Appliances, Redux

Way back when we finalized the kitchen design, I wrote a blog post about the appliances we had chosen for the kitchen. Well, all but one of those ended up different from what is actually in our kitchen.

The biggest difference was the cooktop. We were originally planning on a gas cooktop with appropriate vent hood for the exhaust fumes from the combustion. During the early parts of construction, we switched to a heat pump for our HVAC needs. This allowed a tighter (and therefore more efficient) sealing of the house envelope. When it came to rough-in, however, Yuval realized that this caused problems for the cooktop. In particular, the vent hood we had chosen was too powerful — the air volume it could move at max was much higher than would be replaced by natural leakage and the HRV system of our house. The end result was that we would need to switch to a lower-powered vent hood, add an extra makeup air-exchange unit, or open a window whenever we wanted to use the fan on high.

The less-powerful vent hood seemed the easiest choice, but we weren't comfortable with that plus the high-powered gas cooktop. We investigated some alternatives, and found that we could get a quality induction cooktop plus lower-powered vent hood for a similar price to the previous configuration. The only trick was that electrical wiring was nearly done, and the cooktop needed a 50-amp circuit. Luckily that fit within our capacity, and the wire was run for the stove. We did end up with an unused gas pipe also run to the island, since that was our original plan.

Induction cooking is an electric-powered cooking method that combines many of the benefits of gas (quick heat-up and immediate heat adjustment) with the smooth, sealed surface of a ceramic-top stove. We chose a Thermador induction cooktop. It has a nice, easy-to-use interface, and an auto-shut-off timer on a per-burner basis. We've been very happy with it. We had to replace about half of our cookware, but the result is very impressive. It boils water faster than anything we've used before (I estimate it takes about 30 seconds per cup of water to bring to boil). The heat adjustment is instant (a pot of water that is boiling will stop within seconds of adjusting the heat down). It is easy to keep clean (much easier than a gas stove or electric coil stove with lots of parts; and has a lot less of burned-on food than a standard electric ceramic stove). After using it for eight months, we vastly prefer induction over gas and standard electric units.

For the vent hood, we chose the Zephyr Europa Roma hood, which is a simple, quiet vent hood with good lighting. It has worked well for us, and looks good in our kitchen.

The combination microwave and convection oven from Bosch is the one item that remained the same. We've been mostly happy with it. The convection oven works well, and has a lot of nice options. The combination microwave-oven is in reality mostly a microwave, that can also do a little bit of oven functionality. We've used the oven function a bit, but it is not as useful as we had hoped. The interface is also a bit awkward for consumers used to modern touch-screen technology — the buttons on the oven are touchy enough that it can be annoying to use.

We ended up switching to a higher-end fridge from Bosch. It got better reviews, including much nicer LED lighting inside. We have been happy with it so far, although the water filter needs to be changed every 6 months, and isn't all that cheap.

Partly to take advantage of a rebate on higher-end Bosch appliances, we significantly upgraded the dishwasher. We went with this unit primarily because of the silverware tray. Instead of a basket that takes up space in the lower rack, it has a third shelf at the very top that holds each piece of silverware individually. We really like this, especially because it frees up more space on the bottom rack (though there is an optional silverware basket that can be used there). The dishwasher has been fantastic: great cleaning power, and very quiet. We have occasionally mistaken it for rain outside or a shower running upstairs.

Our appliances came from Frederick's Appliance in Redmond. They were very friendly, had all the brands we were looking for, and very reasonable prices. The came in only slightly higher than buying from online stores (which wasn't even possible for the Thermador cooktop), and offered much more flexibility in delivery. They were also running a special that gave us a free InSinkErator garbage disposal which is nicer and more expensive than the one we were planning to buy.

Due to a recommendation from a co-worker, we switched to a washer and dryer from Samsung. We chose a front-loading washer with a nice variety of options and features. Along with the matching dryer, we've been very happy with these. They do a great job of cleaning, and seem reasonably gentle on clothes. The dryer has a nice auto-dry feature that figures out how long it needs to run to get a load dry. It also has a wrinkle-prevent feature that works very well.

Overall, we ended up upgrading a number of our appliances from the original plan. We are very happy with everything we ended up with, though. The cooktop, dishwasher, and washer and dryer are particularly outstanding. The long-term maintenance and life-span is something we will have to wait and see; but after eight months of regular use, everything is doing very well.

