Renee, the fridge in my first board and the red one in Boxer's board are both Meneghinis. It's an Italian brand, and as far as I can tell not distributed in the U.S. But extremely cool. The blue one is an ice box that was converted into a refrigerator.

Renee- Unfortuanely (for the upper class) the gains in technology have freed the servant class...and now we're all working in our own gardens, again. Luckily, Katherine enjoys it! LOL

I like the teal, in your kitchen! It looks like you're under water and I love the porthole and range.

Pal- I like the purple! The range is great, but I like Marcolo's idea about heavy velvet drapes...hopefully, also in purple. Maybe a marble backsplash? With the dining area...some cool 'Captain Nemo' chairs...maybe with some brass? would look great! Just an idea :)

Marcolo- Thanks :)

Love the kitchen! I knew you had something big planned...and you didn't disappoint. Great finishes and combination and while I don't really 'get' steampunk...this is what I'd say was it!

Jterrilynn- LOL! I had to laugh at your description...because with that picture, I imagined this was going to be a 'steampunk bachelor pad'. Neat looking range, too.

Cawaps- The blue kitchen is wonderful! The (icebox?) is prefect and all the gadgets are fun, too. In the earlier kitchen...I really like your range! And the chairs are beautiful.

Boxer- Your kitchen is not Fugly (LOL) but I do think the copper colors are taking away from that beautiful red icebox! Maybe bring in more gray, black, brass (?) instead of the coppper and you'll be happier with the space :)

Greg- Neat kitchen! I can see someone actually living with this one. The steampunk influence is a bit light...but the appliances more than make up for it, IMHO.

Prickly- Very nice. The black and dark wood go well with the ornate Victorian details (like that door knob!) and the copper 'steampunk' small appliances are great. I like that coffee maker...very cute...and all the lighting.

Gee it's so annoying not to find the stuff that's in my head for my design so I'll have to get into inventing my own. I have re-adjusted some of the flaws in my design by inventing a kooky Victorian gossip bench using antique Victorian iron work. My husband loves the design a little too much so I told him not to start having dreams or anything lol. I actually know a gal and her mate who would really like this kitchen (I think).
Will it work now with the gossip bench adjustments? I want to get this right before I move on.

I saw a quote that defined Steampunk as "Goths discover brown" (or sepia) (http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/10/steampunk-101). This is kind of a riff on that, focusing on blacks and browns. I was able to use a lot of items I had found that didn't seem to fit into the other more colorful boards. I wanted a striped wallpaper in brown & black, but wasn't able to find the right colors to work with the floor and counter.

Molteni range
Zinc barrel hood from BrooksCustom.com
Kraftmaid cabinets in onyx
Encaustic tile floor (picture of actual Victorian floor restored by floorer.co.uk)
Monaco brown marble counter from DirectFromMines.com
Hobnail safe from 1stDibs.com (I would polish this up)
Leather door with oval window (restaurant salvage) from Build it Green NYC
Farrow and Ball wallpaper, the Silvergate papers
Antique Ritter articulated dental lamp from radioguy.1stDibs.com
Wall lights from AntiquesOfTheSea.com
Early 1920s industrial research lab soapstone apron sink w/ rounted drainboard from UrbanRemainsChicago.com
Icebox converted to refrigerator from AntiqueVintageAppliances.com
Tandem spotlight on articulated arm (because it reminded me of the silly Steampunk goggles) from Radioguy.1stDibs.com
Jardiniare cast iron bracket from kaboodle.com
Ikea Ekby Laiva shelf
Brown bottles from hometrainingtools.com
Leech jar, because I thought it was funny, image from collectibles.about.com
Fanimation ceiling fan from HansenWholesale.com
French Hobnail safe (this one is already polished and oiled) from RubyLane.com
Porcelian street lamp with outrigged insulators from radioguy.1stDibs.com

Marcolo, I can't find it online, but at the toy store I saw a monorail set that was totally steampunk with copper carriages. Plastic, of course, but I thought of you.... :)

Awesome. I went back to an old GW thread about steampunk and much to my dismay somebody else (forget who) suggested pretty much the same thing. However, I will continue to retain full credit for this idea, since I originally offered it many years ago (not saying how many) when a corporation was planning new office space for an in-house advertising department and wanted "out-of-the-box" ideas. At the time there was a lot of paper traveling between offices and the locomotive was going to automate that. (In the end, of course, the only unusual element they put into that space was a set of very low interior office windows that allowed passing male executives to leer deeply up the skirts of the female graphic designers on their high chairs. The women, to their credit, immediately put up butcher paper and made no effort to prettify it. Anyway.)

