After all the time spent eating over the Thanksgiving holiday, we thought the timing appropriate to show you our plans for the Third & Bond Street kitchens. The rendering above illustrates the basics of the look clean and calm. In designing kitchens, we start with an idea of what buyers will be expecting and then delve into spatial planning in the context of the units themselves. After that, we circle back with ideas for finishes.

Our most common kitchen layouts are those with the island, the U-shaped, and the L-shaped. In designing, we pay close attention to the amount of counter space, the arrangement of appliances (e.g., you want the dishwasher close to the sink), and the right amount of space to move between counters and doors.

Another design decision is to make enough depth for the refrigerator so that its front will line up with the front of the counter. This gives us the built-in fridge look without requiring that we purchase special built-in refrigerators. You can see how this looks in the excerpted island plan shown here.

The appliances are fairly straight-forward: we need a stove, oven, microwave, refrigerator and freezer, and dishwasher. We want Energy Star appliances (those marked by the US Environmental Protection Agency as energy efficient) wherever possible. Our experience with GE has been good—we used GE’s Profile series at J Condo. This time we are thinking about the Café series. We like the look a little better, the refrigerator offers side-by-side doors which we think buyers will like and it’s a little bigger. Another cool aspect of the Café series is that the range comes with two ovens that can be used simultaneously—not to be confused with a broiler and an oven or a broiler inside an oven. In terms of the look, we explored options other than stainless steel, such as lacquered panels to match the cabinetry, but didn’t want to pay a premium. We debated the importance of the ice maker, but since the fridge we like comes with one that’s no longer an issue. At this point, we like:

• GE Café Gas & Dual-Fuel Range (five burners & two ovens)
• GE Café 2.0 cubic feet microwave
• GE Café Energy Star 25.4 cubic feet side-by-side refrigerator with water/ice dispenser (see picture)
• GE Café Energy Star Dishwasher with SmartDispense Technology

Because the kitchens are open to the living space we will be using the same flooring as in the rest of the residence. This is a better flow and avoids an awkward transition in flooring.

We are thinking of CaesarStone for the countertops, but are still exploring our options. CaesarStone is a composite material that doesn’t have any VOCs.

The look shown in the rendering here, with the countertop material extending down the side of the island is something we are trying out. It’s meant to provide a subtle edge to the kitchen—to suggest a boundary between kitchen and living space.

The backsplash is stacked subway tiles. We talked about glass panels but didn’t like the solutions to deal with the seams—messy caulking. We also looked at some other tiles but decided to save the expenditure for amazing bathroom tiles. It’s best not to get too complicated with tile in the kitchen because we also have to think about outlet installation.

We haven’t selected cabinets yet though they are likely to be dark, as shown. One company we’re interested in talking with more is Material Processing Systems. They are located in Brooklyn and can deliver green cabinetry.

But it’s not just the planning and selections that are important when it comes to kitchens: the execution is critical to getting the kitchen that we are envisioning. When we visit model apartments misaligned cabinet doors, crooked tiles, and the like bother us. It’s not good to walk into a room and think it looks crummy even though it’s expensively stocked. When it comes time, we’ll be just as picky about the execution of the kitchens as we were about designing them.

Inside Third & Bond: Week 14 [Brownstoner]
Inside Third & Bond: Week 13 [Brownstoner]
Inside Third & Bond: Week 12 [Brownstoner]
Inside Third & Bond: Week 11 [Brownstoner]
Inside Third & Bond: Week 10 [Brownstoner]
Inside Third & Bond: Week 9 [Brownstoner]
From our lawyers: This is not an offering. No offering can be made until an offering plan is filed with the Department of Law of the State of New York.”