Kitchen, Finished

Cooking Layout (184)

• Problem: Cooking is uncomfortable if the kitchen counter is too short and also if it is too long.
• Therefore: To strike a balance between the kitchen which is too small, and the kitchen which is too spread out, place the stove, sink, and food storage and counter in such a way that:
1. No two of the four are more than 10 feet apart.
2. The total length of the counter — excluding sink, stove, and refrigerator — is at least 12 feet.
3. No one section of the counter is less than 4 feet long.
• In our home: The folks at Pedini who helped us design our kitchen emphasized the importance of functionality in kitchen design, and their guidance is consistent with this pattern. A back counter runs parallel to an island. This gives plenty of counter space. The stove is on the island and offset from the sink and chopping station on the back counter. The fridge and oven are on the wall that runs perpendicular to the island and counter (floor plan). Overall, this has resulted in a kitchen that is compact without being crowded.
  
  Having spent nearly five years with a spacious U-shaped kitchen and having only lived with galley style kitchens in apartments, we worried we would be unhappy with the layout. Seeing the kitchens in the other houses reduced that concern, but it was not until we started using this kitchen every day that we were converted. A galley kitchen that's open at both ends and wide enough for two people to work comfortably without obstructing the walk way is quite efficient.
  
  We did worry at first that four feet between the island and back counter was not enough, but we have found that it is plenty for passing each other. Since the workstations are not back to back, people can even walk through the kitchen while we are both working in it, although it may require some weaving. Overall, we are quite happy with the convenience and functionality of our kitchen layout.

Story time! A custom built house will rarely be done on time. Like software engineers (and probably most other professions), builders tend to estimate based on expected case timing, not worst case timing. For the first two houses in our neighborhood, the final delay was the design and installation of the stairs. We wanted our home to be different. We assumed it would be delayed, but we didn't want it to be the stairs that delayed move in. In this, we found success!

Detailed kitchen design comes early because it affects electrical and plumbing. We designed the kitchen before submitting construction permits, and we ordered it two months into construction. The cabinets required a large lead time because Pedini manufactures their kitchens in Italy and ships them to the US.

A December order provided sufficient lead time for an end of April delivery. By March, our project was a bit behind schedule, so we had Pedini hold the kitchen a bit longer so it would arrive at the end of May. This was, perhaps, our vital mistake.

Fast forward to May. No kitchen. June, still not here. July, still missing. The only detail our builder learned from Pedini was that a labor strike had delayed the kitchen in Panama. As best we can tell, the kitchen was lost during that time. In August we finally got a new shipping manifest indicating that the cabinets were to ship out of Italy (again) in mid-August to New Jersey and then shipped across the US — no going through Panama this time.

Four months after we originally wanted it, the kitchen arrived in mid-September, and installation started soon after. By the end of the month, the cabinets were installed. This unblocked installing the appliances and ordering and installing the counters. In the end, the kitchen was done less than a week before we moved in. Packing boxes and hiring movers when you don't even have counters installed was uncomfortably exciting, but it all worked out in the end.

Onward to the kitchen itself! You can read about our design (post 1, post 2) and our appliances in earlier blog posts. In this post, we want to focus on how our decisions worked out (and share pretty pictures, of course).

Half-Open Wall (193)

• Problem: Rooms which are too closed prevent the natural flow of social occasions, and the natural process of transition from one social moment to another. And rooms which are too open will not support the differentiation of events which social life requires.
• Therefore: Adjust the walls, openings, and windows in each indoor space until you reach the right balance between open, flowing space and closed cell-like space. Do not take it for granted that each space is a room; nor, on the other hand, that all spaces must flow into each other. The right balance will always lie between these extremes: no one room entirely enclosed; and no space totally connected to another. Use combinations of columns, half-open walls, porches, indoor windows, sliding doors, low sills, french doors, sitting walls, and so on, to hit the right balance.
• In our home: In an open floor plan, differentiation between spaces can be difficult. This is especially important for the kitchen. The functionality of a kitchen can be hindered if it is too open to traffic, but if it is too shut off, then the people in the kitchen feel isolated. In our home, we use the island as a functional "wall" between the kitchen and the dining room. This defines the space as distinctly separate while still allowing interaction between the kitchen, dining room, and living room.

