Kitchen News

Panic! Appliances are being installed today, and it turns out they hadn't planned for a range hood with a remote blower. Our contractor's foreman called my kitchen designer to ask about the availability of an overhead blower, I happened to call her for an unrelated reason, and she broke the news to me about the remote blower problem. I just about had a heart attack. I burn way too much food and set off the smoke detectors constantly -- we need a kick-*ss blower with the noise on the outside!

Fortunately, DH got on the job. He went to the jobsite and saw that the remote blower was indeed feasible, the motor is integrated into the roofjack and no inside venting has to change. Yeah, some re-roofing was going to have to happen, a new wire to be pulled to power the external blower, but it's entirely possible. He also gently added that this shouldn't have been news, the KD had provided cutsheets for all appliances, and we're not paying for a change. The big difference between an excellent contractor (as we have) and a lousy one (as we've had) is how they respond to such inevitable problems. Our contractor is taking care of it professionally and with the integrity we've gotten very spoiled with. Whew.

(Kitchen forum lingo primer: DH=Dear Husband KD=Kitchen Designer)

The kitchen backsplash tile is GREAT!

If I had to nitpick, I'm 60% on the row of glass tiles on the lower border, but as accents in the focal-point niche: WOW. Classy. My KD really pushed for the glass tile accents; I was so-so on it. (Now, am I that classy?!)

Same on the family room fireplace tile: WOW. Love the glass accent tiles (regrettably invisible in this photo):

Glass tiles: Sonoma Tilemakers Tantrum, in Pewter.
Field tile: Sonoma Tilemakers Sonoma Stone 1x2 Brick, in Olive Green)

I was really looking forward to these funky pull-outs as a corner storage solution, but they're much much much smaller than I expected.
Very cool, but a surprising missed opportunity to use all the space. Then again, dedicating corner storage is always problem anyway, and I'm glad to have accessible storage on either side instead. Many people give up on corner storage; this is better than nothing. Even if these goofy shelves are too small to fit my heavy 12x12 Le Creuset covered skillet. The good news is, they're sturdy, smooth, strong, and very cool-looking!

I'm grateful the kitchen details have come last, since I'm much more discriminating and educated now. Moreso than I wanted to be, especially about the ins and outs of remote vs. overhead and inline blowers. Thank goodness for DHs.