Details of new kitchen layout.
We’ve axed all kitchen cabinets on the wall housing the new mirror.
We are not moving them elsewhere.
They have ceased to exist.
I know this will not appeal to everyone… anyone?
But for me, once I visualized it this way, everything else stopped being a possibility.
It opens up this space dramatically.
If you missed it… we hid the refrigerator… if you want to see what the plan was before.
The mirror’s total height is 4” short of our 9’ ceiling. We are going to mount it all the way up… resting on a narrow base, same way we have mounted our other giant mirrors, and the entire thing will be flush against the wall.
But this time the base will be fancy! MADE OUT OF MARBLE! (shh, don’t tell Paul! a surprise for him!!) Also because we have 57,000 tons of marble in our garage.
Right now, because the glass of the mirror is sitting on the floor and leaning back at an angle, it reflects a lot of the ceiling… once we’re ready to put the mirror in place, it will reflect the room straight on; the piano island, and some of the living room windows.
the piano island will be lengthwise!! NOT this direction!!
Now… before I get to what we ARE doing, I must acknowledge an idea.
A version of Pilar Guzman’s kitchen which is was! my end-all-be-all-kitchen-of-all-kitchens.
I feel so sad for her now!
Poor woman.
So we could do similar by using our mirror frame (sans glass) and bump it out like a built-in bookcase… line it in subway tile and add shelving.
Do I love that idea?
Sure!
But.
Self directed otherwise— we will use this as it has existed since 1875.
MAGNIFICENCE DOES NOT EXIST TO BE REPURPOSED.
MAGNIFICENCE STANDS ALONE.
*twitch twitch*
So.
What can I say?
I just work here.
If you are sad to see me abandon this idea! Consider this: floor-to-ceiling storage there loses appeal when I think of the view from any other angle… keeping that exterior wall/footprint streamlined/uninterrupted, I think for ME, is most appealing.
When I consider the visuals from the fauxsunroom area, I prefer keeping the entire room as open as possible.
Also, for REAL that would be an INSANE amount of storage! Far MORE storage than I need… but I’m going to leave that untouched for today because A- I’m going to do a post about storage… and B- I haven’t even gotten to the point of THIS post: inviting the internet to inform me of my stupidity and poor planning.
That’s it.
(plus island.)
I don’t know if half of you just died from how much you think this is a terrible idea… so I guess I’ll give you a second to resuscitate yourselves?
We will put an induction cooktop in the island.
Cabinet wall (pictured above) left to right:
22” base cabinet
27” base w/ wall oven <—super pumped to hear how much everyone loves this
30” apron front we already have our sink I did sort of revisit going down in size… but I have plenty of counter space, so it would only be to go bigger on the oven… which, is already big enough AND I want to stay as close to symmetry as possible.
24” dishwasher <— I would prefer if this were symmetrical to the wall oven cabinet, but I do not want to go any smaller with the oven… if you see some reason to swap, the current location is based on nothing but preferring to load the dishwasher on the right.
22” base cabinet
Obviously, there is still a lot to figure out but I am EXCITED!
And I know it is going to make you itch to not STORAGESTORAGESTORAGE. But maybe wait until I tell you my thoughts? or not… you know… whatever works for you.
The End.
This post lacks a conclusion… but there is none. yet. I’m just giving you information as I’m processing it. a,lso I am doing too many things at once and I still have one more thing.
BEFORE I GO I have something REALLY IMPORTANT to bring attention to… you all know that I am an ANIMAL LADY… and that CIRCUS ANIMALS HURT MY HEART SO MUCH.
This event begins tonight in Philadelphia… past years have included TIGERS AND ELEPHANTS… ELEPHANTS! IN 2018!
Contact the Potentate, at the Lulu Shrine temple and urge him to replace the circus with non-animal events!
Douglas H. Fink, Potentate, LuLu Shriners
5140 Butler Pike Plymouth Meeting PA 19462
Phone: 610-828-9050.
When I called a month ago they weren’t able to tell me exactly what animal events were coming… but I just called, and they have an elephant… a solitary traveling elephant.
The person who answered does not think there are tigers but they had them last year so we will see… I HAVE SIGNS FOR THEM TOO.
I truly believe that we humans are CHANGING and that if the people managing these events UNDERSTOOD this, they would reflect our evolving values! There are SO MANY amazing dance and acrobatic troupes in this area! Everything from salsa to aerial stuff! Many of them are talented KIDS!
But I think the people running the circuses don’t yet HEAR that there is a public desire to STOP seeing wild animals in cages pushed by humans dressed as clowns.
This is NOT entertainment. That is sick. Foul.
Not to mention idiotic.
No one wants to watch an elderly arthritic elephant proded around a ring.
We understand what we are seeing: grotesque cruelty.
