[beccabugg]

I am in the process of designing/planning my Stat White kitchen. I will be hopefully ordering in three months depending on budget.

I have a small kitchen but I am a cook that believes she has a huge kitchen!!!! So I am stuffing a bunch of stuff in there. I am willing to not have as much clearance in between cabinets in order to get everything in (I say that now).

I am not changing the location of any appliances for the simple sake of not getting a plumber or electrician involved.

I plan on doing Corian countertops through IKEA - probably the Aruba color.

I also plan on purchasing a sink and faucet through Lowes.

Please let me know if you have an ideas or such. I would greatly appreciate it.

In addition - I am torn on the flooring. When I decide on flooring - I am doing it for my entire condo (1100 sq. feet) so thinking I want to keep it pretty cheap and easy for a self-install. I do live in Florida and on the ground floor. I have a concrete subfloor that has been covered by carpet and hideous laminate for 20 years!!!

[NBeth]

Questions: Why no wall cabs over the left bases, but cabs over nothing on the bottom wall? Would you consider a smaller sink? An 18" dishwasher?

[beccabugg]

The left hand side is an open bar type thing. Can't really put wall cabinets. I didn't put base cabinets by the wine cabinets - is that is where I currently have my trash can. I am pretty much basing the design off of the cabinets that I have in the kitchen now.

I would consider a smaller sink - but just want a deep one...And never even thought about a smaller dishwasher.

[NBeth]

Here's a design with a smaller sink and dishwasher. This sink is very pretty, esp. with Stat, deep and wide: if they had sold it when we built our kitchen we might have purchased it! If you decide you can't live with the smaller dishwasher, use your old plan from the dishwasher to the window on that wall. This plan shifts things ever so slightly--I don't think the plumbing will be an issue at all, but the electricity for the range MIGHT need moving. It would be a very small thing, if so.

The great advantage of the smaller sink cabinet is that it permits you to use the 37" corner and a big drawer unit on the open side (whether or not you keep the small dishwasher). These are far more space efficient than the 49" blind corner plus small cabinet. You will notice that the drawer unit at the far end of the open wall is turned the other way: that way you get full storage in the otherwise wasted corner. Then come three shallow pantries. One can have a tall narrow trash (such as IKEA | Organizers | Trash cans & baskets | FIBBE | Bin with lid) plus cleaning supplies, etc., if the under sink area is insufficient (check out the great sink pullout ideas, however!). The others will make up for the pantry that just wouldn't work with the fridge in your original configuration. I know you're losing your wine cabinets, but you're gaining a more cohesive design with more functional storage. You can always hang wine racks under the wall cabs, store in the pantries, etc..

You'll notice I've rotated the fridge. I'm hoping it's not really so deep as you've indicated: ours is a similar width and height but 4" shallower... You might need to leave it turned the way you had it, but the pantry beside it couldn't possibly worked. In such a small kitchen I'd encourage you to hunt the sales for counter depth models...

As for floors, we are very happy with our carmelized bamboo and beech counters--they are very similar in tone and look great with the Stat. What colors do YOU like?

[beccabugg]

Im very impressed -there are some things that I haven't thought about. I am def. going to look through it tonight.

So you like the wood counters? I have never thought about using them - always figured there would be alot of upkeep.

I haven't decided on my refrigerator. I will be buying a new one (my new stove just arrived today - kind of doing it piece meal). So I will look at the measurements of the different fridges...

	IM definitino IM means Instant Message

[NBeth]

I really and truly love the look of the wood, so I'm willing to go to some trouble for it, and I'm willing to accept imperfections in exchange for its wonderful warmth. That said, we compromised on surface treatments: part is totally sealed, part is has a semi penetrating oil finish from Ikea, called Behandla.

The sealed section is treated with Waterlox Original Sealer and Finish and it really is pretty much trouble free. There are lots of threads about Waterlox on these forums if you're interested: it's made from tung oil and resin and is food safe when cured. I personally prefer the more natural look of the Behandla but it does get stains from some things and you do have to reapply the finish at fairly regular intervals. I love working on the counters but you might not!

Our fridge is an Energy Star model from Kenmore: top freezer, nothing special. But it only sticks out a few inches, which I like!

[yankeelawyer]

Re counters - I love, love the wood ones. I am doing marble in my kitchen but it was really a close call for me; the wood ones are just so pretty, imo .

As NBeth said, there are a number of threads re Waterlox. We just finished the flooring in my kitchen -- oak sealed with waterlox to match the flooring we already installed throughout the rest of the house. Needless to say I am very familiar with that product : ).

Below are some pics of IKEA kitchens with wood counters.

	IMO definition IMO means In My Opinion

[beccabugg]

I never looked at the wood countertops while at Ikea. Are they custom as well? One side of my kitchen is a bar - so the surface area is larger than the rest of the counters?

Also with the wooden counters - do you have a backsplash of the same material?

[NBeth]

You can cut wood to make a backspash, do a quarter round, and/or do some sort of tile. We have glass mosaic and a tiny quarter round where it meets the counter. Ikea's wooden counters come in several thicknesses and types of wood. We have the cheapest, called Pronomen, but you need the thicker Numerar stuff if you want to use their farm sinks. They sell it in precut lengths and yes, they make a wider one for peninsulas and islands.

Re: Need Ideas and Criticism for my Stat White Kitchen... 

In this picture taken near the end of constructuion you can see the wider section on the peninsula. It's made of two pieces with special connecting bolts between them.

Re: Need Ideas and Criticism for my Stat White Kitchen... 

[nigel-bigel]

yankeelawyer, you have the most impressive collection of kitchen inspiration pics I have ever seen one person have!

I like NBeths layout. Just a couple of suggestions...

I would make the far left cabinet on the sink wall a solid door so there are just two glass doors flanking the sink. I am all about symmetry!

How about adding an appliance garage to the right of the shallow pantries? Use a 24 x 17 Avsikt roll-front cabinet under the upper cab, or use a taller one to be as high as the pantries... IKEA | Built-in kitchens | AKURUM/RATIONELL system | AVSIKT | Roll-front cabinet

Nicole