We are incredibly pleased with how the kitchen turned out. The discussion with the patterns covers the high level features. Now we'll spend some time on the details.


We love the induction stove. It's easy to control, easy to clean, and heats pans quickly. We probably would have been just as happy with a gas stove, but now that we're used to induction, it would be difficult to switch. Our favorite feature is probably the per-burner timer that allows us to set a timer on a particular burner. When the timer runs out, the burner turns off. This is perfect when using the pressure cooker.

Open Shelves (200)

• Problem: Cupboards that are too deep waste valuable space, and it always seems that what you want is behind something else.
• Therefore: Cover the walls with narrow shelves of varying depth but always shallow enough so that things can be placed on them one deep — nothing hiding behind anything else.
• In our home: The main area where this pattern inspired us is the pantry. Because of the constraints of the elfa system, we pretty much ignored the advice about shelf depth. In practice, we have found that moderately deep shelves (12" or 16", mostly) work well when they are fairly low and ample enough to keep things from being crowded. Shelf depth aside, we love having open shelving in the pantry. Everything is visible and accessible. There's no remembering where things are and digging through a cupboard. It's lovely.

Between all of the cupboards and the huge pantry, we have plenty of storage space. After our previous super-tiny kitchen — where we had to store some of our kitchen gear upstairs in a closet despite having put half of it into storage — the storage here feels endless. We're trying not to fill it up too quickly.


Jeff's favorite small feature may be the bi-fold cabinet doors — they get out of the way and look really cool. Erika's favorite small feature is a wire shelf that mounts under the sink and provides a place to hide away all of the ugly necessities of a sink.

The kitchen isn't perfect, but the problems that actively bug us are small. One example is the appliances. Despite the refrigerator, oven, and microwave all being in the same 800 series from Bosch, they have completely different user interfaces — both functionally and aesthetically. It drives Erika crazy! One particularly silly example is that when the microwave is being used as a small convection stove, you can only enter minutes on the timer. The timer on the full sized stove requires you to enter seconds every single time you use it. Why, oh why do we need to enter seconds when using the oven?! And why is the oven mode on the microwave different?!

Small rants aside, we are really enjoying the kitchen, and we look forward to preparing many joyful meals there.

Sunny Counter (199)

• Problem: Dark gloomy kitchens are depressing. The kitchen needs the sun more than other rooms, not less.
• Therefore: Place the main part of the kitchen counter on the south and southeast side of the kitchen, with big windows around it, so that sun can flood in and fill the kitchen with yellow light both morning and afternoon.
• In our home: We don't have windows directly into our kitchen; it did not work out well with the layout of our house. Instead, our whole main floor is flooded with light from the windows on the west and south and those windows are visible from the kitchen. At certain times of day, the kitchen gets natural light strong enough to work by, but most of the time it requires the supplement of artificial light. We would have liked more direct light in the kitchen, but given the constraints we had, some natural light is turning out to be a reasonable compromise.

Kitchen Design Finished

The kitchen design is finalized. We made the few remaining decisions in-person at the new Pedini showroom in South Lake Union.

First and most important was choosing the finish of the upper cabinets. We wanted something lighter than the dark brown lower cabinets. The section of uppers is small, so we chose something with a bit of contrast. We quickly narrowed our choices to the painted glass finishes. A coat of paint on the back of glass provides some gloss and depth to the color. We settled on Bianco, which (despite the name), isn't white. The paint color is a light grey, and the glass adds just a hint of green to it. It is fairly neutral and matches our other materials well; it is lighter than the other cabinets, but is enough darker than a white wall to stand out nicely. Sadly, we cannot find any photos of the color on Pedini's site.

While we were at the showroom, we noticed they had a sample kitchen with an interesting mechanism for opening the upper cabinets. In the Magika line (which we are using), they have an upward-opening option in addition to traditional side-hinged cabinets. To prevent the upswing doors from running into your head, they are hinged in the middle. The upper half is hinged to the cabinet like expected, but the lower half is hinged inward, so it stays roughly vertical while the door is opened. When fully open, the door is compact and out-of-way, without hitting the ceiling. Particularly for someone tall, this seems like a nice alternative. They cost a bit more, but it is worth it to us. The sample unit they had was equipped with a motorized control, so just a touch would open or close the door. We weren't interested in the extra expense or complexity of the motors, so we chose the manual version.

