PS I forgot to mention that with the sink setup described above, we could maybe do a fabulous bookmatched veneer on the cabinet door below the sink. Maybe one as awesome as that English deco liquor cabinet Marcolo posted.

Your ideas about the tile--making the new powder room's tile echo the existing tile in some way--is excellent, and it's making me move away from the black and white hex tile idea. Here are the floors in our two bathrooms:

It's triangles, diamonds and squares up the wazoo, and not a hex tile in sight! So what about one of these--either this laid on a diagonal (to make the black squares into diamonds):

Or maybe (more of a stretch but at least it has diamonds) a classic B&W octagons-with-dots:

And here are the walls, illustrating an obvious theme of "thick dark stripe along the top made of tiles with curved tops, and thin patterned stripe below that uses one of the colors of the dark stripe":

{{gwi:1733815}}

Thanks for making me notice this. It will make it a lot easier to create a coherent look.

For your sink, try this link: http://www.noreast1.com/kitchenbath.html
Someone on here has used them for soapstone sinks and I think had really good customer service with them. While I did not purchase anything from them, I did contact them about something and they returned my call promptly and were very helpful and would work with you regarding shipping.

Ooh! Nice website! Thank you. I'll keep an eye on them.

I just love your tile, esp the liners.
Try this:

Here is a link that might be useful: great tile

Also look at Nemo Tile for unglazed mosaic in pastel text patterns.

LuxeTile has some octagon and dot in more Moderne colors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Luxetile

i confess, I have a thing against octagon because it was used so much in the '80s for really bad fake-Victorian; that's what it seems to recall today. I personally prefer your other choice--I think it may even be period though it was certainly used up through the sixties. Also stay open to color vs. B&W. A powder room in particular can/should be the wildest room in your house. It's a small fun space that you only spend a short time in.

Regarding the cabs--I had thought you didn't like full overlay. Also be careful because full overlay is extremely now and modern. I don't really associate full overlay with the 30s; overwhelmingly cabs were the partial overlay style that pal & I posted.

One thing I would point out is that you want strong horizontal lines, and with full overlay, esp with figured grain, you're going to get only vertical lines (between the doors), pretty much obscuring any horizontal movement. One picture I posted had inset above, which shows off the top of the cab frame and adds a little horizontal balance, along with full overlay below. Another option is one I brought up before, a black super-simple crown molding to pull your eye across rather than up and down.

I thought you came up with a different layout that moved the fridge?

If you do a vintage sink, make sure it's 100 percent pristine and you can get faucets plus backup parts. I've been looking into this a bit, and I don't think anybody does one-off refiring anymore, though you could check those places I listed above. Historic House Parts often seems to have a lot of really good sinks.

BTW have you ever seen arlosmom's sink? Maybe you could email through the site and ask how she did it. Her sink came with the house, and IIRC they didn't even know there was an apron there because it was covered up with cabinets.

Here are the rounded molding I mentioned earlier. (Sorry the pictures are a little off.)

I love the patterned liners! Do not touch those! :-)

Zacsdaddy, that molding is so cool!
And fear not, I'm not touching the liners...

Dianalo, those tiles you posted were INSANE. I especially love these two:

Those tiles make me question the B&W powder room. The reason I like the B&W idea, though, is because black-white-silver is such a classic deco look, and we don't have it anywhere since our bathrooms are colorful and our kitchen is going to be a warm color scheme. This link shows a really cool black-white-silver deco border, though I'm not into the rest of the tile work (there's something more Grecian than deco about the floor):

http://www.originalstyle.com/tile_6inch_traddec_artdeco.htm

And picture that top border with a mirror like this (if we somehow manage to find one at a non-ridiculous price):

Palimpsest's link showed a variation on the diamond-dots floor tile that I hadn't thought of--black with white dots instead of the reverse:

So that might be cool. But Dianalo's tiles are INSANE... in the best possible sense of the word...

