Kitchen Highlights \ My Kitchen

I design kitchens for a living, but what about the kitchen design where I live?? A few years ago I bought a loft in Downtown Atlanta in an area known as Castleberry Hill. It is the art mecca of Atlanta with an Art Gallery around every corner! I let the art theme of the neighborhood be my inspiration for this contemporary kitchen creation.

The kitchen my loft came with needed some SERIOUS work!

This is NOT the NKBA recommended method for removing cabinets. But since this is my kitchen, I wanted to experience how kitchens were remodeled before power tools were invented…

Kitchen remodeling isn’t quite like an artist having a blank canvas, it more like someone else dripping paint on your canvas and then you having to finish the painting and make it a masterpiece. When designing a kitchen remodel, you often have to measure around appliances and plan designs without knowing exactly what’s inside your walls. If you are changing the structure of your kitchen it is not only a good idea to hire experienced professionals, but you should also at least pull off the sheetrock and see what surprises are lurking in your walls that may affect the final outcome.

I found some unexpected water pipes for the loft above mine that I had to incorporate into my design.

My vision of a bigger, better, brighter kitchen begins to take shape…

And Here it is! Bold Colors, Exquisite Materials, Open Contemporary Design

I actually designed and installed this backsplash myself by out of 1″ travertine tiles with 1″ glass tile accents

These countertops ROCK! Literally! I used Stellar Night from Silestone which is engineered quartz with little chips of mirror in them. It is harder than granite, NEVER has to be sealed, and has micro-ban built right in! You should see the way all TWENTY TWO lights in the kitchen reflect off them at night!

Remember that laundry room door from the before Pics?

This kitchen design move is REALLY popular in high end designs these days, secret cabinet doors into pantries and other rooms in the house is a great way to impress your friends and potential home buyers! From the looks of my laundry basket…perhaps I forget I have a laundry room a little too often

Knocking out these walls made such a big difference in this space! And who couldn’t justify a NEW TV to go with their NEW kitchen view!

The accessories available in today’s cabinetry are great! I couldn’t live without my integrated trash cans! This is a 9″ spice pullout, DO NOT buy a 3″ spice pullout! Everyone and their brother comes to me wanting to buy the 3″ versions they see in magazines but those are pretty much the most useless things every invented because you can’t really fit anything on them…not all spice bottles are created equal!

Does your kitchen need an extreme cabinet makeover like this one?

Remodel Experience + Design Creativity = The Cabinet Guy

 

Kitchen Highlights \ Cabin Cabinets Anyone?

Most of the kitchens I design are around Metro Atlanta. So when the call came in to head up to Ellijay to work some kitchen design magic and breathe some fresh mountain air…I coudn’t resist!!

Garrett Residence / Ellijay, GA
Kraftmaid / Mandolay Maple / Ginger Glaze

These homeowners love to cook and love to entertain for a LOT of people!! We designed this island with entertaining in mind. When it comes time to design your kitchen, remember not to get all caught up in only the “functional” aspects of kitchen design! There is also a “SOCIAL” aspect of kitchen design! A skilled kitchen designer can blend the functional and social aspects of kitchen design together and make them LOOK GREAT! Not only can you sit over 6 people at the island, but it works great to have this much counterspace accessible to the living and dining areas for serving food buffet style. This island SCREAMS come mingle by the spinach dip!!! As a side note…the homeowners made those stick stools themselves! How cool is that!?!

Notice on the other side of the island, the cabinetry was 12″ deep to allow more seating at the end of the bar, it then transitions to 24″ deep to allow for storage cabinets, an integrated trash can cabinet, and we capped of the end with an open display cabinet. These shadowboxes created with molding are a great alternative to standard raised end panels. While they are not quite as expensive as raised end panels, they still cost a pretty penny due to the amount of trim it takes to create them and the extra labor for your installer to craft them

Now You see the Dishwasher…

Now You Don’t!!

Integrating appliances into the cabinetry is a hot kitchen trend. Be prepared for multiple trips out from your installer though. After the cabinets are installed, your appliances will have to be installed before panel installation. While it is “possible” to sometimes install the panels before the appliances are installed, I don’t recomend it… these custom appliance panels are EXPENSIVE and a dent in one of them from the appliance guy’s handtruck is not easy to fix! When the installer comes back to install the custom panels and false cabinet fronts onto the appliances, I usually try and schedule any punch items from the original install to happen at the same time, with gas prices the way they are now the less trips for the installer the better!

The design work doesn’t always stop in the kitchen! Entertainment centers and offices are some of my favorite rooms to design. Here we designed a custom office complete with lots of open storage and a wood top that matches the cabinetry!

This bathroom is pretty simple cabinetry wise but for those of you looking for some ideas on trimming out your mirrors with molding I thought I would share this pic with you!

 

Kitchen Design Highlights v1.1

I’m going to start a new segment here on The Cabinet Guy called Kitchen Highlights. I have been doing more and more design work here lately and everyone always wants to see examples of my mad designing skills… So I’m going to showcase some of my favorite design elements that I have done over the years for some of my clients… who know’s the next highlight may be yours! Need a professional kitchen design? Want your kitchen to be the envy of everyone who sees it? Email The Cabinet Guy and let’s get started!

Hill Residence / Lake Alatoona /Acworth, GA

Kraftmaid / Cherry Summit / Cabernet

Note the double stack wall cabinets, integrated cabinetry table, and wine rack area NIIIIIICE!

Here is a closeup of the table…

Something different for a kitchen or office desk…

Why install wire shelving when you can do something like this with your laundry room cabinets!