This is a repost from a few months back...

...most folks complained about people walking on the countertops.

Looks cool, but even my not-so-germaphobic self can see the ick-factor i nthat.

Uhm... gross. One rule in my house: no feet on the counters.

Nothing about this is good. I don't care if you don't wear shoes in your house, your socked and bare feet are still totally rank. Please keep them off of the counters.

the actual kitchen is nice but the stairs onto the countertop is just gross.

The ick factor doesn't get me...the weirdness does...my mother was always at me not to walk on the counters...

I dislike this less because of the staircase/countertop thing, and more because it is just TRYING TOO HARD to be edgy and cool. Meh.

yes,it's quirky...but it's also stupid

It's a pleaser for geriatric dogs and cats for sure!

Is that really designed for walking on? Look how slick those stairs are with no handrail. And even steel would probably flex at that thickness. I think this is a render, not a real project.

I'm with maipop on this. Beyond the gross part, how nice that pets are able to so easily walk wherever they want on that counter with the helpful stairs to get them there! Double yuck.

My mom in this house:

"How many times have I asked you to keep the frickin' bread OFF the stairs! If it's not the fruit bowl, it's the dish towels... I'm sick of it!"

I don't think I like the idea of my Rottweiler being on my counter tops... Hmm...

I love the stair segments, but crossing the counter is just weird. (If it were my place, I think I would continue the bar railing across the counter to separate walking and food prep spaces, at the least.) (I have a terrible sense of balance, and countertops are slippery smooth. I can see myself falling right into the sink!)

if it was nowhere near the cooking area/sink area, i wouldn't mind it so much. but kicking dirt and funk into where you prepare food? what a stupid idea.

Putting the sink so close to the stairs pretty much guarantees that things will be left in the stair path.

It would be cool if it really added to the usefulness of the space, but I don't think it does.

very familiar :-D as are the comments - as far as i remember that is about what people said the first time around. i checked the dates on the posts to see if they are the old ones, even ...
i still love it, though :-P

i've seen this before. was it in dwell?

That has "haughty architect" written all over it.

If it were connected to the bar where you serve food & drinks, or some sort of landing strip in the living room, I would be all over this like a fat kid on a twinkie.

Connected to where I prepare my meals? Not so much.

so i am assuming the ppl that live here weight less than 130 lbs and have the cleaniest feet ever known to man...right?
OH no wait...WRONG.

this says no on many levels.

especially if you are over a certain weight limit and decided to break into your liquor cabinet and now find yourself stumbling up the "counter" and falling flat on your face.

*sigh* this is sooooo impractical.

the risers on the stairs are not consistantly the same height. Between that, the no banister, the shiny surface, this is a disaster waiting to happen.

I'll just say ditto. I think the comments on here pretty much sum up the "unsanitary" conditions of this design.

Nothing cute about feet and food.

fail whale...this is pointless design at its best

That can't possibly be to code.

"That can't possibly be to code."

I was waiting for this comment:

Not every country on the planet has the same idiot-proof building codes as we do in the US...

Just silly.

It's Beautiful showcase house.
Anyone who would live there never is not someone interested in eating or cooking in the house!

I can only imagine such a ridiculous feature in a real families home.

excuse the jumbled mess above.
;)

I'll probably be kicked off the site when I say that I actually kinda like it.

EXCEPT...it looks slick as all hell and there is nothing to hold on to. And also, it's right by the sink, so splashing water will make it even MORE slick than it already is.

The "walking on the countertop" doesn't really bother me because it's not really where you'd be working, just attached to it.

Let's just say I'd find it intriguing and cool in someone else's house, but I wouldn't want it in my house.

What's up the stairs? Hopefully it's not something like a bedroom that you have to go to often.

Wow, people always have such amazing opinions about things that they don't know much of anything about...

The young family who worked with the architecture firm to have this addition made to their home was obviously happy with it - or they wouldn't have paid to have it done.

I've got to take a shower, now - everyone here got judging all over me.

If the space was truly small (like a sailboat kitchen) I could see the benefit. But it's not. Nothing is actually gained by making the counter a tread that wouldn't be accomplished by just running proper stairs in that same place.

Showy and different, but nothing is gained and it creates additional issues.

What a waste. If they have so much space and money, why not just install a normal staircase? This was obviously desired by people who like gimmicky concepts and don't actually use their kitchen for cooking.

Liam, it was in Dwell fairly recently. I'm pretty sure I've seen it on AT too.

interesting... but totally impractical (at least for my family) and i just don't get the point.

Hilarious!

Yes, a little splashing from the sink on that slick surface, next to those windows, no handrials either side, and you have all sorts of wacky hijinks waiting to happen.

dearsweetbriar, if you read AT with regularity you must certainly end up taking a lot of showers.

i love this. amusing and fun. everyone coming over to their house must crack a smile at seeing it.

Say what you will, it was done to be "different." It wasn't necessary, it wasn't the "only" way to integrate stairs. It was done just to be different.

That said, sometimes different isn't good. I'll leave it at that.

I take slip and fall cases for a reasonable contingent fee.

I'm almost 100% sure that this has been featured on AT before.

bad idea. eve if you are clean, you will kick something up. there's a reason floors tend to be dirtier than counters.

kitchens get dirty and are cleaned daily in my house. I would have no problem with this. Looks great and awesome use of space as long as you don't have kids, babies, dogs, etc.

So a bunch of people took their b*tchy pills today and AT decided to add fuel to the fire and repost this article and one of the many about color coding books. This is what it must be like when congress is in session.

ya know, if that railing / banister continued across the counter it would provide a differentiation between the counter area and the stairs area, I think that would help A LOT. Not to mention, providing something to grab onto.

EW. Not for me AT ALL! Feet should not go where you prepare food, and cleaning those white stairs all of the time would be a pain as well!

What's going on with the walls to the outside space? Are they glass sliders out of view?! True indoor-outdoor living?
Katy
http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com

Wouldn't care if the cat walked on it (thankfully mine is too lazy to get up on my countertops anyway), but shoes and bare feet? Ick.

I think it looks cool...i think if they put a thin sleek piece of rail-height clear glass in place of the bars all the way down to the end of the counter or the end of the stairs it would be more practical...otherwise i think it's nice. I obviously do see the impracticality!! i also agree that this is a render---the stairs probably would have more support underneath them...hopefully it could be in the form of a clear lucite material, etc!!

i also think it would be nice if they changed the countertop material where it serves as the stair landing....i think it is enough of an effect to be standing at counter level, that it doesn't need to remain the same material!!

I love these. I could see stairs as art if you had space for it. 3D wall art. As far as function, I could probably get used to some of these since it's not like I use railings at home. As to having feet on the counter, this is very smart/cool, but totally gross.