To each his own, but I don’t care for that. It makes me want to peel back the column.
I think keeping the column line simple and straight works better in this house.
I think those are great ideas… but I’m going to wait until the countertop, sink, faucet and the other distracting things are installed and see if it still stands out as a structural post in the middle of the kitchen
Today the new window got installed in the SW corner of the living room. It makes a huge difference as you walk into the house and when you are standing in the kitchen. It highlights a horizon ocean view to the left and the nice hillsides. Unfortunately you can see into the neighbor’s house when you get at the very end of the living room at the sliding doors. It creates a ‘sweeping’ view effect when you are standing at the kitchen sink. It is a big improvement, removing the ‘condominium’ shared wall type of effect that there are no windows on that side of the house.
We are halfway done with putting in some steel posts across the slope in back to create a 6 ft wide level pad behind the house. This will enhance the ability to have a patio off the French door - possibly a deck
Still finishing all the drywall and mud to get ready for painting next week
Did a thorough inventory of all the pieces and parts from the IKEA kitchen and my truck is full of stuff that needs to get returned. I have one door that I think I might try to replace and I need a short list of more stuff
Some new photos are loaded
I’d be inclined to leave it unadorned instead of making it a focal point.
Coralbrook, regarding waterfall around the island, are you planning on allowing enough room for a breakfast bar?
See this waterfall breakfast bar and picture it without the built-in niche and solid extension:
And how much of an overhang do you allow for the leg room underneath? If it is not too much intrusion into your Living Room space, then it’s worth considering.
The island is currently built with a 12" overhang which is standard to provide a breakfast bar. The waterfall will hang on both sides. It will look exactly like the left hand side of your link
^^Fantastic! Cannot wait to see it!
What material are you using for the toekick?
The new window in the LR is fantastic! I agree; it eliminates the condo feel that was there before. Excellent addition!
I am planning to install the wood grain as toe kick, but it will not get installed until the new floors are installed. Also, the dishwasher and refrigerator and cooktop will not get installed until after floors are installed and countertops installed. The only reason we had to install oven was to custom cut some of the pieces in the cabinetry. They are now completely wrapped in foam stuff so we have no more accidents and we turned the front of refrigerator towards the wall - not bothering with the dishwasher because we have to install the new panel later. I ordered the new panel and then we stared at the front of the dishwasher and cannot even see any screws anywhere to pull off the handle and front panel. Hoping some instructions for replacement come in the box 
Back to cooktops…
What do you guys think? Get the thermador that has two minor scratches? One scratch hidden under back grate and some abrasion type scratch on front corner?
Or go for the Chinese Costco one that looks gorgeous and has 5 burners and probably has a warranty? I checked reviews and it gets great reviews
Both have a 16,000BTU burner
I’ve been looking everyday… nothing at Sears Outlet
My vote would be for the Chinese Costco one.
I prefer 5 burners and prefer the burner arrangement on the Costco one. The grate coverage looks a little skimpy, in terms of using s very small pan such as a butter melter, but that might be an optical illusion. I’d go for that one.
Thermador is a good brand, but repairs are very expensive.
ETA: I really like the wok ring looking burner on the Ancona.
I’ll offer a contrary opinion. We have a Viking at home and while I don’t call myself a chef, I do cook with some frequency. I like the flat continuous / contiguous grates so that it’s feasible to slide pans out of the way and back when multiple things are going. The Thermador’s grates look more like that. The other cooktop’s also look skimpier.
Finally!! The old refrigerator and dishwasher got picked up from Craigslist free ad. Many calls ,many no shows. Yesterday a lady showed up 3 hours late and she had an old granite kitchen counter withsink still attached laying flat in truck. First, dont ever lay granite flat in truck, it has to sit on its side during transport. I have no idea what she was thinking. I guess she thought we were going to muscle everything around for her. Thenshe goes "Oh, is it electric? "
I vote for the Thermidor one. I also like to slide the pots around the cooktop and those Costco grates look too wimpy
Coralbrook,
If by this you mean the IKEA wood grain as the toe kick, I’m worried that there is potential wood-on-wood clash. Perhaps a solid transitional and neutral toe kick is better. Are you restricted to using IKEA materials for this?
ETA: we have a stainless steel toe kick in our kitchen. Does the Sektion have a metal-looking toe kick that would tie in nicely with your stainless steel appliances?
I vote for the Thermodor. I mentioned earlier that I have a Thermodor cooktop and – except for the scratch across the name Thermodor on the link you posted – I have the exact same scratches in my now-three-year-old-but-it-was-new-out-of-the-box cooktop. I think the brand has a cache that the Ancona one doesn’t.
CB, here’s the IKEA stainless steel color plinth if you want to consider it:
Isn’t the expectation in a million dollar house to have name-brand appliances?
If I’m seeing cheap Chinese appliances, maybe I start wondering what else was done cheaply.