Marcolo, I hadn't seen Arlosmom's sink before. It's so cool! Not a door style I would choose, but I just love that there are some of those left. I can't imagine what kind of jerry-rigged thing the previous owners could have done to hide the fact the sink had an apron! How weird! Looking at her sink I realize that wall-mounted hardware can look good; it works on her sink because the backsplash is only about 8", instead of the 10"-12" that you see a lot. The shorter backsplash just looks better proportioned to me.

I had thought you didn't like full overlay. Also be careful because full overlay is extremely now and modern. I don't really associate full overlay with the 30s; overwhelmingly cabs were the partial overlay style that pal & I posted.

What I really don't like is the kind of doors you described as "particularly unsightly," the plywood slabs with visible hinges like you posted on Friday at 11:18. Partial overlay with thin slab doors that curve down at the edges. I like full overlay when it looks like the steel cabinets that were so common then:

But that's 1941, so it's moving away from the true thirties look, I guess. And it's true that any kind of overlay would be wrong for the sink setup I'm picturing (similar to Arlosmom's). But I like the slab drawers in the Usonian House that Palimpsest posted, and I even like the doors on the upper cabs in that house--the tall skinny doors, as opposed to the nearly square doors below the sink. Or rather, I like the tall skinny doors in sets of two with open shelves or windows between them--a whole wall of those would look too monolithic.

I thought you came up with a different layout that moved the fridge?

I played with some, but didn't end up liking any of them. It can't go on the sink wall if I want a double-drainboard sink because that makes the kitchen way too wide (and makes the fridge visible from the front door, which for whatever reason I don't like). On the powder room wall, it seems really cramped and blocks the sightlines from the range side of the kitchen down that little hall. On the DR wall, it kills the peninsula. This kitchen might have been a great candidate for fridge and freezer drawers rather than a fridge, but it's too late--the fridge is bought, and it's very pretty and wasn't cheap, so...

If you do a vintage sink, make sure it's 100 percent pristine and you can get faucets plus backup parts. I've been looking into this a bit, and I don't think anybody does one-off refiring anymore, though you could check those places I listed above.

I emailed the places you listed yesterday. No response on the weekend, of course. I'll share whatever news they give me here.

As for being able to find faucets, you're so right! I found out that the Crane Sunnyday sink I loved (but my DH hated) is almost impossible to find knobs for, because they have to sit at a 45-degree angle. Literally nobody makes those. Even DEABath.com doesn't have anything you can use--all they can do is restore original faucets and sell you two particular parts for them: http://deabath.com/Specfct/Obsolet_Crane_Fct/obsolet_crane_fct.html

That's one of the reasons I prefer the non-wallmounted faucets. There's just so much more choice if you can use a deck-mounted faucet.

Oh, and re the suggestion about paintwork--deco lovers, feast your eyes on this:

Oh, one more thing! Do any of you have ideas on what other kind of sink might work in a deco/30s/transitional kitchen? I ask because it's totally possible we won't find a sink like the one I posted and Arlosmom has--or that is, that we won't find one in time or that is the right color (off-white/ivory etc. rather than bright white) or that isn't outrageously expensive.

So what kind of sink would you recommend if it comes down to the wire and the kind of sink we want isn't available? Should we switch to the WWII-era double drainboard style like so:

(those seem to be easier to find), or is there some other sink, antique or modern, that you think would work?

I could easily see one of the diagonal-cornered models working with a deco kitchen. Here's a nice double-basin version on eBay that has a really ingenious removable washboard:

Here is a link that might be useful: sink on eBay

Really quickly, ideagirl: Check out this mirror. I also know a potential source of well-priced french art deco mirrors, but the period is a bit wrong for you (1920s), selection is limited and AFAIK, it won't be shipped over from France for a few months yet.

Your backup option if you can't find a cool apron sink could be, as I said, a rectangular undermount. Requires some other accent on the countertop to "kick it up" though.

Omigod $1800 for a mirror!!!
I think I need to go lie down.
:-)

I like that diagonal-corner sink. Not the double basin-ness, but the style of it and the washboard.

This beauty just came up on eBay in New Jersey:

Here is a link that might be useful: 1930 sink

Huh, that didn't work. Here:

Ooh, check this one out. Touted as "German Silver" (nickel?). Alas, it's being sold by someone with terrible feedback, but the idea is grand - lookit the swoop-dee-swoop sink divider!