If we use our voices, we can help… case in point: Nosey the elephant!!! THIS has haunted so many animal lovers for SO LONG… and because of VERY DEDICATED HUMANS, they freed her. Nosey hadn’t been allowed to walk free or socialize with other elephants in over three decades! Now she is safe.
But so many others need our help.
Here is a post I wrote about one traveling tiger act: Mitchel Kalmanson… I wrote an entire post about his grotesque heart-wrenching treatment of the big cats… NINE MONTHS ON THE ROAD AND THEY NEVER LEAVE THE TRAVEL CAGE. rotten food. open sores.
Here is another post to understand ways that BIG CATS SUFFER IN CAPTIVITY AND HOW WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!
In the wild, tigers can travel up to 20 miles a day… In the circus, they live in tiny travel cages.
The unmitigated despair of this existence is horrifying to me.
LOUDLY for the animals,
🐯❤🐒🐾🦁
xoxo,
VEB
May 18, 2018 @ 12:42 am
Have you considered where your tupperware/storage containers will be? Island?…if so I’d consider switching the oven & DW so you’ve got the tupperware, fridge, and dishwasher in a triangle making it easy to load dishes while putting things away. Plus the oven is the least used appliance (set it & forget it till all done) so having it outside the normal work zone usually isnt an issue.
*Side note: I’m also doing base cabinets with sperate wall ovens flanking our cooktop…love it!
May 18, 2018 @ 12:56 am
It all seems perfectly in sync with your period approach. Kitchens did not use to have any storage cabinets , plus you have a basement so if that works out for you, you can always go down the old route and have a space devoted to extra storage or food prep there.
Quite frankly I think the size of the kitchen has no correlation whatsoever with the quality, quantity or frequency of the cooking. My grand- mother had a kitchen that was not even 400 square feet, daily fed 4 children and loads of grand-children heaps of homemade gnocchi, ravioli, oreillettes and myriads other recipes that are space hogging (in comes the dining room table).
Only one question, what about your dishwasher ? I might have missed a post but on your blueprint it looks dishwashery, are you not panelling it ? this is not nearly as expensive or upscale a treatment as for fridges. Would it not be worth it ?
May 18, 2018 @ 2:04 am
I LOVE it! It’s one of those new, exciting, “always been the perfect solution, why didn’t I think of this sooner” ideas that make one deliriously happy forever and ever!
May 18, 2018 @ 2:20 am
Not sure I understand your logic about it not being okay to use the mirror except as originally intended (which I truly understand and agree with) but it is okay to repurpose the old piano? I love your using it for an island but not with a modern cooktop in it—that to me is a sacrilege.
Okay, love that you are unhappy about the animals the Shriners are using. Start a petition at care2.com . I have been signing petitions there for years and they really do work. If you log onto theanimalrescuesite.com you can also help feed animals etc –have been doing this for 9 years daily and have contributed 3285 bowls of food (yep–just me!) They send you a daily reminder , you click to give, and voila! Just try it please!!
May 18, 2018 @ 8:06 am
I have no suggestions to alter your plan. Because I LOVE IT! 😍😍😍😍😍😍
May 18, 2018 @ 8:42 am
As the author of the original Repurpose Proposal, I hereby move to table the motion. 😉
Getting the vibe you want is so important. If later on you find yourself running a catering operation or writing cookbooks or cooking for a crew (or you step through the veil into an alternate reality), you can always move a mirror and install more storage.
The one decision in all this that still makes me squirm is the venting issue. If you change your mind about venting the cooktop, planning for the possibility of a future down-vent wouldn’t be a terrible idea. (The gunk my hood catches is wince-inducing. All that blowing on a magnificent mirror. . .blech.) Bet then, how would that work under a piano? (There is almost always a way, strange tho’ it might be.)
Rave On, VEB!
May 18, 2018 @ 9:36 am
Be brave, be very brave…..and don’t let any one talk you out of what you see in your head.
May 18, 2018 @ 10:03 am
I know that cabinets are “the worst”, but have you considered antique SIDEBOARDS. Or BUFFETS. Or CREDENZAS. They offer storage, WHILE being giant fancy things, in and of themselves!
Like this: http://lmms.info/antique-dining-room-sideboard/ Only, you know, fancier.
May 18, 2018 @ 10:43 am
Just wanted to pop back in, and suggest that you do a google search (or pinterest search) for the kitchen from American Horror Story: Coven. Ok, that sounds weird, but bear with me – it is this gorgeous, fancy, very untraditional, Victorian era kitchen. And if you are still considering…. they have some beautiful built-in cabinets that look like a piece of fancy furniture (they have one of them their range hood (gasp!) but if you keep digging through the pictures there is also one around their old fashioned sink.) They even have some sort of table/island fancy thingy that gives the feel of your piano island in that it shows how it would all work together. Just a bit of food for thought, pun intended.
