Thanks for the compliments! My wife and I designed the kitchen and I built the cabinets. We hired everything else.
Here’s what we ended up with. [attachimg=2]
I used vertical-grain bamboo plywood. Vertical grain is less “bamboo-y” looking than horizontal grain. Since no cabinet runs were over 8 feet, adjacent drawer fronts have continuous grain running side to side. The upper cabinet doors are book-matched and hide lighting strips and electrical outlets. When cutting the pantry and closet doors, I looked for similar grain characteristics and hoped for the best. Finish is Hydrocote Polyshield, which (foam) brushed like a dream. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was sprayed.
I ripped most of the plywood where I rented shop time and did all the cross-cuts on my MFT table in my basement shop. We live in a 16’ row house in Philadelphia and looking back, I can’t believe there were 30+ sheets of plywood in the house and I never broke a lightbulb in my 7’ high shop.
The supplier sent me 1/2” horizontal grain, instead of vertical grain. They said “keep it” (and resent vertical grain), so I used the horizontal-grain plywood for drawer parts. Some days, you win. The drawers have touch-open slides.
Around the glass block is drywall, with a Schluter strip edge. The backsplash tile is Alys Edwards; “Man About You” collection; “Peak My Interest” color, with a fancy-pants matching grout.
