I have an antique print framed, and under glass, near my mixer (which gets a workout) and it does fine with the occasional wipe-down. The frame is new, however. I would not want to subject a gilt frame to such indiginities!

I think the kitchen is beautiful, but I personally like having a little room on both sides of my stove to put a plate or a dripping spoon down.

This kitchen would look like a spatter painted canvas if I lived there. Some people have the gift of neat cooking, some dont :)

I'm distracted by the odd chandelier.
It's a mirror, if you're diligent about cleaning the kitchen every night than it shouldn't be a problem. The frame does concern me though.

the stove has a wide space btw the burners to put things down. i prefer that kind of stove. mine is apartment sized and i have an upright spoon rest in the center. annoying.

Eminently practical for those of us who like sparkly things and don't cook.

It is really beautiful!

But I would be far too concerned about the mirror's frame to keep it there for long.

My first thought is that it places too much emphasis on style and not enough on function, but then they are cooks and it seems to get a good workout as a real kitchen. Seems to lack the usual (though eminently functional) triangle layout of most kitchens. I personally wouldn't risk the prints and their frames, however, no matter how neat I usually am.
That said, I like the style a lot, and if it works for them it's great, especially in that it breaks the mold a bit in terms of kitchen design.

It is a beautiful kitchen. And thank you for using the personal pronoun in the singular form, I never thought I would see that word again on AT :-)

this is a kitchen where the owners don't clean, they hire someone several a week to clean up the mess after them.

This is beautiful but exhaust hoods are ugly and necessary. I can only imagine that thick, sticky grime that would start to build up on everything over time.

The mirror doesn't bother me, but a powerful stove like that needs a powerful range hood, which I don't see. Also, I think I would find the lack of counter space around the stove frustrating.

I've had mirrored backsplashes before. They clean easily. If it was a choice between a bare wall and the mirror, the mirror winds hands down (the wall eventually will turn from water vapor and grease despite all the cleaning).

It looks lovely -
- but it almost appears as if the kitchen is undergoing renovation and they dragged the Viking, etc. into the Dining Room for the duration.

If this is a permanent setup, the thing that bothers me isn't the mirror, but the complete lack of ventilation over the stove...
...but if all they do is make tea and warm up take-out, then who cares?

well, just from reading the interview, it doesn't appear that the designers actually had cooking in mind for this kitchen? When asked if cooking in front of the napoleon mirror was "practical", the designer answered that it was absolutely practical because the window afforded a good view of the outside. :face palm:

there are some other oddities of the kitchen ... for instance, that faucet does not seem practical. is there a pull out spout or anything?

and also ... who designs a sink area around the idea that it would look good with exactly 5 hanging pictures flanking it? What if the next owner does not like pictures hanging near the sink?

as for the counters ... why couldn't they have extended the countertops around the corner instead of cutting off the counters to display a bookshelf? if the island is big enough, then fine ... but sometimes you'd rather display an appliance or jars or something in the corner of your kitchen instead of on the island in the middle of it.

and finally, the counters are made from marble, which is very luxurious, but has a reputation for staining.

I just think that if you are going to do a total kitchen remodel, or hire an expensive designer or whatever, you should shoot for the ultimate in luxury and practicality, not just luxury.

The original faucet in my 1949 vintage home was just like that one, and it was fine. I'm not sure why everyone needs a pullout faucet in every kitchen now.

@Scoot, I have a marble table in my kitchen and it hasn't stained yet. You do have to be careful of acids, though, they mark the finish a bit.

I think it's a lovely kitchen but I'd rather have more counterspace than that.

The mirror over the stove.... do you just watch yourself cook? That is a little odd.

Why do you think a mirror would be any harder to clean than a plain wall? Or tiled backsplash? I actually think it might make it easier.

Anywho, I already saw this controversy on Decorno... the owners commented saying they clean up after themselves and they do cook in the kitchen. I don't recall what he said about the counterspace though, because I definitely would need more than that.

@ ec05, I think that this type of vintage faucet certainly is fine (it has done well for so many decades now), but I'm going to infer from looking at the articles and photos that the faucet was chosen for its look rather than its functionality. perhaps if you have housekeepers to do your dishes for you then you don't need a pullout faucet :)

I have heard that wine, especially red wine can stain if left on the marble for a long time. it depends on the type of finish you choose as some marble these days has stain resistant finishes. otherwise, the marble is quite porous.

"Doesn't it get spattered with oil or tomato sauce or with whatever you are cooking? Similarly, with the framed prints right above the sink, isn't the potential water damage risky?"

Um... You don't cook, do you?

@ heather77 - the range hood is there. it is a down draft range hood. it mounts under the counter and sucks air from the metal backing behind the pots. this type of range hood is fairly common for stove tops that are mounted in islands and also serves as a backsplash (although the one in the photo does not appear to be very high).

now that I look at it again, the mirror is not that bad. due to there being no upper cabinets (i worry about the lack of cabinet space, but I guess much of it is in the island), there is no real boundary for where you would install traditional backsplash like tile (although it might be cool if there was tile that extended all the way up to the ceiling, like a fireplace). so in place of art i suppose the mirror is not a bad option, but i would choose a piece that had little value.

LOL ! that was my first reaction too, i would not like to be cooking and watching myself at the same time!! i think that around these houses there are other nice places to hang a mirror like that rather than the stove backsplash.

Not sure how cleaning up glass or mirror is any trickier than say, tumbled travertine tiles.

It's surprising how conventional thinking still seems to prevail when it comes to kitchens.

