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jterriynn, the steampunk fashion stuff definitely has a sexual edginess. As for the steampunk decorating stuff, I've decided that it's not for me. ____ I really did try to take up this challenge but I've given up. Just thought I'd record a little of my journey and why I am going to quit. Surely a better thinker than I am will conjure a fabulous kitchen from the ashes of my fabulous ideas. First, I looked hard at the Metropole subway entrance and tried to channel it into a design. Didn't get anywhere. Without a grand high ceiling and skylight, this aesthetic is tough. Sure, I could have invented a high-ceilinged room with amazing glass and spidery separations between glass, but that's an architectural feature of the house or apartment that would be the impetus, not the muse itself. So then I got to thinking about Madame Curie and her cohort--now there were visionary scientists of the period! I asked my DH what he can recall of the huge science classroom that he worked in for roughly 30 years, in a c. 1900 building. He says "Hard maple floors. Oak cabinets--a whole wall of them. Long lab tables with a few sinks and bunsen burners. Tall curved faucets. Tall windows and window shades (the latter were removed when they got tacky looking. Not sure when this equipment was installed." I started working on a Marie Curie's lab theme for the kitchen olioboard--canisters lettered in that art nouveau Metropolitan typeface (see photo above) with "radium" and "pitchblende" stenciled on them and gaslight fixtures in ceiling and a steam radiator painted in an outlandish color but decided the whole thing was not worth my time. This was reinforced when I located a photo of Curie's lab, which made me recall that she had been allocated space in a "shed" outside of the physics dept, a silly woman working outside the mainstream. How's this for a setting for real-life science fiction? To quote her: "Its glass roof did not afford complete shelter against rain; the heat was suffocating in summer, and the bitter cold of winter was only a little lessened by the iron stove, except in its immediate vicinity. There was no question of obtaining the needed proper apparatus in common use by chemists. We simply had some old pine-wood tables with furnaces and gas burners. We had to use the adjoining yard for those of our chemical operations that involved producing irritating gases; even then the gas often filled our shed. With this equipment we entered on our exhausting work." All this just made me mad on behalf of Curie and did nothing for my peaceful kitchen. Besides, she was working with radium so the radioactivity might be hard on the family life and the cuisine. Here's another Curie laboratory image, I would assume for her later work== perhaps inspiring for another GW'er? a 40 x 30 print of this can be had for $200 Gotta admit: Science and cooking aren't in the same department. In fact, people make fun of modern "operating room" white kitchens--they are antimatter for a relaxing, gentle room. Then I tried to work up wallpaper based on Steiglitz's photo of a train yard...plenty of steam there! But I couldn't find a source of a blown-up version of the photo and I became afraid that the photo would be taken as being about trains--not a peaceful kitchen for me either! Then there's Joe Stella, a painter of 1920s who did numerous Brooklyn Bridge stylized paintings. I messed with his arches and colors. But this got me nowhere either. The truth: TNT explosiveness and edgy are not me and decorating with a steampunk science muse doesn't connect me to any worthwhile kitchen design. Sorry to be cranky, but I'm done here I think. I know it's fun but not the fun I can really enjoy. I look forward to somebody else's fun stuff on the postings Steampunk thread. Have fun stormin' the castle, visionaries! Here is a link that might be useful: Marie Curie lab poster from All Posters

We are overwhelmed and touched by your responses. Thank you all for your time and thoughts! I'm amazed that so many of you have gone with quartersawn oak --I see so few in the magazines and on the gallery here, but of course someone's buying it or there wouldn't be so many cabinet companies offering it. Cotahele and sombriuel mongrel, your kitchens are GORGEOUS -- and very period appropriate. Cotahele, I love the giant windows. The cabinetry blends with them perfectly, and the overall effect is definitely sunny and warm (great gold wall color!). Sombriuel mongrel, I really love the shellac. I 'rejuvenated' all the oak trim on our old house, so I appreciate the work involved and the rich glow that results. It looks 'like it was always there' (only better). Boxerpups, I don't know how you come up with a slew of pictures for every situation. I also loved looking at the Kennebec and Crown Point kitchens sumitted by others -- I looked at them years ago, but only saw the white... Thank you all!

Finished up Spook by Mary Roach, an in-depth and irreverant look at the world of mediums, ghosts etc. Very funny (as she always is) and interesting, but more of a pick-up and put-down book really so it took a while to finish. Finished The People of Privilege Hill by Jane Gardam, a book of short stories (one or two featuring old characters like Old FILTH etc.). Most of the stories were very well written, but there were a few slightly odd ones in there. I think it was a bit of a vanity project for the author... Then an ILL came in: Fire on the Mountain by Anita Desai, a novel with absolutely beautiful descriptions in it of the hill station in North India where the book is located. There is a crusty grumpy old lady who lives there, glad to be alone when suddenly one of her daughters dumps her own daughter (the protag's great granddaughter) there all summer. It's how the relationship develops (or dosen't) between the two generations. Really enjoying this one bc the writing is just so good. Then, as a NF read, I have another book by Sue Hubbell, a series of essays (I think) about her country living and keeping bees. I really enjoyed her other book, so am hoping this will be similar. I also need to switch off One-Click on ama. It is absolutely far too easy to buy a book right now when I have a slow mo at work...