FYI, from someone who RIDES the NYC subway daily: MOST of the subway passages I go through are lined in 4x4 square. I almost never see the oblong ones. Maybe a very few really old ones.... And, I don't want my home to look like a subway passage! The white tile, no matter what its shape or size, has never said "luxury" to me; it has always said "institutional." Even those 1920s tiles were chosen because they looked sterile and easy to clean. So I don't quite get it when people combine Carrera marble (which to me is the epitome of luxury) w/ subway tiles (which to me is as "high school bathroom/subway tunnel" as you can get) I'd put white subway tiles in my bathroom in a flash, because of the steriity aura. But I wouldn't pair them w/ big, splashy Carrera marble.

All this talk of decay and decadence brings me back to this project, which is to humanize a living space that's proportioned, except for the average sized kitchen, along palatial lines, while leaving the open concept open. It's interesting that with all this marketing of the raw, this former industrial space is pretty polished. The concrete is clean and smooth (not really anything like Palimpsest's favorite Brutalism), the metals (trusses, stairs, catwalks, ducts, window frames) are smooth and painted an appealing white with a green cast, and are in great shape and don't need to be redone. These may be industrial relics, but very civilizedly so. The decadent part is the size of the space, especially for one person who is barely beyond being a "girl". Most urbanites would be comfy (well...cramped but content) in something the size of the mezzanine. Without the upper bits, it's basically a two bedroom, two bathroom, open concept apartment with a dining area, living area and kitchen. On steroids. Big time. :) The owner is confused by our discussion, as I've relayed some of the more interesting bits, but it's helped us focus on how to make the living room functional for more than cocktail parties. She doesn't want to divide the space, which would suck all the grandeur out of it, and she doesn't want conversation groups. Palimpsest's digital living gave me an idea which I thought was silly, but might be a go, for a central tower for media, rather than putting it against a wall. This must have been done before--it doesn't feel particularly original--but I think it would work. We talked about making it out of wood and hiding all the blackness of the equipment, but it would be awfully big and block the view. More honest and practical would be to have a central service column with all the cables and juice, and put lots of screens on swing arms, as well as media players and the like. Perhaps have smaller screens facing into the catwalks. It would sort of be an inside out control console crossed with the monolith from 2001. Or it could, I suppose, be made of of brass steam fittings and go all steampunk. :) Becky, I totally forgot about that place!! Thanks for linking it. I think its the Navajos who don't tear down old structures but let the earth reclaim them naturally. Seeing it done on a castle scale is offputting, however, to put it mildly. I used to know someone who had owned and lived in a castle--the real ancient fortress kind--for many years. It really sounds dreadfully uncomfortable, and one imagines that they do best as amusements for tourists.

Thanks so much for the kind words, all! This was my first kitchen remodel and it was not without its challenges! But in the end, it was well worth it... a2Gemini -- the under cabinet lighting is not LED, i think it's xeon. That was a miss IMO -- if we had gone with LED I could have saved my cabinet installer the trouble of hiding the lighting (he had to install all those little strips of wood twice, as the first time they were done incorrectly. If I had to do it over, I would have gone with LED -- flatter, easier and cleaner. By the time I figured this out, though, the tile had been laid, so too late. Badgergal and gsciencechick -- That entry painting is from a local artist, and yes, both the entry hall fan and the light fixture in the dining room are project scope creep! In the six months since these photos were taken, the wood has darkened a wee bit, which is fine by me. AnnaA -- Lovely kitchen! We debated taking down that wall but ours was load bearing and at the end of the day we wanted a bit more separation of living room from kitchen. Yours looks great! The subway tile is not white, it's actually Ann Sacks Savoy Cornflower blue, which is gorgeous in person, you can't see the detail from the photos but each tile is tinged in a blue outline. And for all you 60's split-level lovers... it occurred to me, as I was doing this remodel, that in its day, this house style was considered modern, a big change from the styles that preceded it. And that remodeling our kitchen in flat panel contemporary was actually paying homage to and appropriate for that period. The light over the dining room table is also a nod to 60's design (which I am old enough to have lived through the first time as a child...If only we had kept those danish modern side tables!) I too love seeing the rebirth of these modest-sized homes as they are adapted for our times. -- goldchip

I bought 40 of these pulls and found a dozen knobs that match nicely, so these are my starting point! I picked up some green and some cream 4x4 tile samples. What do you think? Cream cabinets with green tile is my favorite. (I had to use a tile to simulate cabinet color) Navy cabinets and cream tile backsplash. Love the hardware on the blue, but feels off otherwise. Thought maybe tile the are behind stove with a decorative tile like the third pic??? constructive criticism & suggestions welcome.