The "secret lab" part 1

As some of you know,I'm a kitchen and bath designer by trade. I'm fortunate enough to be embedded more on the highend side with in the industrie. Being one who loves to throw down every chance I get. It can be taxing on my better half. As BBQers, we can destroy a kitchen faster then anyone. Especially when you have those days of making rubs,sauce,grindng meats, and then prepping,injecting,rubbing everything down. Im sure more then a few of you who are married no what I'm talking about. Anywho, she's done cleaning sauce off of doors knobs and finding rub in every corner of the kitchen. So after years, she gave the go ahead to get what I've dub "The secret Lab" going as long as I made her a "simple" little wet/wine bar. And she expressed "Simple!" Well, she knows I don't do simple. I do functional. Problem is,functional ends up being really expensive for us.

Had this weird walk in pantry in my kitchen that you couldn't really walk into. So I decided to blow out a coat closet on the back side, move the door of the pantry over and place my coolers on both sides. I went with a Miele all fridge and freezer overlay columns with reverse hinge

Here it is finished


Here is a shot to see it better


Now, This is were part one comes in. Completely ran out of funding. Which I knew I was because I spent it all on the right Appliances.I Actually I blamed her. If it wasn't for her stupid wine bar I would of came in way under budget and had it done (Don't anyone tell her I said that) Part 2 will be finishing the lab.(I'll save pics for that) Making it a full prep station. Which means all the wifes crap and anything that doesn't half to do with butchering or prepping will be gone. I put some functioning cabinets in and had butcher block tops made and pretty much stop there. At lease the hard part is done and I have the space. I Still can hide and do some man work in there.

Enterance to the Lab


butcher block tops


Oh yeah, The wifes stupid wet bar. I actually got my dream coffee setup here and went with a miele built in with direct plumb. Added the cup warmer underneath as well. Dedicated Miele Dishwasher. We burn through alot of coffee and beer glasses. Uline 15" fridge with a Scottsman clear nugget ice.You scotch drinkers will appreciate that. Put a triple zone Miele wine center in as well.

Good God man that's beautiful! We just bought our house last July and I'm now realizing I need more damn counter space! Exactly like you said, we can destroy a kitchen quick and yah my wife's always quick with the 'make sure you cleanup after yourself!' comments lol. Thanks for sharing you obviously have incredible skills which I envy very much!

Thanks Benji. I've learned alot of tricks on maximizing space being in the industry so long. I'm lucky enough to have met some really talented cabinet makers and contractors.

That's beautiful. If your place was here in kalifornia, that would be $1M home

ChuckO said:

That's beautiful. If your place was here in kalifornia, that would be $1M home

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lol. That's why I left Cali. Indy is by far from the ideal place to live. You just get sooooo much more for your dollar here. Doing business with these vendors and contractors for so many years. I really got an amazing, unheard deal. I don't call in to many favors, but on this one I did. I did as much as i could to keep cost down, but I've been out of the field for years. If I was to pay full retail pop. There would be noway this would happen.

Amazing Todd, just amazing! Sure hope Barb doesn't see this.

O my GOD that is gorgeous!

Very nice! I'm fixing to switch out our run of the mill sink and formica counter top with a very nice under mount sink and butcher block counters. I'll post pics when I get it done.

Todd,

Your kitchen looks perfect. Do you know the name of the granite?

Jim

JRPfeff said:

Todd,

Your kitchen looks perfect. Do you know the name of the granite?

Jim

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It's called "Orion"

We have "Amadeus" which looks very similar.

Todd, I HATE you!












nice work

Todd -

How about some pictures of your range/oven/cooktop? Then I can hate you, too.

JRPfeff said:

Todd -

How about some pictures of your range/oven/cooktop? Then I can hate you, too.

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lol...To be honest with you guy's this is not my ideal kitchen. I'm more known for my minimalist kitchen and bath design. I get to play with these all day long, so I let the boss go on this one. The only thing I fought her on was appliances and cabinet hardware. We will be building a new and final home in 5-7 yrs. Then she will have no say. I wanted to do induction, but couldn't find a good deal on the one I wanted with ventilation. My DCS rep hooked me up big time through another dealer that just returned a range top that was on consignment. He also got me a 1200cfm inline blower. I snagged the hood off my show room floor. It's a 4burner, 48inch range top with grill and griddle. I really don't like indoor grills and I advised my clients against them. But,if someone throws you a bone. You don't tell them how they taste. Good thing is, If I was to choose an indoor grill I would pick the DCS over anything else. It has reversible grates and it's true flame over inferred. I did a single Miele walloven with the steam assist and a true Miele 24inch steam/oven combie unit. That steamer will change your whole mind set on cooking. Then I put a speedoven under the steamer. Basically Miele's version of an advantuim. Just not as cool. I'm a little bummed now that all three pieces are from different production runs. As you can see. None of the Three wall units have the same door and the steamer has a different handle. But again, beggars can't be choosers and I'm very very grateful for what Miele did for me.

JRPfeff said:

We have "Amadeus" which looks very similar.

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I'm not really a fan of granite and this stuff is way to busy for my liking. But you know the saying. Happy wife happy life. Good thing is, it is different. It has emerald greens and sapphire blues with pure blacks and whites.

Todd, this looks ridiculous. Amazing job.

I'm sure I can't fully appreciate what I'm looking at since my kitchen knowledge is pretty basic compared to yours, but WOW. Regardless, I can recognize quality craftsmanship in any industry when I see it. Congrats, and more importantly...enjoy!

simply incredible... looks like a great workshop.

Just curious - where's your coffee setup? It's probably in plain sight, but I can't seem to find it!

Teddy J. said:

Todd, this looks ridiculous. Amazing job.

I'm sure I can't fully appreciate what I'm looking at since my kitchen knowledge is pretty basic compared to yours, but WOW. Regardless, I can recognize quality craftsmanship in any industry when I see it. Congrats, and more importantly...enjoy!

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I appreciate it Teddy. Most of craftsmanship came from the tradesman. The only thing I can take credit for is the install on the appliances. I got a little ahead of myself and forgot how HEAVY that fridge/freezer/wine unit was. Miele makes the panels super easy to install as long as they cut the panels right.

I'm absolutely speechless. Wow! Beautiful job!

Steve R said:

simply incredible... looks like a great workshop.

Just curious - where's your coffee setup? It's probably in plain sight, but I can't seem to find it!

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It's the 24inch in wall unit above the dishwasher. It's a plumbed,built in system that you can feed whole been or ground into. With a milk flask on the inside. I also added the cup warmer underneth it You can program virtually any kind of coffee you want. Down to how much pressure is used to extract your caffeine between espresso and coffee. Miele makes a pretty bomb proof product across the board. I have one in my showroom that has over 6k cups through it with out an issue.