In one of our latest posts we wrote about the recent improvements to the kitchen – new shelves in particular – we mentioned other new additions…  So here I am finally unleashing some shots of the new cooktop…

Sadly, since December of 2010 we have had lived with one plug in electric burner – a plug in – with which to make stovetop items.  We have an oven so we were not totally living in the dark ages  - but the single burner took forever to turn on and seriously challenged the goal of having all items come out warm to the table at the same time (typically user error in my case but nice to have some appliances to blame that on)!

The time finally came to get a cooktop when we were in Bed Bath and Beyond and JTH saw a double burner electric plug in that was the same brand as our single burner…” what if we got this double one and put it next to our single burner and then we would have a three burner – almost a complete cooktop”….. that was a low point.

Being architects we have connections in high places and learned of a few cooktops being replaced from the Hadco Dulles Showroom and arrived at just the right time to check out the options… we didn’t have to look far because we feel in love with the Viking 6 burner gas WHITE cooktop!  Grey grates, white glossyness… we were in love!  With white knobs – it contrasts great with our grey concrete cooktop.  Jth was hoping for something a little smaller, streamlined, slick… but neither of us wanted an electric cooktop so I was able to convince him with the btu output and closed burners (messy cookers cannot drop anything through!).

I had originally wanted to do a downdraft behind the cooktop but JTH won that battle and I easily came around once I saw the clean lines of the Zephyr Duo Hood that we ended up with.  Finishing touches are a tile backsplash on the whole wall behind – we got the large format tiles from Porcelainosa – they are hard to see in any of these photos because it just looks like a glossy white wall.. they are actually white with small grey stripes that are highly reflective and in the end are really subtle… we painted the top header of the window but I’m not happy with it yet.. may need to add some trim on the sides to complete out the dark color boxed around the window but for now.. like everything else.. we are living with it…. and of course everything goes well with a colorful teapot!