thanks for the responses. yes, there is a reason they don't want a range... that would certainly be a more straight forward route and probably what they will have to do, but before she gives up on her vision I am trying to help her to see if what she wants exists. they are doing this a little under the gun and have to get it done sort of quick thus they really don't want to have to apply for special permits or go through board approval for non-"kosher" stuff. They bought this place to get my nephew, their son, into a decent public kindergarten on the East Side and they were under a lot of pressure to find a place quickly. While it is a nice apartment, they won't be there forever and have resale on their minds so don't want to sink a ton of money into it. there is very little counterspace and my sister in law finds ranges sort of "clunky". She feels that with a cooktop you will at least visually have a continuous countertop which will give the illusion of more space. Again, she may have to give up on this but i feel she has given this a lot of thought and has good ideas and just want to help her either find what she wants or cross this off of her list as a complete non-option and move on the plan B. Thanks again. If you have any other thoughts, we are all ears!

First of all, I was going to suggest something very similar to sweeby's. Hallways lend themselves to the idea of a destination. A way to combine function and decor is to follow what sweeby said. But I here you on the "we have so much to do" rant. The problem with hallways, and yours is like mine, they are sometimes narrow and cramped. Cool colors recede, warm colors advance. I would try to find a door color warmer than the wall color in order to "shorten" the hallway. Even a nice very golden-toned wood would be nice. Maybe something with interesting carving to emphasize the "destination" aspect. Or, what about using the normal door the closet comes with and upholstering it in a beautiful accent fabric, and then adding maybe a nice soft swag valance and "tails" hanging above on the header. Could be something soft like a tone-on-tone toile, or it could be something more bolder with a "statement" toward the style of decorating you're choosing. Maybe a soft sage-green bamboo motif. The fabric on the door can sort of "suggest" the function of what's behind it and no one will confuse it with getting lost on the way to the bathroom! I think fabric would soften the space. The stone floor speaks "hard," and then you have a lot of right-angles with the door frames. Looks great, but my eye wants to look for softness. I vote "no" on the mirror. Not in that narrow, bulls-eye of a hallway. And, like I said, I have one. Also, for the pictures on the two walls, I would try to keep their frames in a tone very near the color of the walls. The perspective in that hallway doesn't need bold lines to move you down it; in fact, if you want people to linger I would suggest as little contrast between the frames and the wall color as possible. And, yes, that length of hall lends itself very well to track lighting. I can see that curvy bendable kind meandering down the hall, with spots turned this way and that for illuminating your photos. Good luck!

WOW Caroline. Lot of future plans. It looks like you have to go through the kitchen from master to get to bathroom? Or am I missing a door some where? HA I like the Aircraft house name too. I sympathize with you on the long narrow living room. I had one that was 26 foot long and less than 12 foot wide as I remember. I had to do it in two areas and even one time I had the dinning room table at the end and it was far from the kitchen but was a lovely view of the river and pool. And we only sat there when we had company. Master bedroom was the same long narrow room because it had been two rooms opened up. I think this is why I love my house and really want to stay here. I think I actually over estimated the SQ FT of it. Removing the three 6 inch thick walls it actually measures 1275 inside and I did not remove the other interior walls. Just out side walls and main wall down the center. It is a great size for one and even when both of us were here it was a good size. Just not as large as I thought. I was counting the total outside measurement. If I had it to do over I might change a coupe of things but it is good as it is. Still not sure if I will enclose half of the front porch. Since I moved my porch furniture to the nice cool shady carport I do not really have reason to enclose the front and I have enough space in the house for me for sure now.

maybe try the mirror over the cabinet (instead of the shelf) then a large piece of artwork over the bench. The cushion on the bench looks a little skimpy, I would do something twice as thick with a couple of pillows.