We discussed several small decisions, mostly about handles. Magika has two handle options: hidden handles inset into the top of each door, accessible via a horizontal channel; and external vertically-oriented handles in aluminum or white. We generally liked the inset handles; they look clean and lack bits to snag on. For the back of the island facing the dining room we considered the aluminum handles for the visual effect. However, the channel for the inset handles adds height to the cabinets, and matching a set of channeled and channel-less cabinets on the two sides of the island would've been tricky.

On the upside, this conversation revealed that using handled cabinets in the bathrooms would lower the height a bit, so we switched those. Back in the kitchen, the cabinet and drawer on the appliance wall can't fit channels, so those require external handles. We spent a while debating which handles to use, and how to position them. We decided to have no holes drilled by the factory, and decide which handles to use and where to put them at installation time.

The fixed, opened shelving was dropped from the order completely. The shelves from Pedini wouldn't exactly match the cabinets, and were fairly expensive for simple shelves. Since we are getting other built-in cabinetry work done in the house, we decided we could get a better result by having those shelves constructed later.

With a few emails for revised diagrams and cost quotes, we now have the kitchen design fully locked.

Shiny things! (Sinks, Faucets, Toilets)

We don't need to choose plumbing fixtures until later in the process. Most of the time, they come near the end of interior design. But when Yuval sent us a sample list from one of the other houses, we spent an afternoon and evening picking out sinks, faucets, toilets, and accessories (drains, mainly), because we're exciting like that.

Kohler is our preferred supplier. To simplify our choices and provide visual consistency, we decided to reuse the same items and lines as much as possible. Our faucets of choice come from the Purist line. For the lavatory, we were drawn to the version with separate linear handles, and we matched it in the shower and bath/shower. We considered the single-handle stem version, but found it fairly ugly.

The Purist line also has kitchen faucets with several variations: bridge or single stem, larger or smaller, and pull-out spray or no spray. We're not fond enough of the bridge look to pay several hundred dollars more, so we chose the single stem version. We chose the larger faucet with spray as the main kitchen faucet, and the smaller without spray as the prep faucet in the kitchen. In the laundry room, we went with the larger version without spray.

Looking through all the sinks was a bit more work. Upstairs, we settled on rectangular under-mount sinks with a curve to the basin. They are simple, and look nice. We considered choosing something more stereotypically modern such as a vessel sink or wading pool sink, but neither seems as usable.

The powder room needed something a bit different. Yuval suggested that we could save money by skipping cabinets and using a wall-mount sink. We will separately install a bit of storage for the few things that we want to keep in that room. We found a reasonable wall-mount sink that should work well.

We quickly narrowed down the kitchen sink to two options. A large single-basin sink, or a model where some of the basin is taken up for a shelf on the side. Even though it has a smaller basin, we really like the shelf on the Stages sink. It is well-placed for using as a prep area, since the prep faucet will be mounted right above that section. The main problem is that it costs twice as much, at least in part because it comes with a whole bunch of accessories. They may not be completely useless, but we'd be happy to have just the sink. Despite that, we'll probably use the Stages sink.

The laundry room just needs a large, sturdy sink. The garage gets a large, sturdy sink that can mount to the wall. It also gets a service faucet which can accept a hose. This means we don't need a hose bib anywhere else in the garage to use it as a car washing area.

For toilets, we only had a few requirements. We want dual flush, and for the master bath and powder room we want comfort height. Out of the many options, we chose a style that looks a bit more modern. We decided not to spend the money on Kohler's fancy new Numi toilet, because we don't need a toilet that is also a geek gadget. Also, it costs $6000.

It will be a while before we need to order these, but it is another set of decisions made.

Kitchen Design

After the main layout was finished, we designed the kitchen. Kitchen design isn't required for permitting, but the lead time on the cabinets is long enough that we need to order them around the time construction starts. We are using the Pedini Magika system for all the drawers and cabinets. The kitchen design was done by Pedini Seattle.

The main layout followed what we had decided while designing the floor plan: a counter and cabinets along the back (north) wall, a long island parallel to that, and then a full side (east) wall with appliances and cabinets. We wanted the cooktop on the island, since that is where we spend the most time when we want to interact with others. That put the main sink on the back counter, with the dishwasher next to it. The side wall then had the double ovens and refrigerator.