Not sure this link will work, but here’s a pic of what I’m talking about – way down the page, there is an odd birds-eye photo that shows a good portion of the kitchen, including the glassed cabinets around the sink. Plus the rest of the house is amazing New Orleans fanciness:
https://hookedonhouses.net/2015/09/08/the-historic-new-orleans-mansion-from-american-horror-story-coven/
May 18, 2018 @ 1:15 pm
I LOVE the mirror and the open concept. I am also a serious lover of GFT.
But I’ll be honest, the lack of storage and counter space would be a huge issue for us. We have a separate cold room with tons of space for canning, our deep freeze, cold storage veggies (i.e. potatoes or onions from our garden) and seldom used kitchen stuff, but it’s in the basement. The number of times I have to go down to the cold room to retrieve something is phenomenal. The number of times i go down to get something only to to a. forget why I was there in the first place or b. have to go back down again right away because I realize I also need something else, is depressingly high.
When we renovated our kitchen we decided to not put cupboards along the wall our fridge occupies to give the room a larger, more open feel. We are now going to add storage and counter top to that wall and the PITA factor of matching cabinet work installed 15 years ago is insane.
May 18, 2018 @ 2:44 pm
last comment for today! Promise!
https://www.thespruce.com/best-induction-ranges-4150612
Many options and takes care of the venting problem. 🙂
May 18, 2018 @ 3:42 pm
Oy. Seriously, do whatever, just settle on something, decide on ONE IDEA, and do it. Your squirrel brain is starting to make my squirrel brain chatter.
May 18, 2018 @ 4:07 pm
First, I too love mirrors and have many from very large to small, antique, vintage as well as large beveled edge installations that cover many square footage on walls to capture light and maximize views in both of my homes. With my kitchens being home to many! Ive also found that just because a mirror fits a space, doesn’t mean it’s a good final resting place. As your diagrams depicts, once you put your island in, you lose the lions share of “grandness” by not being able to see the full impact of its size. There must be a more fitting place in your home to give the proper justice this GF mirror deserves? I also believe you’ll regret not honoring your unique and beautiful island with that perfect piece
of honed marble vs. slapping on a cooktop. And besides, should you ever move you couldn’t take it with you! And on that note, you may think you won’t miss the counter space, but your resell value certainly will. Besides, where will you and your friends set a glass of wine while keeping you company in the kitchen ??
May 18, 2018 @ 4:15 pm
Ps : I also have a mirror hanging in the nook behind my gas range. I cook a lot but the mirror just needs a wipe down now & again.
May 18, 2018 @ 5:16 pm
The only thing that makes me really wonder is where you plan on putting the trash can- I cannot imagine that in this ridiculous fancy kitchen it would just be sitting out but there are only 2 open base cabinets and even I, a European apartment dweller with two decades experience with zero cabinet space, could not manage that.
May 18, 2018 @ 5:48 pm
PHHFFFT. kitchens? they are for making food. Circuses on the other hand…very bad for living creatures. I applaud you on your determination in helping these magnificent animals. We finally got the Ringling Big Top to stop with the elephants, and they have supposedly been retired to a better life. That remains to be seen, but score a victory! We are working on big cats and the small, roadside “attractions”….who is attracted to animals suffering in cages???? I will make appropriate noises regarding your magnificent kitchen in time. Right now I’m all twitchy regarding calling, sending letters to the morons who still have lions and tigers and bears and elephants caged for no other purpose than to entertain moronic humans.
May 18, 2018 @ 6:15 pm
The process of your kitchen design has been fascinating to me. I do wonder where you are going to put all your stuff? Have you decided to built upper cabinets that go to the ceiling? Or will you buy some fabulous and BIG furniture for the ‘faux morning room’ to store all your stuff? Like pans, pots, dishes, glasses, spatulas…etc. I had wondered if you might put the sink in the piano island…. Will you be putting a dining/kitchen table in the “faux morning room”? Where will your microwave live? Thanks for the inspiration!
May 18, 2018 @ 9:01 pm
Yes.
May 19, 2018 @ 2:59 pm
Good reason to leave the oven on the left: ease of cleaning. You(r staff) might be able to reach in from both sides to clean.
May 19, 2018 @ 4:37 pm
I worry the mirror will warp or something in a kitchen if it gets steamy. I have paintings though and they’ve survived. Please read a booklet on feng shui and mirrors. I’m a mirror addict but strange things can happen if you bounce too much energy around in the wrong way. I’ve never had a dishwasher, maybe I should get one? xxx
May 20, 2018 @ 8:23 am
Is it remotely possible to put the Piano Island going long ways with the cabinets? I want to turn it around facing out towards the sun room. I feel like it would look and function better. Love following your home reconstruction and animal activism.