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