Here is a link that might be useful: german silver sink

That eBay sink is gorgeous--it looks just like Arlosmom's--and the price is good considering what those go for on ThisOldTubAndTile.com and elsewhere. And those are just the prices for the sink alone, without the awesome radiused cabinets. Also, it takes an 8" on center faucet, which shouldn't be hard to replace if need be. But apparently it's only 22" deep--I'm hoping for a deeper one (deeper than the standard 25" counter) so it can touch the wall and still stick out a bit from the counter, like Arlosmom's does.

Perhaps you could build out that sink from the wall and put a shelf or "sill" above/behind it. That would enable you to use the backsplash-mounted faucet without running your plumbing through the wall.

That's not a bad idea. And actually, our plumbing isn't in the wall anyway--if you open up the sink cabinet you can see all the plumbing right there, about 1/4" or less from the wall. So maybe that's not a code issue, because it's not actually IN an exterior wall?

In the wall means literally in the wall--between the studs. Depending on where you live, you might not be allowed to move it into that space anymore due to freezing potential. My suggestion could be the only way you could get a backsplash-mounted faucet. Check with a plumber or inspector.

OK, barring other swoops and curves, how 'bout creating some with cabinet doors?

{{gwi:1733841}}

Ooh! Cool!

Speaking of swooshes and curves--and of horizontal lines, as Marcolo was discussing the other day--check out the AMAZING range hood cover I am about to buy whenever the person selling it gets back to me (link below). It's just the cover so I have to find an insert etc. Which is fabulous because I am mentally incapable of spending ~$4000 on a range hood, which is what the actual CornuFe range hood costs. This range hood cover is the subject of my exciting new thread, "Range Hood Aesthetics." :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: CornuFe range hood

I am trying to picture that hood with arlosmom's sink.

{{gwi:1733842}}

It's the same shape as the sink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's a rectangle with radiused corners and a strong horizontal line!!!!!!
And it is so moderne that it eliminates the possibility of reading that kind of sink as "country." It becomes not a farmhouse sink, but a 1930s sink.
And it is the same material (brushed stainless) and shape (radiused corners) as the cooktop of my range.

That's why I'm so absurdly excited. The other reason I'm so excited is I just realized I ditzed out and for some reason thought the hood was too big (i.e. was the 120cm CornuFe hood), but I was going to get it anyway, when in fact it is the exact right size (100cm, so about 3.5 inches wider than my range).

Size isn't a problem, but I honestly am not sure whether the hood and sink go together.

It takes more than radiused corners to make a match. That sink is rounded everywhere--the edges, the bottom, the top of the backsplash. You can run your hand all over it and never meet a corner. It reads as very vintage, which is what it is, and not sleek in any way, shape or form. The hood, by contrast is very, very sharp and modern--almost at the far end away from what the sink is. You almost feel like you could cut yourself if you ran your hand along the top knife edge. And it is extremely sleek.

I see where you are trying to go, but personally I wouldn't do it.

I see where you are trying to go, but personally I wouldn't do it.

But what would you do? Or I mean, what vent hood would you choose? I've been looking for a vent hood for ages and the only ones I've liked all have some drawback. Usually the drawback is they don't look at all like the right time period for the range. Either that or they're $3000-$4000, which I'm just not paying, and even those ones (I'm thinking of certain ModernAire styles) are not perfect for the style.

Also, if it makes a difference, the sink style I'm hoping to find is not exactly like Arlosmom's or the one you posted. It's this:

And the cabinet would be sleeker, and symmetrical (door in the center, three or four drawers of graduated sizes on either side).

Look at farmhousebound or circuspeanut. those hoods are way different but might get you thinking about what might work for you. P.S. LOVE those sinks!

I'd hate to see you pass up a deal like that hood on my say-so.

The hood certainly goes with the range, but not with arlosmom's sink. It may go better with that beige sink. Maybe it's the sink that was bothering me.

