{the unkitchen} Kitchen Remodel Phase 5 – Done Enough to Call It Done!

It’s not 100% done. But it’s close enough! Last night it was christened with a Thomas Keller short ribs recipe. Mmmmm. I’ve already boiled something over and splashed red wine on everything–it can’t be perfect and pristine forever, or apparently in my case, even for a day. In other words, we are loving it!

The bar stools are from EWF Modern in Portland, Oregon. They swivel and go up and down pneumatically. I’m worried they will break soon because I do a lot of swiveling and going up and down pneumatically because it’s fun!

The hood is not quite finished, nor is the front of the island, although both are functional.

The “Horizon Lines” print on the left is by local artist Mike Kimball, who does cool interpretations of Oakland’s port with container ships and cranes. We both have a fascination with cranes, especially since–NERD ALERT–they inspired the AT-ATs from Star Wars!

The light fixture from Murano, Italy started it all. After a full day of scouring the island (OK, it was more like 3 hours but it was hot out and we were with kids and stuff!) and not totally agreeing on anything… Ross found this light and said “this is it!” He then bargained down the price in a way that amazed and delighted me. I was nervous when they were hanging it because it took 2 months to get here! I had to leave the room.

The light engendered the infamous nacho orange stove. We Pantone-matched the light and brought in a little sample of the color to the shop. They all said things like “I don’t think you want something that color.” “Are you sure?” “It’s non-refundable and you can’t return it but you could always buy a new oven door…” Then, when it got delivered, the contractor called me to tell me there was a mistake, the stove had arrived but it was bright orange! He was rendered speechless for a few minutes when I assured him it was on purpose. It’s a Bluestar range and from everything I’ve done on it so far, it’s absolutely fabulous. And it’s beautiful. How can I say this politely? Doubters can suck it. 🙂

The dining area is hard to capture because of the light that comes into the room but you can get the idea.

The pink cow painting is the first big art piece we bought together, and we had it shipped back from Byron Bay, Australia. When she saw it, my mom said “if both of you like hot pink cows then you’re probably meant to be together.” It’s one of our favorite pieces.

We bought the cantilevered walnut wine racks about a year ago at a fantastic store in the Castro called Given that sadly went out of business. We had long admired them and when the store was closing we got a great deal. We never hung them up, and purposely saved a spot in the new kitchen so they could get their due.

First cheese and bread laid out for guests. Still a few more loose ends to tie up but for now I’m calling it done! Pass the wine, please.