Comments on: Prize Pendants

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 02:58:42 +0000

Nope. They be crazy
Seriously, the pendants don’t make any sense. I think they ran the electrical before they designed the kitchen…badnewsbear, right?!
xo – kb

By: SunshineGal85

SunshineGal85 — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:58:59 +0000

I followed the link to here from your big island reveal Part 2. Is it just me or did the builders who built your house not line the pendant lines up over the island? I see what you mean about not being able to use stools because of the refrigerator door and not lining up the island with the stove, but the lights seem off center, but maybe it’s just the way I’m looking at it.

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 21:57:57 +0000

Haha…yeah…imagining truly is the fun part!
I’m sure down the line I’ll have to come back and read all these ideas!
xo kb

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 17:24:51 +0000

Actually, what if, instead of re-topping, you rejiggered the sink pipes within the island, then picked up the island counter top (with sink) , rotated it, and re-installed it so the second sink ended up on the end of the island closest to the desk?

I bet that would cost less than re-topping and then you’d also have a second sink where it’s not totally annoying for someone to use it while you’re using the main sink.

P.S. Sorry for so many suggestions. I just finalized my own kitchen layout and now I kind of miss moving things around. It was fun to consider all the possibilities!

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 17:14:47 +0000

I actually think bar seating’s a little redundant in homes where there’s an actual kitchen table right there, so I very much support this plan. And if you don’t want bar seating, then I think the existing island shape is better than what I suggested, since it allows more space to stand in front of the fridge and the open doors and spend some time deciding on your sandwich ingredients..

And I know you think the island placement is odd (not centered), but I like it. It honestly looks well-thought-out-and-deliberate because it allows enough walkway around it, plus extra for the aforementioned sandwich ingredient contemplation in front of the fridge.

For what it’s worth, if it were my home, I would keep this island where it is, but re-top it to get rid of the awkward second sink and maybe build in a bookcase under the existing overhang, so the island wouldn’t have badly-thought-out bar seating anymore.

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:26:46 +0000

We might be able to move it when we redo the floors but until then, it’s fine for us. (cheaper too!) We don’t need the extra seating (it actually helps a lot to NOT have seats for Will to climb on) and the wall oven is really growing on me. I’m no kitchen designer but I know that it works for me right now
xo – kb

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:44:09 +0000

Couldn’t basically all of the layout issues with your kitchen be fixed by replacing the island? It’d get rid of the awkwardly placed second sink, the lack of centering, and the fridge vs. bar seating tension all at once. It’s very trendy nowadays to have a contrasting island (with a different cabinet color and/or countertop from your perimeters), so you’d not even have to match any finishes or anything.

The way your fridge, stove, and main sink are placed is actually kind of clever. They’re very close to each other, so you’re not walking all over the place when you cook, yet if multiple people are in the kitchen, even if you have a person at each one (the main sink, stove, and fridge), they’d still not be bumping into each other AND each one would have plenty of immediately handy counter space right next to him/her.

It’s just the island that’s making things weird.

If you want bar seating, an island this shape would let you have seating at the island without the current issues: http://imgur.com/MDO0N The curve would allow three or four seats, and it’d echo the curve of the arched window, making the arched window seem less random.

If you want a second sink, that’d be a bit more work, but if you move the ovens, you could turn where they are into a stretch of counter (made from the current island counter top) with a little sink. The ovens could then either go under that sink or in the island. Dedicating the current oven wall to counter would also open up that door/walkway. Forgive my impertinence, but that door/walkway is a little dwarfed now with the tall fridge on one side and the tall oven cabinet on the other.

Also, have you thought about removing the cabinetry on top of the fridge? That would lighten the presence of the fridge, balancing the room better, and would also make the span of upper cabinets (between the window and the fridge) basically symmetrical, making the room feel even more balanced. The cabinet above the fridge is never the most accessible storage anyway, so it’d be no great loss.

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 13:36:51 +0000

Don’t have a clue! They were that color when we moved in!
xo – kb

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:26:20 +0000

Love the pendants. What color are your walls?

By: nancy

nancy — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 02:52:29 +0000

that is very weird, I was thinking 80′s for the gold, and that is a tiny little sink! I am sure there was a plan, we just don’t know about it yet.

I love your cabinets! I don’t know why everybody wants to paint EVERYbloomingthing??!?!?! Kitchen cabinets are a bitch to prep and paint too. I know, cause yes, I painted mine.

When we moved into a house that was overly oaky, I just kept it that way, painted the dang furniture instead.

By: marie

marie — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 03:45:47 +0000

Um, let me explain white privilege to you, Ms. Bower. When you as a white person make a “joke” that touches upon not so favorable stereotypes of a minority culture, that is simply racist and ignorant. I know you didn’t mean harm, but just had to point that out as a minority (chinese-american) that may not sit well, esp. since as your smart readers correctly pointed out that the gold coast was named by **Europeans who were exploiting Africans.**

Yeah, I have to say, just based on the reader profile pics here, I see that there are hardly any african american readers. Gee, I wonder why? I love your blog, but pls try to stay away from cultural “jokes”–they are actually not funny.

By: Randa

Randa — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:42:44 +0000

Very well put, Kristy.

By: Allison

Allison — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:13:54 +0000

When we built our house and had to finish the kitchen from scratch, I decided to be cheap and find knobs on ebay. I wanted ORB finish and they usually run around $4/each at Lowes which really adds up! I found knobs for $1/each and pulls for $1.50/each on ebay. They are a little smaller and much more lightweight than the Lowes counterparts, but you can’t really tell once they are up, and more importantly…they still open the cabinets!! And I only spent $25 on them!

More about how we saved megabucks in our kitchen:
http://mattandallisonkelly.blogspot.com/2012/03/kitchen-budget-breakdown.html

By: Kristy

Kristy — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 03:56:25 +0000

Interestingly enough, it was the Europeans that first labeled West Africa the Gold Coast because of their own interest in trading gold. Later that exploitation turned to the slave trade and colonization. I think we all agree that is one of the saddest pieces of our world’s history and it still has ramifications today. Not that I think Katie was trying to make a blatantly offensive joke about Europeans exploiting Africa or even about race, but that is the problem because she wasn’t even aware that she was offending. Often nativity can lead to ethnocentrism, which is exactly what those comments were–ethnocentric and culturally biased. As already pointed out it is natural for a culture to favor certain aesthetics over others, but clearly those were negative comments about another culture’s (perceived) preference. Which is another thing that I am bothered by–Africa is not one culture or one country. Africa has over 50 countries, thousands of languages and thousands of ethnic groups. And even as another reader commented, not everybody is black that lives in Africa (although the vast majority are).
I however am not breaking up with this blog quite yet. I find it to be challenging to read about other people’s ways of thinking and ideas even if don’t always agree. Generally I bite my tongue when I read things on here that bother me, but found this conversation interesting enough to jump in on.

By: Destiny

Destiny — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 02:55:43 +0000

For those on a strict budget looking for pendant lighting, the Hobby Lobby now carries them. And everyone who shops at the Hob Lob knows that things go 50% off every other week.