I am very, very tempted to do an Art Deco Streamline-era riff off of steampunk. Some steampunk artists are already moving in this direction--keeping some elements of actual steampunk, such as shiny, pretty, repurposed and highly imaginative, but simply switching the era and aesthetic.

I even coined a name for it: Streampunk. Don't you love it?

Was this the train, plllog? I came across it the other day when searching for images.

Here is a link that might be useful: Steampunk Train

Cool train!

Marcolo, I like the idea of Streampunk.I collected some items that fit better in that aesthetic than into Steampunk.

I keep thinking of Tomorrowland at Disneyland (which is neither Steam nor Streampunk, but its own evolving thing). The look of the area changed over the years, but was had lots of white and silver when I first went. In 1998 they did a major overhaul and did kind of a retro-future look that I though of as Flash Gordon with lots of bronze, gold and brown. Some of the sculptural elements are a bit reminiscent of Steampunk.

marcolo - (Streampunk) Yes, please. Streampunk sounds fantastic and I'd love to see your design.

cawaps - (Goth Discovers Sepia) You are obviously very talented at this. This latest design is fantastic too.

Another attempt at a Steampunk kitchen.

Cawaps, love the range and sink area as well as the mirrored cabinet (what is that?).

Purplepansies, that's it!!

Marcolo, don't feel bad. Come to L.A. and dine at Matteo's, you can sit where Sinatra always sat (though I think they took down the brass plaque when they updated the interior.) The train is still there, though, and if you're nice, I'm sure they'll turn it on for you....

"Streampunk" sounds cool :)

Jterrilynn, the mirrored cabinet is the refrigerator, a conversion of a vintage icebox.

I like your latest, but I'm frustrated with the resolution! I can't see things well enough to tell what they all are. I like the overall look and colors, and the stripes (wallpaper?) are sort of what I originally had in mind for the sepia kitchen (and I might re-do it if I can something in the right colors). The chandy looks a lot like the one Marcolo used--is it also from bike chains, or is the resemblance superficial?

Yes cawaps, it is from bike parts. The artist is Carolina Fontoura Alzaga.

Plunging in! Not sure about this, had a hard time with a vision because this is definitely not a style I like.

First, my apologies to hosenemesis - I had been working using the same kitchen image as you when you posted. But by then I just couldn't imagine changing and starting all over.

So here goes:

table - by furniture designer Giancarlo de Astis, made of a jet engine turbine and walnut
armchair - VandM.com
refrigerator - Elmira Stove Works
clock - overstock.com
barstool - hometone.com - made from recycled bike parts
Sonoma Forge faucet
copper backsplash - googled image
range - googled image - probably you guys can identify it, I don't know ranges
Encaustic floor tiles from New York from Solar Antique Tiles
green wallpaper - googled image
rose-colored wallpaper - blackrockboutique.com
sconce by Art Donovan
Repurposed Antique Glass Hemingray Insulator Pendant Light from relique.com
tea-maker - science museum.org.uk - here's what they say about it:
"The original design of this machine was built by Albert E Richardson, a clockmaker from Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. The patentee of the machine and maker of this example, Frank Clarke, a Birmingham gunsmith, purchased the original machine and all rights to it from Richardson for an undisclosed sum. It was heated by methylated spirits which would be lit by the automatic striking of a match. This action was initiated by the sounding of the alarm clock, which rang again when the tea was ready. A wooden base holds the alarm clock, kettle tilter and methylated spirit stove. Although ingenious, the heavy reliance on the match being lit at the correct time made the machine potentially dangerous. Made by the Automatic Water Boiler Co." - cool but scary!

I'm really liking that Hemingray Insulator Pendant and the jet parts table purplepansies. I'm with you, don't like this style either.

That teapot thing is amazingly cool, and the copper and green color scheme works. Might be a bit too many patterns even for me, though.

The steampunk booth at the art show I went to last weekend was absolutely packed, more than any other area, and it drew all kinds of people.

If I may be so bold, I think one reason why people aren't comfortable with this style is that they are approaching it from the wrong assumptions. It's not about taking a Victorian kitchen and making it "punk." It's about being imaginative and inventive. Rather than designing a Victorian kitchen and then shopping for steampunk art or furniture online, it is a lot more fun to go to eBay and salvage websites, find pretty old Victorian mechanical objects and then try to imagine a completely new use for them.

I'm not comfortable with this style because I experience sensory overload. In every design on this board there are elements that I like very much but in each case taken all together it is too much for me too take in and I am left feeling overwhelmed.

