[singajane]

What an unbelievably beautiful kitchen! You truly achieved your vision, and more. It has a pure and floating sensation like a Japanese garden, but is at the same time warm. I love the colors, the use of wood, the echoed horizontal lines, the use of glass. What is your backsplash made from?

I know we all need to craete our own visions and our own kitchens, but I suspect you will inspire many! Thank you!
Jane

[climber_grrl]

Wow!

[laurie]

I know jackww's head is probably swollen by now, but I'll add to the mix that your space is truly tremendous. I guess the only other thing I could possibly say is, "Can we see the rest of your place?". And I have to admit that I would have probably gone with the black and white dishes, too. I tend to like a monochromatic palette. The wall color adds the punch. Spectacular.

[jackww]

Originally Posted by laurie

I know jackww's head is probably swollen by now, but I'll add to the mix that your space is truly tremendous. I guess the only other thing I could possibly say is, "Can we see the rest of your place?". And I have to admit that I would have probably gone with the black and white dishes, too. I tend to like a monochromatic palette. The wall color adds the punch. Spectacular.

Thanks-You Laurie, Yes, I was thinking about white and black dishes on the shelves (as Evaperconti raised this interesting issue and injected some doubts in my mind, Thanks Eva) and whether they should be there but I also like monochromatic pallette.
I even like monochromatic gardens with many different kind of flowers but all of them of the same or close color, and yes, I do experiment with this on my deck.
So my black and white dishes will stay for the time being as I do not see better alternative yet.

As to "Can we see the rest of your place?" I would say that I am redesigning "the rest of my place" and I will likely renovate it in 2007 (unless I will go to Europe for a family reunion and 5 weeks visit, then my renovation could be somewhat delayed)

My plan is (my house is 16 year old and the items as listed below have not been ever updated by the previous owner):

I will redo my two full bathrooms (I am seriously contemplating manufacturing japanese Ofuro wooden bathtub from Alaska Yellow Cedar and installing it in one of the bathrooms . It will be quite a challenge...I am still researching this)
I will remove "popcorn" from the ceings in the rest of the house
I will also replace the closet at the entrance with free standing semi transparent structure that will double as a big lamp and the closet at the same time (design is well advanced and hopefully in Spring 2007... I will install)
I will redo my fireplace (in family room below my kitchen)
I will remove carpets from the lower level and replace them with natural cork or hardwood.
I will repaint the entire place (except kitchen) and I am working on colours...


Again, I am overwhelmed and feeling thankful for so many very positive responses to my kitchen and the stainless staircase projects. Thank-You very much.
jack

[laurie]

I'll look forward to your progress.

How did you tackle the popcorn ceiling? This is also in our future.

[DesignDiva]

Jack, I'm sorry! Didn't mean to throw your whole vibe off, there! I like the black and white dishes...I just don't like them stacked black/white/black/white. An unapologetic stack of white and one of black would be more in keeping with the feel of the kitchen, which is very honest, simple and straightforward.

[Shouva]

Jack, when I first viewed your thumbnail photos I gasped. You literally took my breath away! I collect kitchen design magazines and your kitchen could easily be a feature story in any of them. Wow!

Like Eva, I am detail oriented. I could not help but notice your little touches that take the design from very good to excellent: the "cut outs" in your side panels and refrig cabinet; the "fireplace" on the back of your wire stack/column; the one vase 1/2 black, 1/2 white, serving as a bridge to your all white and all black dishes; the single flower in a green vase, and of course, your first photo with your laptop showing the Ikea Fans website.

I really like your front entry doorway.

The stair case makes me drool. I have an open staircase with rod iron railings, typical builder grade of 30 years ago. (Shouva, "thou shalt not covet thy neighbors staircase.") One more thing to add to my wish list...after the kitchen, 2 bathrooms, patio, etc. I'll think about these things...after the holidays.

By the way: Although it is true that you cannot drill holes in tempered glass you can have the glass drilled and then tempered. The company I work for uses glass drilled this way when we do entertainment centers with glass doors. The cost would be greater than what Jack paid, the most expensive part being the cost of the holes.

Thanks you, Jack for your inspiring design work.
Shouva

[jackww]

Originally Posted by evaperconti

Jack, I'm sorry! Didn't mean to throw your whole vibe off, there! I like the black and white dishes...I just don't like them stacked black/white/black/white. An unapologetic stack of white and one of black would be more in keeping with the feel of the kitchen, which is very honest, simple and straightforward.

Eva, You are right about this "unapologetic stack of white and one of black would be more in keeping with the feel of the kitchen". Yes, it would be cleaner and simpler visually and I will change this tonight.
Thank-You.
jack

[alydev]

Beautiful kitchen- just gorgeous! I wish I could do more open shelving in my kitchen, but it just wouldn't work for us (messy teens, ugly mis-matched dishes, too much stuff!)

We have popcorn ceilings as well (ugh!) and I figure we'll probably be having the entire kitchen ceiling re-drywalled when the time comes. There will be new lighting and soffits to rip out, so it will have huge holes in it anyway.

[caco]

Great looking kitchen. I'm also going to be doing open shelves. Where did you get those blind shelf brackets?