Note, though, that these radiuses are not the same as the half-circle curves you are putting in your plan. You may want to take a second look at those now. They may still work, but they may not. Either way is fine, just remember to keep it all in perspective at once.

Every time we make a decision, we close off other choices, because now everything has to work with what we already have. When I set out to decorate my house, I pulled out a 1924 Armstrong linoleum ad and said, "I want this." I expected the outcome to be a lot more funky vintage-y than it is. Now, I certainly have some strong Deco elements, and the colors are exactly pulled from that ad. But the house ended up more formal than I expected, because that's what it wanted to be, to make everything work together.

You've done the same thing. Look at your thread title. You've long ago left anything Arts & Crafts behind. Some of your choices remind me more of a Deco steamship liner, and much more streamlined than you set out for--especially that hood. That's not bad, just remember to keep double-checking every single thing against everything else. You're entitled to reject new ideas because they don't fit anymore. You're also entitled to overturn old decisions because you now realize they led you down the wrong path. All that matters is that you keep it all in context.

In this instance, with that hood and full overlay cabs, you could easily end up with a very contemporary kitchen with Deco doorknobs. Fine if that's what you want, but don't be afraid to make a U-turn if it isn't.

I'm hesitant to sidle into the creative maelstrom here, for fear of getting brained by an enthusiastically flying sink, but . . . You needn't be limited to just the selection of surviving vintage sinks. In certain materials, you can get a bespoke sink. In either metal or stone, a drainboard sink would be quite doable, and other curvy, interesting shapes are feasible too.

Here is an example that I just happen to have spat toothpaste into. If the Westin Times Square can have these made by the hundreds, you can dream up your own design, that perfectly complements your Italian Stallion of a range and his hairpiece excuse me range hood, and have it executed.

I am not sure how stone would fit the Art Deco look - I'm getting the feeling that you've moved well past the "transitional" title of the thread, to full-on Deco - but surely polished steel can pass for a Machine Age material?

(I know, the steel counters we see at the local greasy spoon look like a long hard road. But you'll be more careful of your sink baby. And a couple hours every couple years with an electric buffer will do wonders too.)

Another material for a bespoke sink, infinitely expressive and highly unique, on GW anyway, would be tile. I know, grot grot and all that - but as far as I know, commercial waterproof epoxy grout goes a long way toward tackling that issue. If you wanted to be even weirder, and step back a few decades to the Barcelona of Gaudi, I've sometimes thought of a fantastical tiled sink inspired by Parc Guell. I don't know how tiled sinks are made - maybe research Mexican tiled sinks - but I suspect they are like little swimming pools.

Hola, John... I will forever think of my range hood (whichever one I get) as my range's hairpiece... :-)

I checked out a book on art deco architecture from the library today. That should be fun.

Ok so here's the take on materials. Counter/sink materials, that is. Neither I nor my DH are into granite. We like soapstone and maybe slate, but the cost is absurd and it doesn't look at all deco and stone is cold and it makes stuff break. Corian and similar surfaces are a complete nonoption due to our interest in a period look. Ditto most quartz (AND it's outrageously expensive).

So then we move on to tile. My DH absolutely hates tiled countertops. He says they make him feel like he's in a public restroom. We both love deco-tiled walls, like that awesome black-and-cream one that Marcolo has posted in a couple of threads, but he draws the line at tiled countertops. When I'm throwing the house into chaos with a remodel for which he personally sees no need (because he doesn't cook and thus has not grown to hate our kitchen), I have to give the man something. So I'm giving him "no tiled countertops." As for glass, the noise/brittleness/breakage potential turns me off. Okay, all those problems exist in tiled countertops and I still like them... so I guess that means I just don't like glass countertops.

We both like wood--plank or plywood--a lot. We had plywood counters in our first apartment and it was great, still looked awesome after eight years of wear and tear. The only concern is that if we have wood floors, wood cabinets and a wood countertop, the place starts looking like a Swiss chalet. We are not into chalets. Nothing could look less deco than a Swiss chalet. There may be a way to design it--stain choices, etc.--that could get around that problem, but it's a concern. And then there's the water issue, but a double-drainboard sink pretty much solves that problem.

