Kitchen Notes | My Selections

I recently made the final selections for our mini kitchen makeover {ie. NOT renovation} so it seems like a good time to bring you all up to speed.  I've learned a lot in the process, not the least of which is budgets will break, no matter how small scale your project.  Unless you are incredibly handy and can do much of the work yourself, be prepared for sticker shock. There is a lot of compromise that goes on and for me the biggest came in the form of the stove.  I could go on and on about the topic of stoves but in the end I needed to let go of some pretentiousness on my part.  Ugly, but true.  I'm a serious cook, it's probably my biggest hobby, and I felt I "deserved" a pro range {Viking or Wolf or something of that caliber}.  My Mum is the best cook I know and she's never had a fancy pro range, but somewhere along the way {was it blogs? pinterest? design mags?} I convinced myself that a cook's kitchen wasn't a cook's kitchen without one.  I could have made it work with my budget, IF I got a different sink, IF I went with cheaper counter tops, IF I choose different lights and a lower end faucet, basically, if I changed everything else I wanted, I could have the stove of my dreams.  Was it worth it?  I decided no, not now. Would it make me a better cook? No. Would my food taste better? No. Would it make me more like Ina Garten? Well, yes, that one maybe so, you know Ina loves her some Viking.

So...I researched stoves for HOURS and HOURS until I felt armed with non biased product reviews on duel fuel stoves in the $2500-3000 price range.  The GE Cafe has a lot of bells and whistles that I could care less about, but the reviews are strong.  There biggest complaint is the noisy fan in the oven but in terms of performance it sounded pretty top notch.  I could do without the digital control panel, but otherwise I'm ok with the aesthetics.  I don't necessarily love the look of any stove to begin with, unless you are talking an Aga and then I start to have heart palpitations.  :)

The other area I spent a great deal of time researching was counter top selection. I choose soapstone. See bottom right picture above.  A very unpopular decision in this part of the country.  Every supplier tried to talk me out of it.  There is a lot of misinformation on the material and if I had the energy I'd write a whole blog post on it. Heck, if I had the energy, I'd start a class and go educate the local distributors and fabricators.  It's really a beautiful material, impossible to stain, and virtually maintenance free, but it will scratch and ding {part of the charm for me, but not for everyone!}

I'm absolutely crazy about the farmhouse sink {Shaw} and polished nickle bridge faucet {Rohl}.  The light fixtures {Circa} are gorgeous too and I can't wait to get them up.  Yes, I went with a different option from the one all of you recommended.  Don't be mad! :)  It came down to dimensions and what fixtures would make a statement without overpowering the kitchen.  I'm still tweaking the cabinet and wall colors but I'm very close, it will be some combination of what is pictured above.  And that just about brings you up to speed, which is good because it's bedtime for me and I've lost steam!  Back soon with some delicious recipes for you to try, no matter what type of stove you use to prepare them!!  haha!!  xo