This picture is apropos of nothing as far as the SoMoToHo kitchen is concerned. But it reflects our thoughts for Paris – a city of indescribable beauty and charm, suffering in the wake of senseless and deplorable violence. We took this picture while strolling near the Eiffel Tower one foggy evening in 2009. The beacon has been darkened, temporarily, but we join the fervent hope of the entire world that it will glow brightly again – soon and forever. Nous sommes Paris.

We are cooking in our kitchen. And having coffee and breakfast at the table by the windows. Maybe it’s just being without for several weeks, but it’s very satisfying. But first – a few more shots showing the process. The vent hood has been installed and piped out through the roof. The lights on either side provide great “constant” illumination and the lights in the hood, itself, really brighten the cooktop when needed. This drawer is an illustration of Debra’s innovative design – we wanted the panel on the front to match the freezer panel on the fridge but having an enormous single drawer would be spatially inefficient. So – voila! – two drawers behind the single panel. Effie approves. This shot of the sink bank of cabinets shows the dishwasher just to the left of the sink (with the large pull handle). The other large panel to the left side of the shot (with the smaller handle) is the pull-out for the trash and recycle bins. We’ve had this arrangement in the last several kitchens and recommend it highly. The doors leading to the laundry room and the front foyer were painted with Benjamin Moore Day’s End to pick up the darker shade in the Moroccan tile over the range and sport a satin-nickle, angular doorknob to mirror the cabinet hardware. This shot shows the Bertazonni speed oven. It’s very cool – combo microwave, convection oven, and broiler – not to mention lovely, like its big brother, the drop-in range. You can also catch just a glimpse of the over-dyed rug that Debra found to add a bit of spice (more of the rug, below).

Debra also had me install the wire drawers in the pantry – attractive and efficient:Here are some shots of the whole from different angles:

Having a beautiful, functional kitchen allows for so many things, one of the most important of which is sharing food and fun with good friends. So that’s what we did. Here’s a shot of the dining table, decked out for the new kitchen’s first dinner party:

And a good time was had by all.

We’ll get a better set of pics to showcase the finished product in a future post. For now, we want to say a huge Thanks! to the fabulous Shawn Cowdin for his perseverance, attention to detail, and knowing when not to buck Debra’s design decisions,even when they ran counter to traditional experience.

There still is quite a bit to be done in the SoMoToHo – bathrooms, the coffee bar, decorating touches. So don’t be a stranger – we’d love to have you join in the fun! As always, thanks for reading, and let us know what you think.