I think this is highly original and drop-dead gorgeous.

And, Scoot--

I seriously doubt resale is an issue here, in this tier of home.

Scoot, is that really a downdraft vent? It just looks like the standard stainless backguard for that stove.

Giant mirror as back splash..... what a great idea. I am definitely going to try this out in my tiny rental kitchen. It will certainly open the space up a bit and add some drama to an otherwise boring space.

I have never had trouble keeping a bathroom vanity mirror clean, so I can't see why having a mirror as a back splash would be any more difficult.

The only thing that this kitchen lacks IMO is ventilation over the stove. But it's so beautiful that I am not bothered one bit by it.

That mirror is really more practical than many of you realize. I have a glass back splash in my kitchen and while it does of course show things when splattered it looks like new with a little auto glass cleaner. You can't say that about tile (all the grout) or a painted back splash, and there are no little crevices for things to get into. It was the most commented thing when a group of ladies finally saw it at a party I threw a month ago and they all wanted one. A kitchen you love is a happy kitchen and that is all that matters. And if a new owner doesn't want that kitchen they will do something about making it their own.

Meh, I guess I just want my kitchen to look like a kitchen.

Anna Europe: yes, I do cook actually! quite a bit. Perhaps I am just one of those, as someone previously mentioned, that doesn't have the gift of cooking neatly. :)

I do suppose cleaning a mirror may in fact be easier than cleaning another kind of backsplash. However by having the mirror there in the first place, your eye is drawn to it and splashes and or spatters are therefore that much more noticeable.

@ patrick, you may be right -- on the other hand, in a slow economy, luxury homes tend to suffer the worst resale prospects .... and every home is an investment, even luxury homes. besides, after reading the story it becomes apparent that the house probably was not that expensive for the owners, and COL in Alabama is not particularly high. so maybe they had some $$ left over for the kitchen remodel :)

@ heather - I am not absolutely certain as to whether or not it a downdraft vent but I am about 90% sure of it. there is a chance that the downdraft vent is not shown, and that it extends and retracts in front of the backguard (because there do not seem to be any vent holes in that backguard and it does not seem very tall), so who really knows. one thing I am rather certain of is that a pair of chefs probably would not forget to install a range hood in a kitchen :)

I am with Patrick on this one. It's a lovely space and I think cooking would be fine here... Cleaning my painted wall behind the stove is harder than it would be to wipe down a mirror. I love cooking and do it daily, and I wipe down the stove after I cook - in this case, I would just wipe down the mirror too if things got messy. The wall behind my sink does OK, too. And I do dishes the old fashioned way daily - most people these days have dishwashers, especially in luxury kitchens. So if you were only actually using the sink for filling up pots, doing quick rinsing, and washing a few select non-dishwasher-safe items, then I especially think you would not have an issue with the prints. And they are behind glass.

Oh, I'm not big on feng shui myself, but it seems like there usually are people pointing out the feng shui of things like this, and in this case I believe this is a good feng shui "cure" - the more burners you have, the better your finances, so reflecting them in a mirror maximizes your wealth.

Scoot - Why would you leave a red wine stain for a long time on marble? It seems to me like if you wiped it up in a reasonable amount of time/had a good finish on the marble, there would not be an issue. Butcher block certainly stains and I rarely see anyone here say that that's not practical. And my regular faucet in my old apartment building does fine... I would not prefer a pull-out one, and I do my own dishes....

A lot of the stone tiles would be harder to clean than a mirror, though that mirror's frame would be harder than some. I'm not sure this is impractical, particularly.

You know what is impractical to keep clean? Stainless steel. But that hasn't made it go away yet.

I wouldn't do that mirror but I absolutely would do the prints. I don't see why framed prints in a kitchen are so terribly controversial?

"Why would you leave a red wine stain for a long time on marble? It seems to me like if you wiped it up in a reasonable amount of time/had a good finish on the marble, there would not be an issue."

You'd be surprised how quickly it can stain.

"You know what is impractical to keep clean? Stainless steel. But that hasn't made it go away yet."

Indeed - My sis HATES her stainless steel appliances for that very reason. Even when they Are clean, they never Appear clean.

I love it. It is beautiful and clean.

I like that you can look "out the window" even while cooking.

As for fung shui, it is also good that no one will sneak up on you while you cook.

Mirrors are easy to clean. Glass on the prints will be easy to clean too. There is nothing about this kitchen that is unsanitary.

Totally practical.

Although I am guessing that they may only have white wine in the kitchen, if red wine can stain the marble that easily.

@ livc

of course you would not intentionally leave a red wine spill on the counter, but sometimes accidents happen and you don't find out about them till the next morning or a few hours later. especially when the little ones are around. ;)

This kitchen is, without a doubt, very attractive. However, it looks like the type of kitchen that doesn't get much use, like it's for show only.

I love it!

I am really sorry I missed all of the original discussion about my kitchen, I could have answered some questions in a more timely manner. If you'd like to see the other 1/3 of the kitchen, there is a photo on my blog: http://www.mark-leslie.net/to-refrigerate-or-not-to-refrigerate. I took the photo about 6 years ago.
For everyone who is concerned about how well this kitchen holds up...it is over 10 years old at this point and it works well for parties of 2 or when I cook for a party of 200. There is no "staff" that cleans the house or the kitchen. It is just us. I posted a more descriptive comment of the kitchen on the original blog post on thekitchn. Please check out that response and my blog to see the rest of the kitchen.
Thanks for all of the comments, both pro and con. It is great to share ideas back and forth.
Ciao~
Mark