GOD it took forever to do cause this was part of an overall renovation, so the contractor put in the windows. I chose all the materials, and ordered and sorted the Ikea cabinetry. The general contractor assembled them and put them in place. I built the shelving unit over the coffee area (by the ovens). I built the shelving unit for the tv (needed paint when I took the photo!) I layed the countertop and backsplash tiling (DH has two left hands when it comes to home renos, so he was prep and cleanup guy!!!) using tile sourced at a cash and carry place in the much larger city nearby. I rented a biga$$ truck and drove 3 hours to the city and picked things up! Electrical and plumbing was done professionally. Flooring was sourced at a discount shop in our town. The sinks and taps were sourced through eBay. The appliances were end of season floor model sales. The fridge actually has a super-minor dent in it, and as a result was 50% off. The double oven was last year's model, so 50% off. The cooktop was a splurge and the metal strip behind the cooktop is a pop-up ventilation system. You push a button, and the vent rises above the cooktop. It hides in the cabinet when you don't need it.
The contractor provided the stonemason for the fireplace, but I sourced the material -- it is a cast stone product (therefore light) and a gas fireplace. I sourced the mantel, which is a single piece of 12x12 fir, for a rustic look. I did all the color selection and painting, too, primer and top coats on all walls.
Thanks for the nice words...it took forever to figure out the appropriate layout as it is an odd narrow kitchen with 5 traffic patterns. And we wanted to take advantage of the views...
Advice? Get the electrical and plumbing done professionally because the consequences if you do it wrong are really really huge. Make a scale drawing of your floor and then make cut outs to scale of cabinets and play with them. When you think you have the layout, draw it out from the front to scale and on the floor to scale. And add your plumbing and your electrical to the drawing especially the wall boxes and light switches including dimmers. Then do your best to tape it out on the floor if you can to get a sense of things. I actually used boxes in the basement and replicated parts of this design to see if there was enough distance between the windows and the island to let us work. Figure out where you want things because that will let you sort out what cabinets you need -- pull drawers for example for cutlery and dishes near the dishwasher. We have pullout drawers in the cabinets on either side of the stove for pots and pans. Very useful. Really cut down on what you have, and make SURE that what you keep is actually useful and it has a place. Plan for food storage in a sensible place. If your kitchen is large enough, you may want to designate areas for specific things -- the wall cupboard next to the double ovens is for coffee and mugs because the coffee maker and bar sink is right there. The cupboard above and drawer below the double ovens is for baking pans and cookie sheets. The pull drawers beside the oven have oven mitts and such there. KNOW where you want things, and go from there. Look online for kitchen minimum codes -- for example, you want 18 inches of counter top minimum on either side of a cooktop/oven. You want counter space on either side of the sink. But you CAN compromise on the distances they recommend for traffic aisles -- we are well below the mimimum in the main aisle but we did the box test in the basement and have had no problems with a narrower space.
Have the layout and the diagrams available when the plumber and electrician do their thing. Make sure they KNOW where things will be and enforce it. If you hire someone to install the cabinets, make sure they have the diagrams. Be there and supervise!!! Cause it's your money!!! I had to push rope uphill to get the electrical installed in the island properly because we were using special electrical boxes, and the contractor wasn't aware of this. It took some "persuasion" for him to do the job correctly even though it took him longer than he thought even though he had the scale drawings when he did the estimate. And I had him quote for the JOB not by the hour.
WHEW...you must be BORED so I'll stop now!!!
Kira