And now we find ourselves at the "laminate or Marmoleum" phase. This weekend we're going to look at some Marmoleum countertops. It would look totally period appropriate. It's very "green." It's not even particularly expensive. This might work. We will contemplate chrome-banded edges (or maybe brushed steel, to avoid the 50s diner look and to avoid having 43 different metal surfaces in our kitchen). We will see how this goes.

And now here's the take on sink materials. We have a stainless sink and I am sick of it (noise, constant appearance of dinginess because it's sort of pencil-gray and different parts of it have worn in different ways). I feel an enduring love for porcelain kitchen sinks that sit on (or are part of) the counter, as opposed to undermount. Who knows why. Maybe these things are genetic. Maybe in a past life I had a 1940s porcelain sink. But they just strike me as How Kitchen Sinks Are Meant To Be. I have tried and failed to get interested in swanstone and copper. My sinkual orientation just doesn't swing that way. We have a little brass sink that I was contemplating using for prep, but a prep sink is somehow in a different category to me.

So with the exception of the fact my DH hates tiled countertops, our tastes in materials are actually in line with the period we're trying to invoke. (Soapstone would be more A&C/1910s, Marmoleum more deco/1920s-30s). But my porcelain sinkual orientation pretty much nixes a bespoke sink, unless you count it as "bespoke" to get a 1930s or 1940s sink and have it reporcelained in a custom color.

The hood certainly goes with the range, but not with arlosmom's sink. It may go better with that beige sink. Maybe it's the sink that was bothering me.

Yeah, I think the beige sink works (or at least works better) because it has some straight lines in it. (In the backsplash.) I have my spies out and have searched Craigslist nationwide, but I've never seen a sink like that beige one and the place that sold it told me via email that it's the only one they'd ever seen. So I may not be able to get a sink like that; in that case I would probably try to talk my DH into the more forties-style kind, like so (see link), except somehow slightly different, haha, because for reasons unknown he hated that sink. But I love the combination of curves/swooshes and jazzy straight lines. I would probably not go with a sink like Arlosmom's because the different backsplash really makes a difference in the look.

Note, though, that these radiuses are not the same as the half-circle curves you are putting in your plan. You may want to take a second look at those now. They may still work, but they may not. Either way is fine, just remember to keep it all in perspective at once.

Good point. I was thinking, "Hey, curves are curves!" but it's true that I should probably try to cobble something together in Photoshop or Chief Architect to see if it works.

When I set out to decorate my house, I pulled out a 1924 Armstrong linoleum ad and said, "I want this."

I want to see your kitchen!

You've done the same thing. Look at your thread title. You've long ago left anything Arts & Crafts behind.

Yeah, I guess it turned out that what I meant by transitional was just a more warm or natural art deco, as opposed to Machine Age art deco. I was thinking of it as art deco with A&C materials, but it's not really A&C materials--deco shapes wouldn't look right in quartersawn oak, for example. It's just art deco with more natural materials and nature references, instead of lacquer/bakelite/tile/enamel and machine references. And more curves and swooshes rather than glittering Chrysler Building sharpness.

In this instance, with that hood and full overlay cabs, you could easily end up with a very contemporary kitchen with Deco doorknobs. Fine if that's what you want, but don't be afraid to make a U-turn if it isn't.

U-turn! U-turn! I want it to feel more 1930s, not contemporary.

Here is a link that might be useful: 1940s sink

Idea! Check this out, now! It's got your faucet orientation and drainboards. And the price is low enough that you could have it shipped (whereabouts in the country are you, anyways?) These might not have the deep apron you like, though.

{{gwi:1733848}}

In fact, they have another one to look at:

{{gwi:1733850}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Sink candidate at Vermont Arch. Salvage

MMgwuaaagh omigod!
Thanks, Circuspeanut, not just for those specific sinks but for the link to VT Architectural Salvage, of whom I had never heard. I will contact them to get specs (basin depth etc.). That top sink is fully $100 cheaper than the apparently identical one at ThisOldTubAndTile.com.

Oh, also, Pinchme recommended that I check out your vent hood. Do you have a link or a picture I could see?

