Kitchen Tour

Today I am linking up with Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life Home Tours.  This week the focus is on kitchens.  I absolutely love the kitchen in this house.  Jay and I got to design where we wanted the cabinets, the appliances, and drawers.  We also got to pick everything out from the faucet to the drawer pulls and I was very pleased when it all came together.

Here is the view of the kitchen from the great room area. 

I am standing in the same place, just a different angle so you can see the desk. 

 The desk area is a favorite for Trey to color while I fix dinner.  We try to keep our mail organized in the mail slots and it has plenty of storage for all the other odds and ends we need but don't want out on display.

 

 I have always wanted a place to keep my cookbooks near where I cook.  We had this bookshelf built into the island and it fits all my cookbooks perfectly.

 

 This island is the centerpiece of the kitchen.  Everything we do seems to revolve around it!  My mom likes to make fun off all the drawers we have.  She says she won't empty the dishwasher for us because there are too many drawers to know where anything goes!

 When we first were planning the kitchen I wanted to get one of those ceramic glazed farmhouse sink.  Our counter tops wouldn't support the weight of that sink so we opted for silgranite instead.  I am so glad we did! This sink is super easy to clean, can withstand extremely hot temperatures (like a pan right off the stove) and it won't crack like a ceramic sink.  We have a white sink just like it in the mud room and I am glad we got the bisque color for the kitchen so it doesn't always look dirty.

 The faucet sprayer just pulls down from the faucet.  I can't tell you the number of times I have tried to pull off the faucet of sinks when we visit friends, only to realize their faucet head is attached!

 I love everything we picked out, but if I could do it over I wouldn't necessarily get the under cabinet lighting.  It is nice for some projects like when I use the mixer, but honestly turning on the overhead lights are just as good because our kitchen is pretty open and light. 

 This is the view from the dining room.  One way we saved money is by not putting any corners in the counter tops.  All the counters are straight lines which makes them easier to measure, cut and install. 

 

Behind the door in the above picture is the corner pantry.  It is tucked away right in the middle of the kitchen.  The closet organizer guy could not understand why I didn't want shelves all the way to the ground.  I don't think he comprehended what I was saying about storing bulk grains and a bread machine at the bottom of the pantry.

 

This is the view standing in front of the pantry door.  I have a few pinterest projects lined up for the summer to help take care of these bare walls.  You can see the dining room off to the right, the downstairs bath, the basement door, and a peak into the great room on the left. 

 

 Finally, Trey's masterpieces.  He is working on drawing circles.  Whenever he creates a new drawing he likes to stick it on the freezer for everyone to admire.  I love that he puts them up all by himself!