The cooktop is offset to the west of the island so that it isn't back-to-back with the sink. That also gives a nice large prep area on the island. The wall with the ovens and fridge has a tall, skinny cabinet for things such as brooms, mops, vacuums, and aprons. It also has some open shelving for cookbooks and a larger open surface for open cookbooks, mail, or other non-food items.

We considered putting a small prep sink on the north-east corner of the island. I want a chopping station where I can rinse vegetables and cut them up without fighting with Erika for the faucet. I also want a slightly taller section of the counter for chopping so that I don't have to lean over. Raising the main island wouldn't work very well, though, and the prep sink would add extra cost. Instead, we raised the back counter by two inches and added a second faucet on the right corner of the sink. We also removed the upper cabinets in that section. This gives me a nice section of counter to use for cutting up ingredients, without cabinets getting in the way and with access to water that doesn't interfere too much with Erika. She might not be able to wash lots of dishes, but if she needs to fill pots with water, or rinse and peel potatoes, or other smaller tasks, we can easily share the sink and not interrupt each other.

The original plan showed the south-east corner of the island as a bar counter. We decided not to bother with this, because we will have a large dining table just a few feet away; we replaced it with more cabinets.

We considered adding some smaller amenities, but decided they weren't worth the cost. We looked at having a pull-out trash and recycling under the island, but decided, given the $600 additional cost, that having just a plain cabinet there would work fine. We also had a tambour (roll-up door) over the open shelving on the side wall in the original design. However, we didn't want to add a bunch of extra metal next to the stainless steel appliances or to pay the additional $700, so decided to go with open shelves.

The upstairs bathrooms also feature designs from Pedini Seattle. The layouts are very simple, with two cabinets and one set of drawers in each bathroom. We did debate on the heights for a bit. Standard kitchen counters are 36" high, while bathroom counters are usually around 30". Since we are using kitchen cabinets for the bathrooms, they are only available at around 36" high. For adults, especially tall ones, 36" is a nice height. For young children, the taller height can be a bit more difficult. We decided that we wanted consistency with the cabinets, so we are going to use Pedini for both bathrooms, and add a temporary step for when our children are young. This also allows us to adjust the height more easily as they grow.

Compared to other parts of the design process, the kitchen and bath were pretty easy. After the first round of design, we were only tweaking details. Still, getting those more or less in place feels like real progress.

Materials and Colors 2

After choosing the bathroom materials, as described earlier, we moved on to the main level.

The Hearth Room
We were less certain about the main living area. Anne encouraged us to start with the kitchen surfaces and the flooring since those are some of the largest and most visible areas in the house.

In the kitchen, we gravitated toward dark brown cabinets with a white counter top. But we had to decide what type of white counter to use. We had asked Yuval to get samples of the different varieties of white CaesarStone and settled on Quartz Reflections. It has more variety and character than plain white, including metal flakes in that give it a bit of a sparkle. Anne commented that most men fear the glitter, but it is sparse, and we both think it looks nice.

We will use the dark brown for the lower cabinets, and the cabinets around the appliances on the east wall. However, we want to pick a lighter color for the cabinets over the sink and back counter so that the room doesn't feel too dark. Pedini has a lot of colors available in a painted glass that looks really nice, so we're going to get some samples to help us pick a final color.

Choosing the floor material was harder. Wood comes in so many colors, textures, and finishes. We knew we wanted a fairly neutral colored wood; I don't like woods that are too yellow or too red. We liked darker brown woods, but, as we suspected and Anne confirmed, with the dark cabinetry, dark wood could lead to the room feeling too dark. I liked the very light colored woods, but Erika was less fond of them. Eventually, we settled on a fairly light brown, oiled wood that we liked the look and feel of. Oiled floors require a bit more yearly maintenance, will stain more easily, and will still dent; but they look more natural and less shiny, and develop character as they age (instead of just looking worn).

We chose Ecotech tiles for the entry. It is a sturdy tile, so we can use it both in the outdoor and indoor entry. The Ecogreen version nicely matches the wood floor on the main level, so the transition from inner entry to the main area would work well.