Hi ideagirl, very sorry but I have not read all the posts above to determine how authentic you are trying to go. I just thought I would through this out there for something to look at where you could get some mocked movement. This is recycled metal in poly or acrylic by Alkemi, they have many colors as well as honed and of course they look much different down.

http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/?action=view&current=luxor_h.jpg"; target="_blank">

I�m not sure what color or style this is in Alkemi

http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/?action=view&current=alkemi.jpg"; target="_blank">

PS Yeah, my husband is big on the deep apron. But I sent him the link anyways. I particularly like the top one of the two you posted. I really like sinks with the faucets in their normal orientation (vertical) but set up higher than the drainboards. Most of the late 30s to early 50s sinks have them flush with the drainboards, as in the photo linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: 1939 American Standard sink

I think what you want is a kitchen that looks like it could have been on the greatest Art Deco achievement of all--the SS Normandie.

{{gwi:1733853}}
{{gwi:1733854}}
{{gwi:1733855}}
{{gwi:1733856}}
{{gwi:1733857}}
{{gwi:1733858}}
{{gwi:1733860}}
{{gwi:1733862}}
{{gwi:1733858}}
{{gwi:1733864}}
{{gwi:1733866}}
{{gwi:1733868}}

In general, I would caution you about how you mix high luxe and lowly domestic elements, even from the same era, in one modest kitchen.

BTW I always thought sochi's countertops could have a very Deco look. In fact I'd check out that entire kitchen. It's modern but could be made moderne. Look here.

I think I snuck in a shot of my DIY tiled vent hood upthread, but here 'tis once more:

PS Yeah, my husband is big on the deep apron. But I sent him the link anyways. I particularly like the top one of the two you posted. I really like sinks with the faucets in their normal orientation (vertical) but set up higher than the drainboards. Most of the late 30s to early 50s sinks have them flush with the drainboards, as in the photo linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: 1939 American Standard sink

Omigod, Marcolo, did you have to get that post in before mine? My kitchen is wincing in humility.

Now THAT's a SHIP.

Marcolo, are you and Johnliu having a Vulcan mind-meld? He just sent me a bunch of pix of the SS Normandie!! I can hardly believe what I'm looking at was located inside a boat. A ship. Whatever. Same thing. Either way it's a boat. Which I can't believe those things are inside of.

Circuspeanut, my DH and I actually were just looking at your kitchen, and specifically your hood, for ideas the other day. I somehow spaced on whose they were.

Have you looked at the sinks available at The Demolition Depot?

Here is a link that might be useful: The Demolition Depot

Oooo, marcolo found better SS Normandie pictures than I did.

I am seeing cabinet faces of dark polished wood with center panels of translucent ribbed glass, glowing ever so subtly with golden light. Counters of veneered marquetry, covered in beveled glass, with chrome edging. The backsplash could be soft butterscotch leather framed in silver studs. Faucets would be chrome or nickel, retro bridge style. Hanging bullet pendants and chandeliers, mother of pearl pushbutton switchgear (''lights'', "'disposal'', ''cabin boy''). Just like in the first-class staterooms of the real SS Normandie, there would soft pink light (makes women look young) and, in place of your tanning bed, a brocade fainting couch. Oooo.

It should be a kitchen where DH, in his velvet smoking jacket, mixes your highball in a silver shaker as you cook. Because you do cook in a silk sheath and heels, don't you? Doesn't everyone? Don't be shuffling into your gorgeous Deco kitchen in slouchy cords and Birkenstocks, hear?

I do not even own cords or Birkenstocks. I think
voluntarily wearing Birkenstocks (or Crocs, etc.) must be irreconcilably incompatible with wanting an art deco kitchen. So have no fear in that regard, JohnLiu.

However, I also do not own a silk sheath. Will have to work on that.

I am seeing cabinet faces of dark polished wood with center panels of translucent ribbed glass, glowing ever so subtly with golden light.

That sounds gorgeous. I like this "stateroom" idea. This would be the most un-nautical looking nautical-themed kitchen on the face of the earth.

I went looking for images of those elements.

