Progress: Framing and Some Design Edits

The front door saga from the previous post continues, but after much thought we are just telling them to fix it.  Just one of those mistakes that unfortunately needs to be fixed on our dime.  So, waiting to hear how they expect to do that and get rid of a 6ft chunk of our concrete wall.  Good times!

The downstairs framing is now complete (2nd story ICFs to begin now) except for the fireplace wall in the great room.  This is the most important wall in the entire house from a design/impact perspective.   Normally I make decisions at lightning speed, but this particular wall has me being very thoughtful and I want to wait until everything is in (stairs, framing) before depicting its use.  I'm actually having a friend from a local design college consult on it for me when it's time, just so that all options can be explored.  I'm not sure if I want it as a "standard" built-in shelf/TV wall, or a more modern/edgy version, or just an open non-wall altogether.  Right now we have a cool "interior window with sliding wood panel" there but I want to explore other options too.

As the above picture indicates, I've also shrunk the stairs to as narrow as codes will allow, and to my delight the layout allowed for us to eliminate the bottom landing step as well as the support post in front of the cooktop in the kitchen, which will make it seem even more open and unobstructed. 

Here's a view from that non-existing fireplace wall into the kitchen.   The great room picture window is to the left and the kitchen sink window to the right:

Thank You, Author Sarah Susanka 

As noted below, I'm debating making that one big pantry, or at least moving the wall a little bit as seen below.  Another thing that surprised me was that I moved the wet bar.   On paper, even though I wasn't happy where the wet bar was, it seemed ridiculous to move it into the "hallway" opening.  See:

the red "X" indicates the old wet bar.  Originally the architect disliked the wet bar in the green area because of symmetry concerns, and I didn't disagree.  After walking in the actual space though, now it makes perfect sense:  it's across from the dining room so that makes sense, it opens up to the kitchen and that makes sense, and it's twice as big to allow for more amenities.  Since this "pocket" of hallway is a waste-of-space due to the angle of the house, I'm also adding some architectural interest to make all the rooms cohesive by adding a push-through niche of the wet bar countertop.  This idea comes courtesy of the zillion Sarah Susanka "The Not So Big House" books that I read before the construction process began...

the view from the kitchen side - note the counter top opening just barely peeking through the wall: 

 

and what it would look like from the hall entry side: 

The wet bar shift also now allows for those double french pocket doors in the library to be larger and moved over more, which I like because it opens it up to the kitchen even more, and also we are hoping to add upper cabinets at the wet bar, yet still allow for an interior transom in there for more natural lighting.

Minor changes, but overall a surprisingly nice flow. 

And one more - there was yet another pocket of wasted space that always bothered me in the downstairs guest bedroom, but the architect felt strongly about it for the same reason - symmetry.   I've made the edits after seeing it though.   Some symmetry will still remain, but now I'm doing a half-wall to the right of the tub, and then a decorative niche of some sort (for artwork/whatever) on the facing wall of the linen closet as you enter.  This greatly opens up the room and makes it feel bigger, and I'm fine with it: 

Kitchen - Materials

Our old home had off-white cabinets with glazing, and was pretty much the "french country" style that was very popular for oh, a decade or more.  While I still think that is lovely, I'm taking an edgier step with our kitchen.  At the same time, I want to maintain style longevity and a seamless relationship with the surrounding "california-ish" architecture style.

My husband still likes the glazed-french-country-ish cabinets.
I'm tired of them. 

The good news is that we have agreed on one cabinet that appeals to us both:  the Starmark cabinet in "Villa Mushroom" that will hopefully not cost us a limb since it's the ONLY one we agree on.  Our compromise is that the finish is sleek and urban, but we'll go with a more traditional cabinet style that is hopefully inset, depending on cost.  Thankfully Starmark cabinets seem to get great reviews so that was a relief when I did my homework.

CABINETRY
Here's a picture of the FINISH (Villa Mushroom), it's a cross between an off-white and a linen color depending on lighting:

and here's a picture of the cabinet STYLE (this is actually Starmark's "Villa Pearl" if you are curious.  It can come across as very light  silver-white or grey, depending on lighting):

If it were up to me, I would do this cabinet style in a heartbeat, but thankfully it truly is an Italian-based fortune so I won't even attempt to ask:

and this is what the "Villa Pearl" cabinet finish looks like with my chosen solid hickory floor:

COUNTER 

I'm undecided on the actual countertop yet, but i have a feeling it will be an off-white quartz for a very fresh look, not sure.  

