apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Ouch, some of those comments at SockeSite were harsh. But one of them made sense--the dust-gathering nature of metro shelving.

I liked that one AT post a little while ago featuring a kitchen that had been painted dark and decked out with simple stainless-stell Ikea shelving.

I don't know- it looks very utilitarian, but not really a room you'd want to linger in. But considering the size of the house, there are plenty of other places to linger. ;) Like on that fantastic deck.

I don't care what neighborhood it's in - I like it.

It's probably a whole lot less expensive then those kitchens that are all heavily carved wood/imported tile/stone countertops...

...and it looks especially functional for any catered events that might be held in the home as well.

i think it looks nice and functonal, i'm much more worried about those two fugly chairs near the window :-)

I like it. I agree with one of the other SocketSite posters about the floors though. Some kind of tile or polished concrete would look great and maybe a continuous stainless steel countertop. I'm not feeling the butcherblock. And that house is humongous! We are a family of 4 living in just over 1000 sq ft in NY. I don't know what I would do with all of those rooms. Who needs TWO family and dining areas?

I think the idea is that the owners will never step foot into the kitchen themselves anyway, so they don't care what it looks like. Pseudo restaurant decor.

i like it. I would have painted with black chalkboard paint instead. then you can write on the walls! how fun would that be! it looks nice, clean functional- like they cook often though there isnt much on the shelves.

Nobody lives in that house........it's been "staged".

Weird, I am a cook and a designer..this is silly.

i like it, but it's very "food service" oriented. seriously, we have those racks in the kitchens of campus dining halls. cranston pantry station, ahoy!

The only thing I like is the oriental rug on the floor.

Otherwise the walls are too dark and I don't like the industrial-kitchen look. And the countertops do look a bit out of place. This is not a room I'd care to spend time in.

I don't mind the Metro shelves as uppers but wish the lowers were closed up - it looks a little unfinished.

Too visually cluttered.
It would be a pain to keep clean and tiddy!

visually, it's fine (except for those stools), but it is pretty obviously fake -- it is not actually used as intended, it is just a look. Moreover, this is a family home, not a cafeteria, and that kitchen has too much capacity for their needs (the culinary equivalent of driving an SUV when you only need it for downtown and the 'burbs...).

I think it looks ignorant. Although I understand the reasoning behind using open shelving in a kitchen, (greater sense of space, etc), I have never agreed with the concept. Dishes and utensils exposed to the kitchen environment accumulate grease and dust even with light cooking activity. Expensive metro shelving is difficult to clean and its wire latticework makes storage of small items problematic to impossible. The countertops look slapped together and the design of the lower shelving/cabinets permits the accumulation of dust, dirt, and is a trap for lost small items on the floor. There is no excuse for this type of "kitchen" in any house let alone a 4 million dollar one.

Yeah, I'm starting to not like that "back of the house restaurant kitchen" look. Is the house big? The kitchen doesn't look that large... What does $4M get you in San Fran these days????

the whole design of that house is a mish-mash of styles (or lack thereof). they're trying to be antique-y and industrial in that kitchen and it just doesn't work. if this were a loft or an older house that hadn't been completely modernized, i could see it working.

Staged or not, I like it that someone broke with the "I gotta spend a mint" on a kitchen. Most kitchens are used to heat doggie bag leftovers or make quick simple meals. The materials, appliances and space aren't justified by use.

If anyone actually cooks on that stove, all the dishes on the upper metro shelves will be sticky with cooking grease and stuck-on dust in about two weeks.

Eeew.

This is why kitchens have closed shelving. It's not just for pretty looks.

I love the black wall, the rug to soften the look, and even the metro shelves. I would have installed solid cabinets below though on the sink wall. Open shelving is a busy look so you have to counter that with solid forms/areas. I wish my kitchen had a garden off it!!

Hate it. Nice rug though. The color pallette of the room is interesting but the black is too much for me. A rich deep brown would have worked better in my opinion.

Keep the laminate floor and the rug, send all the other crud back to Ikea. Yuk.