Monday, November 17, 2008

Homemaker Monday: To Design a Kitchen - Part Three

Welcome to...


Thank you for joining us! If you're new to this carnival and would like to enter your post, please check HERE for the rules and regs.This post is still under construction, but feel free to enter YOUR post into Mr. Linky. Thank you for being here!

YOURS: Today's "YOURS" go to Kendra over at "My Insanity" . This girl is amazing and inspiring! Her post featured the hand-made Christmas gifts she gave her kids last year. She made adorable hooded animal towels. Now these aren't just any hooded towels. We've all seen 'em, right? You just get a wash cloth, fold it, sew it on and you're done. Nope. Not Kendra. She goes all out. Take a look at one of my favorites she did for her daughter...


Isn't it just gorgeous?

For Kendra's entire hooded towel post, click HERE. Thanks for the holiday inspiration, Kendra. I know you'll have all kinds of other awesome ideas as this special season draws near. We'll be watching!

MINE: The Cooking Center- Let me tell you a story that begins with coveting. It was a 60" Wolf brand two-oven, 6-burner, 24" griddle range I coveted and I NEEDED to have one for my kitchen...


(Click photo for source.)

After all, all of the cool kitchens in the magazines have them, so my dream kitchen was going to have one, too. Then I looked at the price. The CHEAPEST I could find was over $10,000 for the range and $9,000 for the hood...


(Click photo for source.)

As much as I wanted a WOLF, I simply could not justify paying over $19,000 for a range. However, I did want a 60" that could meet the needs of our family, so I started shopping for other options. Then I saw her. She was a little beauty for only $5000, including tax and shipping and I KNEW I was getting a great deal! She didn't come with a hood, but I would design my own and have it manufactured here in Mexico for cheap. Here she is...


(Click photo for source.)

We ordered her, had her shipped, paid a 17% duty to get her across the border, put her up on a crate out of the weather for storage and waited for our home to go up. Then it happened. I came across an article in a kitchen design magazine warning about the use of commercial ranges in home kitchens. I knew mine was a commercial range (that was the huge attraction!) so I felt like I had to do further research to find out what the problem could be. It turns out that these commercial stoves get much hotter on the outside than do regular home ranges. I had to know how hot, though, so I called the company and asked. They told me that they could get up to 170 degrees on the outside. Okay, so how hot was that? Could I live with it? I googled it and learned that one can receive a second degree burn in two seconds by touching a 170 degree surface. That did it. I couldn't have something like this in my kitchen with all these little kids running around. I humbly went to John with the appropriate information and told him that I thought we'd made a huge mistake in trying to scimp on our range. We had already paid $700 for shipping and nearly a thousand dollars in duty, so instead of shipping it back for another $700 and trying to get our money back, he suggested we keep it and use it for our future outdoor kitchen. After careful consideration, we chose this option and decided to simply buy two 30" ranges and put them side by side in place of the original 60" range. We chose some stainless steel Kenmores with convection heat and warming drawers on the bottom and were pleased with the price: $2.400 for both of them combined. For the hood, our contractor simply welded metal pieces together in the appropriate formation and tiled them with spanish tile, which worked better than a stainless steel hood in our Mexican-style kitchen, anyway. Yes, it was a costly mistake, but it worked out in the end.

Here are the final plans I gave to the carpenter and the general contractor who would make the hood...


Here are the current results...


(The above super-clean cooking center is brought to you by this girl...)


(Thanks for doing such a great job with your Saturday chores, Kyla!)

And here is what I plan on adding just as soon as we find the box in our basement which contains the IKEA utensil bars. You've gotta love IKEA!


Wish me luck on finding the box!

OURS: Okay, now let's see what you've got for us today. Remember to feel free to search your archives for old posts or go ahead and create a new one for today. Also, if you have anything holiday-y, I would love to see that, too. If you would like to enter multiple posts, don't be shy. The more ideas, the merrier, especially at this time of year. Thanks again for stopping by and I hope you become inspired!



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14 comments:

High Heels and a Sippy Cup said...

What a great example of making lemonade out lemons, Jen! I think that your cooking center is gorgeous and better off without that fussy Wolf range anyway. *wink*

Dusty (To the Moon and Back) said...

Totally envious of your kitchen!

I LOVE that hooded towel, I'm off to check out how to make one!

MissManda-Mae said...

Your kitchen is beautiful... i love reading your blog and all the great tips you have... congrats on finally finishing the project!!! I'm moving out this week so my kitchen can be rennovated as well... aren't you jealous?!?! he he!! i'm sure not!! =)

threesidesofcrazy said...

The more I see of your kitchen, the more I dream... I'm absolutely in love with it.

CompleteLee Blogger said...

How nice to have such fun dreaming up your kitchen. I am impressed with how well hubby handled the "oops"!

Have a happy day!

Anonymous said...

Can I be your maid? I would love to just be in you kitchen. I love it! The stoves are awesome. Kyla talked about being bored this weekend....tell her I will come do her chore anytime! Looks great. Good Job Kyla!

Tara said...

BEEEUUUUTIFULLLLLLLLL!

love it!!!

Rhonda said...

I love the idea of a utensil bar. Hmmmmm wonder if I can integrate it nicely into what I already have. Thanks for the great idea!

Hesses Madhouse said...

Oh, I just love that it didn't have a hood, so I'll just whip one of those puppies up in my imagination and have someone make it for me. Ha! Ha! You are some kind of woman!!! Wow! I love this kitchen. That's paradise. I think I'd sleep in there. My husband would have to bribe me big time just to step out of that room.

Kendra@My Insanity said...

Thanks so much for the feature and all of the kind words! I still can't get over your kitchen! It is a work of art!

Grammy said...

I would love to have a wolf too. You did great to get the same amount of cooking space. In my old house I had a new kitchen. I bought a 5 burner jenair cook top. And with the spacing they did. I never was able to use all 5 burners at one time. So I put a ceramic hat in the middle and used it for the turners. I loved the high performance of the gas burners. but unless I were to use small pans the 5 th burner was of no use.

Connie said...

Your kitchen turned out great! I love exposed brick! Got a huge kick out of your SUPERWOMAN post...I think you're just trying to throw us all of ;)

Anonymous said...

I like the way that looks! The utensil bar is going to be a great addition (love IKEA)!

Manuela

LRFK said...

The kitchen looks great! Sorry, I accidentally posted twice. I read the rules and corrected my mistake! The first one can be deleted.