BACKSPLASH

As mentioned in my first Kitchen post, one thing I love about "Uncle Tom's Kitchen" is the stone wall, which happened by accident when they tore the garage down.  I know my kitchen couch wall span will be this stone.  I'm undecided if this will be my backsplash wall too, depending on how it flows with the existing great room wall.  

It will be the above, but with a cream-colored over-grouting technique like this:

LIGHTING - WHAT TO DO? 
Speaking of the above pic,  I plan on a similar concept with no above cabinet to the right of my fridge in that little angled space.  Perhaps with a drop-down pendant like the above, or an architectural element to add interest.  I know pendant lights are popular, but I just can't see them dropping down above my barstool area, can you?  I think it would become dated very quickly.   I'm thinking a dropped soffit with recessed lighting.    Then a cool hanging light above the kitchen table instead, probably also with a soffit to define that space.  What do you think?

Kitchen Layout: My Favorite Kitchen in the World

In Pennsylvania, there stands a house whose kitchen was built in 1979 after a garage tear-down.  This is my Aunt Jane and Uncle Tom's kitchen, and to this day it remains My Favorite Kitchen In the World.  To say that my house built itself around this particular kitchen is an understatement - my #1 instruction to our architect was to place my Uncle Tom's kitchen in the best view spot of the house, then integrate everything around it.  And oh-by-the-way I also want a couch in it.  And that's exactly how the house process started, which was actually a good thing because it gave us a very specific starting point.

I then discovered that kitchen designers do NOT like this kitchen for various reasons: 

1.  they criticize it for it's lack of island (agreed somewhat:  I'm doing one now due to some venting/spacing reasons anyway)
2.  they criticize it for the "too level and wide" countertop where the barstools go.   But this is its genius.  The general consensus seems to be that raised countertops are loved by designers and architects when it comes to the barstool area.  This is one of the only areas where I absolutely disagree with my favorite architect author, Sarah Susanka, who also recommends a raised countertop in order to "hide" the mess more.    Anytime I've been at a house where I'm sitting at a raised countertop, I feel like my plate and drink are in close quarters, and if you want to grab more to eat you are usually getting up and down for refills. People like to graze in a kitchen.  They like to pick.  They like to linger and talk while drinking and eating.  This is why I love my Uncle Tom's kitchen.  You can spread out, pick all you want to, lean into the counter, etc.  You can also plop the kids up to make a huge spread of Christmas cookies or work on a huge project. 
3.  they criticize it for it's one entry in and out.

I get it, but I've lived this kitchen.  I've cooked in it, I've socialized in it, and I love it.  Everyone does.  It's the only kitchen I've seen that gravitates so many to sit, literally hours upon hours on end,  eating, playing games, talking, etc.  It's practically perfection.

Mine will be an updated, more modern take,.  It certainly will not look much like theirs from a style standpoint and will have more streamlined and modern amenities now, except I will also repeat the interior stone wall, because I love it as well.

The Original Uncle Tom's Kitchen:

 

and the original dimensions (Uncle Tom also recommended adding a foot on either side of the sink, if he had to do it all over again ): 

and mine as it stands now, below.  I had to edit on the above quite a bit because of some space and venting allocation issues.  I'm okay with it, because it still keeps that beloved barstool countertop intact and has a very nice work triangle that should function just as well, if not better?  We will see, but the fact that the kitchen designers are thrilled with these changes make me feel fairly confident about the change.

 

when I convert it into www.floorplanner.com to scale, it ends up looking like like this: 

 and in 3d, like this:

 

The "perfect" kitchen layout is one that could be debated endlessly.  My guess is we will not use the kitchen table area very much, but I wanted one there for when we entertain.  I also plan to shape the island so that it has no strong corner edges (this was floorplanner.com's only option as shown) and I envision a table-style island so that it's open underneath. 

What's your opinion?