I’m so not a kitchen expert, but looks-wise I find it hideous.

I feel like it would suck up the pets, or me.

Nothing in that kitchen works visually, and the hood is the worst.

@Jilly

Yes! A huge suction device into the universe.

"Where did Mom go?"

"I dunno, she was standing there by the stove when the vent hood came on and *poof*"

Rather looks like they tacked the box the hood came in to the walls. Or maybe particle board.

I wonder if the range and hood were actual commercial appliances rather than "commercial style" residential appliances. I think I've seen that weird stepped up range thing before, but can't recall where. Agree that it looks weird. I kind of like the style of the cabinets. Maybe if the countertops, backsplash, and stove and range hood were replaced it would be a more appealing space.

It's weird. Sometimes I like weird. Not this time.

They want you to stare at that so you don't notice the purty view out the window.

@DLM2000-GW

I almost always like weird, unusual, bold decor. I am with you this time. It is not for me.

@mtnrdredux_gw

I hate, hate, hate windows like that. They seem to be the norm in Chicago, especially in the kitchen. I have one myself. I cannot imagine any light is able to filter through and the view is of a brick wall. It seems so insane to me. I covered mine with a mirror.

It's a kitchen makeover in need of a makeover, but if that is a fryer on the right side of the range, at least they have ventilation for it.

I'm no expert but do they actually make hoods that size or did they pay for custom? It also looks like the kitchen is jammed into an alcove. Enter at your own risk!

We were discussing these hoods just this weekend. My son could care less how it looks IF IT WORKS. I think he wants it to suck all odors out fast...I told him to be sure he secures his knives before turning something like that on!!!

Maybe its a Cone of Silence?

@palimpsest

... which in turn means it costs about $25,000 to have a range hood.

Reminds me to never post photos of my kitchen on that forum. My hood is in the form of the kind that comes under a microwave. I hate it, as it does nothing. OTOH I like it a ton more than the thought of spending 25k on a real one dictated by the folks on the kitchen forum.

Well, somebody is clearly overcompensating.

Actually I found out by comparison that a microwave vent hood does do something if it is vented to the outside. My original apartment had a 1960s range hood that was a little fan in the center under the duct and a bare light bulb. The apartment stunk like fried food when I bought it, but I moved in in the summer and there was still Christmas tree needles and a piece of candy the realtor's son had stomped under his foot at least 6 months earlier still on the floor when I moved in. So I don't think the smell was from actually Using an ineffective hood. The previous tenant cleaned by shoving the visible debris under the furniture.

We reconfigured the kitchen slightly and determined there was another duct to the exterior, and we used that one. What we found out was it also connected to the powder room downstairs from the kitchen and when we fired up the MW hood you got a powerful blast of hot air from the kitchen when you opened the powder room door. So not only did it exhaust, it exhausted vertically Down, which the range hood experts in the Kitchen Forum says does not happen at all.

I don't think the MW range hood is adequate for every situation, and I don't think down drafts are effective at getting the vapors Into the duct, but the "0" or "100" scale that they use to rate what you should have as a range hood (It should suck a tennis ball through a gardenhose to be acceptable at all), is kind of ridiculous.

I like friday, i get it that in an urban location there are compromises, but it still strikes me as a poor choice ... why not clerestory?

@palimpsest

My mw hood vents to nowhere. The only other option would be venting to the garage. If only I had $3M and could just move to the home of my dreams. Until I win the lottery, here I sit with my useless mw hood that leads to nowhere.

Along those same lines @mtnrdredux_gw

That is a good question. I am sure the answer is cost. OTOH I have also seen many homes in my dream price range with the same issue. For now I just pretend there is a solid wall behind my mirror, instead of a window. Truth be told I have 8 windows in my house with a similar configuration. Three in my living room, three in bedrooms, and one in my staircase. I do like the mirror placement in my kitchen but OMG I need to move!

What is the schedule for Powerball? I need a ticket.

I looked at the whole house. It looks to be nicer brick on the facade and Chicago common brick on the sides, and they probably did not want to change anything about any of the windows. It's not always that hard but people don't like to in masonry houses/

My view is sort of worse. I have a view of the windowless backs of three houses (there are four but I can only see three at a time) All various forms of lumpy stucco. One purple, one mint green, one off white, one sky blue. Sky blue only looks nice in the sky. Usually with raking sunlight across them showing every defect in the stucco. And the window I see it from is almost floor to ceiling. I had sheers made for the window to screen the view but we keep them open because the cat snags them accidentally when she wants to look at birds. The upside is the room is always nicely daylit.

Like @ilikefriday my microwave hood of shame vents nowhere. I will not be posting it on the kitchen forum for fear of the villagers coming after me with pitchforks and torches. @palimpsest your spiraling logic of the bigger range requiring bigger hood requring more height and so on had me in fits of laughter. You are so spot on. Neither house I've ever owned or any of the places I've rented have ever had an actual range hood. Everyone that comes in the house knows if I've been cooking Indian food, but otherwise I'm still able to whip up some pretty delicious meals with my very simple range. I'm sure if I had $100-200k (maybe more? I'm not sure anymore) I could replace my kitchen with something wonderful. But in the meantime I'll just live with what I have.

That is a very brown and butt ugly kitchen.

It does not seem to be a particularly well designed space for a cook's kitchen, so the stove and hood seem like overkill. I also found the island countertop to be oddly configured. I understand curves so you don't jam your hips or a kid's head on the corners, but the 2 corners on the cook's side are nice and pointy, the other 2 are very large curves. And what is with the bar downstairs with the wall of cabinets and countertop acres away from it? I just am so curious sometimes why something is configured the way it is and how the owners use/live in their homes.

I'm no expert on exhaust hoods or nice well thought out kitchens myself, as I've never had either...

But I'm wondering, remember when Ida had that neighbor? The one with the illegal hood vent blowing straight into her yard? Could this, possibly be? Look at the size of that hood. It almost looks like a medical grade immersion tub for physical therapy! Mounted upside down on the ceiling. I had visions of Ida's neighbor having an exhaust system such as this thing!

And how tall do you have to be to reach into the microwave?