The Powder Room

We want the powder room on the main floor to generally match the theme on the main floor. However, the powder room is a small space not visible from other areas of the main floor and provides a chance to do something more interesting. Not crazy — our style, as Anne put it, is more 'understated elegance' — but using some interesting textures, lighting, and color combinations.

We were drawn to the Pental Glow tile. It has a fabric-like texture and a nice sheen. We chose a lighter gold that goes with the floor and white of the sink and toilet. We will run the tile up one of the main walls (probably behind the sink and mirror) and use light to bring out the texture of the tile. Anne suggested a grey paint for the other walls and ceiling. We were surprised, but it works. We will use black for accent, perhaps through some elements made of iron or blackened steel. It seems like a very unusual combination, but it should yield an elegant and interesting result.

And much more...

Even if we don't change our mind about these choices, there are still many choices to make. The south wall on the main floor is the biggest one. It will contain the fireplace, with a raised hearth for sitting and some kind of material wrapping it and extensive built-in cabinetry between the entry and fireplace. We need to decide on the interior color of the window frames, carpet colors upstairs, other flooring options for the upstairs landing and utility room, trim, paint colors on walls, the media room and other areas downstairs, and of course the stairs themselves, which will be a centerpiece of the house. Many of these choices will be delayed until the house is partially completed and we can stand in the rooms and look around. This will be an ongoing process; but we have made good progress.

Appliances

The kitchen takes more design than most rooms, and you can't finalize a kitchen design without choosing the appliances. Accordingly, we recently spent a weekend (and then some) choosing appliances.

The easy choices

Our builder recommended Bosch where applicable. We did not have strong preferences on the dishwasher, refrigerator, washer, and dryer, so we chose low- to mid-range Bosch items. Yuval recommended Waste King garbage disposals, and so we chose a reasonable unit from their selection.

This brings us to the oven and cooktop. We spend more time interacting with these appliances, and that leads to more detailed requirements.

Ovens

We wanted double wall-mount ovens. A speed oven seemed like a perfect fit for the second oven. It would eliminate the need for a separate microwave and be smaller, faster, and more efficient. There was just one problem: Bosch does not sell a speed oven in the US.

Miele makes a popular, high quality speed oven. However, a speed oven and matching full-size oven from Miele is about $2000 more than a Bosch double wall oven plus separate microwave. With a $10,000 appliance budget, this is a big deal.

Fortunately, Yuval pointed out that the high-end Bosch microwave is actually a combination oven. The difference is that the Miele speed oven is an oven first, microwave second, and can use both kinds of cooking methods together. The Bosch combination microwave is a microwave first, oven second, and can only use the cooking methods individually. We combined this with a full-size oven to accomplish our main goals: no separate microwave and a smaller secondary oven. This came in about $2400 cheaper than the Miele combination.

Cooktop

We chose a 36" gas cooktop. We considered induction, but it is more expensive and the unit we saw had confusing controls. Gas is also what we are used to. A 36" cooktop will give us five or six burners, one or two more than the standard four.

We considered three different cooktops:

• The Bertazzoni Professional cooktop looks the nicest, but we were less fond of the mechanism for lighting the burner, and the simmer does not seem as good.
• The DCS cooktop has a nice simmer using a separate ring on all burners and a wonderful lighting mechanism. It costs slightly less than the Bertazzoni.
• The BlueStar drop-in cooktop costs the most and has an industrial look some may dislike. It has a nice lighting mechanism, good simmer on all burners (and one simmer-specific burner), more powerful burners (two at 22,000 BTU), and a knob layout arranged to match the burner layout. The burners use an open burner design which should provide more even heating.

Given its advantages, we decided to spend the extra for the BlueStar cooktop. The stove is our most used piece of equipment, so the splurge is worth the cost.


Because our stove is going on the island, we needed an island mount hood. It needed to be at least 42" (6" wider than the cooktop) and be powerful enough to match the stove. We chose a 48" Kuppersbusch hood with 725 CFM of air exchange. That is more power than we need, but it is a good price and fits our needs. If it is more powerful than needed, we can use it on the lower (and quieter) fan speeds.

Totaling it up

The total cost for all of the appliances came out to about $10,000. It's only a bit over the initial budget we had set. With those settled on, we can freeze one part of the budget and finalize the kitchen design.