Ribbed glass panels in cabinet doors is easy enough. Here's one in a bathroom vanity:

Ribbed glass (or ''seeded'' glass) is also often found in period light fixtures:

As for marquetry countertops, if you asked most kitchen cabinet makers for such, I imagine they would gape blankly at the gabbling woman. But there are plenty of companies doing stock and custom hardwood marquetry inlays using CNC laser cutters. Here's the thing - they are doing it in floors. Google ''hardwood floor inlay'' and see. Yes, many of the rosettes are infeasible for a 26'' counter, but look for the ''border'' designs - or create your own. Assemble a 26'' wide section of inlaid ''floor'' on a 3/4'' plywood substrate, encase it in Waterlox, and I do believe you'd have yourself a marquetry countertop.

Another option - perhaps cheaper - is stenciling on hardwood, of which this is an example.

{{gwi:1733883}}

And so is this

What else? Beveled glass is readily available, as is chrome countertop edging, and any furniture or auto upholstery shop can cover a panel of 1/8'' plywood in soft butterscotch leather framed in silver studs (maybe not actual silver, but close enough).

I don't know exactly what version of Art Deco you are headed for, or if you even like butterscotch, but the point is, you are not doing yet another white kitchen, you're doing something that isn't being done by the mainstream, so the ordinary kitchen sources are not making this stuff.

Sure, there is cool Art Deco hardware around, but what passes for ''Art Deco'' kitchen cabinetry in the online catalogs is . . . disappointing.

You are going to have to make it, or at least source it, yourself - and I think if you're comfortable outside the painted lines, you can.

You'll find yourself hiring a floor guy to work on a countertop, hunting down the local hot rod upholstery shops, telling your cabinet maker to fit bathroom vanity faces to kitchen cabinet boxes - they'll still look at you like you're crazy, but you'll know you're not.

Go for it, girl!

I'm going to search Craigslist etc. for a cabinet door to go under the sink--some fabulous bookmatched veneer door that's about 20" wide (that seems to be the typical width of antique sinks) and 26"-ish tall, or maybe two such doors 10"-ish wide and 26"-ish tall--in other words, under-sink cabinet height--in a stain that looks good with our range, so that the rest of the cabinets can be matched to it. We're having Amish folks built the cabinets. I sent them a picture of Arlosmom's sink to make sure they could build cool radius-cornered sink bases; silly question for skilled woodworkers, maybe, but it seems like almost everything Amish people normally make is either Mission-ish or country-ish, so I wanted to make sure. They can, and should be getting back to me with a quote. I don't want fabulous veneers on everything (too fragile for a kitchen, not to mention too expensive) but I figure having it on the door that's centered under the sink, which is facing you when you walk in from the front of the house, would be cool.

I like butterscotch but not leather backsplashes. All I can picture is children flinging handfuls of jam at it. Or children causing a blender of chocolate pudding to explode all over it. And then I would have to spend six hours lying on the counter with a box of Q-tips and bottles of fine leather cleaner and conditioner, because I am a neatnik. And that would reduce the quality time I am able to spend with children and husband. And then my kids would need therapy when they grow up. I don't want my kids telling their therapists how I paid more attention to my backsplash than to them. So, no leather backsplash.

How selfish of you to deny the world future gifted but tortured artists with leather fixations.

Is there another place to feature veneer instead? Veneer does poorly around moisture. Upper cabs, perhaps?

O. Veneer and moisture. Good point. What if we dunk it in a vat of shellac? Would it be okay? Would it look okay? Would it laugh at moisture for years to come?

The kids can have fixations about my red leather armchair. It is visible from the dining room and sits not five feet from the closest edge of the table. They can fling jam at that.

hey Ideagirl,
Saw this on our local Craigslist and thought of you:

{{gwi:1733885}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Simple sleek 1930's Hoosier cabinet

Oh! Circuspeanut, that's so cool! I just sent some questions about it. If the measurements work and I can see a place for it in my layout, then I'll start dealing with how expensive it would no doubt be to get it to me...

Maybe I just have a crush on it and it wouldn't really work at all, but for the moment I'm charmed!