Final Kitchen Shots

[Jay Knoll]

Finally got phase 2 of the kitchen/dining area complete, I built some tall "walls" to encase the cabinets. Since the tallest part of the ceiling as slightly over 12 feet, I was worried about things being straight. So I used MDF, ripped it to width, and then did sort of a torsion box. I milled down some 2 x 4s to the correct thickness and laminated them up with the MDF panels. I used 3 pieces, one flush with the face, one rescessed from the back edge, and one screwed onto the wall. The 2 x 4s were the full height of the "walls"/. Since the MDF was about 8' tall I was able to install torsion boxes to the cleat on the wall, then fit the smaller panels above the larger portion, using the 2 x 4"s as backers. Hope this is clear.

Anyway. I then installed the upper and lower cabinets and repeated the process with the other torsion box. I then faced it off with poplar, and used some automotive body filler called Half Time to fill the gaps and disguise the joints between the MDF panels.

So here is how it turned out


I used IKEA cabinets to match those that I installed in the kitchen, but painted them the wall color to create a bit of separation between the two areas.

And here is the final kitchen shot with the range hood installed. I know that Chris P has been worrying if I ever got the hole in the ceiling filled that was so evident from my last post on this project.

I can't seem to get that to load in this post, so I"ll send this on and try again.

Thanks for looking.

Jay

[Bob Marino]

Jay,

Nice work. Clean and neat. It looks just like they were always there.

Bob

[Jim Becker]

That's a very attractive solution, Jay!

[Jay Knoll]

Well, I tried to edit the post and get the picture down to a reasonable size and repost but it didn't work for some reason. So let's see if this does the job.

[Ted Calver]

Jay,
Awesome kitchen!! Really like the range hood and the wall behind it. Phase 2 is every bit as classy. Nice job!!
Ted

[Jim Ketron]

Great work Jay!!
whats your backsplash!
Jim

[Jay Knoll]

Thanks for the encouraging comments! Jim the backspalsh is a big hunk of granite. The wavey edge is the way it comes from the quarry. We were orginally going to use tumbled marble tiles, with some fancy accent pieces thrown in here and there, but this turned out to be more cost effective and, we think, more dramatic. It took 4 guys to lug it in, they smeared LOTS of Liquid Nails on the wall, positioned it, and I screwed a cleat on the wall to hold the granite in place for 24 hours. There is one book matched cut right by the corner where the piece goes under the cabinets, you can hardly see it.

Jay

[Tony Falotico]

Great looking kitchen, love the style and execution. The granite backsplash and the stainless steel range hood brings old and new together in beautiful harmony. Almost makes me want to build a new house!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jay......I love that kitchen! I WON'T show that to the LOML :rolleyes: ......I'll be forced to compete with your design and execution. The straight lines of the cabinets and hood merging with the random lines of the granite........absolutely beautiful! :D

[Byron Trantham]

Very nice job Jay! I know it must have been a bear to work out all those joints. :p

[Chris Padilla]

Very nice work, Jay. I bet you smile every time you walk into the kitchen! :) That granite backplash with the natural edge is just killer! :D

[Todd Burch]

Jay, the built-ins look great. Nice clean lines, good proportions and they appear to be well thought out. Did you take any "in-progress" pictures to visually describe the process you wrote about above?

Todd

[Mark Singer]

Excellent design and work!

[Nathan Hoffman]

I really admire how the built-ins look like they've always been there. That, IMHO, is the ark of a well executed design. Beautiful!

[Jay Knoll]

Todd

Sorry the resident historian didn't take any pics while I was sweating away. Would a drawing help explain what I did? If so, I'll scribble something up, scan it and post

Jay