I do wish I had the time and talent to do a design board in homage to a beautiful little steam launch that plies the waters around the San Juan Islands in Washington State. It is named Rainbow with colors to match. I (as much as I'm able) imagine the steam engine on a wall outside the kitchen and supplying hot water for the kitchen. I would assign someone to blow the whistle at noon each day. The kitchen would be in a few primary colors - very few textures. The title would be 'steam but not punk'. :)

Orcasgramma, that what it's like for me too...sensory overload. I tried to keep my designs in one frame because of the sensory thing.
Marcolo, I do get what you mean about a new use for items, its something I most always do anyway but I still can't warm up to this style. I am enjoying the learning process part though.

I don't see sensory overload as an element of steampunk at all. Bruce Rosenbaum's house (I posted it online in the other thread) is fairly simple in design--it's the repurposed Victorian mechanicals that set it apart. The rooms that house the craziest contraptions (like his office) have, IIRC, neutral paint. I have seen far, far busier Victorian patterns in Old House Interiors magazine than I ever have at a steampunk exhibit.

The steam launch idea is just fantastic.

Purplepansies copper & green: Even though you started with the same base kitchen as Hosenemesis, you ended up with very different kitchens. That turbine table is fabulous! In fact, all your steampunky items are great, including the Rube Goldberg-esque teapot. I think the barstool would be quite at home in Marcolo's proposed "Stream"-punk--it has great Art Deco lines.

I noticed more duplications of items and images than usual on this thread (I used the same table as Pal, and several of the things I used showed up in other people's boards). I attributed it to us all using the same search terms, and those searches turning up a paucity of usable images (compared to some of our other topics).

This weekend we are due to introduce the topic for the next Design Around, so what would people like to tackle next?

On the DAT thread I proposed a kitchen that is based upon a piece of art.

Here's the old list of topics, updated with Florantha's suggestion. I've been keen to do the one based on fashion; the art suggestion is up the same alley and I think would be fun and interesting. There's been ongoing interest in recycled/upcycled, too.

Materials
Knotty pine
Metal cabinetry
Interesting tile (we can do this one over and over)
Vetrazzo
Marmoleum graphic series
Back-painted glass
Commercial Kitchens/Restaurant Supply
Avocado or harvest gold appliances

Defining the Home
Spanish Colonial Revival
Craftsman
Prarie School
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
Pimp this kitchen (choose home/kitchen from real estate listing)
Beach House
Mash-up house (what do you do with a house that is already a mash-up of styles, like a Mission-style Queen Anne)

Theme/Decorating Styles
Eclectic
Starting from clothing fashions as your inspiration pic, design a kitchen that suits the era/mood/style
Starting from a piece of artwork, design a kitchen that incorporates and is inspired by the art
Scandinavian

Budget/Supply restrictions
$10K budget
Ikea kitchen (all Ikea?)
Mail order kitchen
Home Depot kitchen
Architectural salvage/upcycle/recycle

Define the People
Mid-life crisis bachelor (or cougar) pad
Rabid sports fan wants to decorate in team colors

Presentation Strategies that Can Be Combined with Other Choices
This/Not That (Good taste/bad taste, works/doesn't work)
High/Low (same look, different budgets)

What we have done so far:
1) Apple Jasper
2) Colonial Revived
3) 1920's Kitchens and All That Jazz
4) Formica Patterns are Coooool!
5) Neo-Tuscan/TuscAmerican
6) I'm Dreaming of a White Kitchen, But...
7) Victorian/Queen Anne
8) Animal 'Prints'
9) Keeping the Golden Oak
10) Tarting Up a Tudor (posted as #9)
11) Pink for the Present Day & Part 2
12) 1960s tract house
13) French Country
14) Rustic Modern
15) Hollywood Regency and Background
16) Yellow Kitchens and Background
17) Steampunk and Background

marcolo - I definitely haven't seen Steampunk in person, but am close to Waltham. What exhibit did you see? I'd love to see it in person, because I don't get it AT ALL.

bean

I would be up for fashion, art or materials.

Here's the information and dates for the International Steampunk City Festival.

I could do a material. I'd like to do a '40s house sometime. Or pimp this kitchen.

How would fashion or art work? If everybody starts with something different does the thread have any cohesion, or do we pick a current fashion trend first?

I've been collecting images but got stuck on the wall color, dining room table and chairs, and now we're leaving for the weekend so here it is sans those three things (and a floor too, now that I look at the pic).

I really like the trapeze lighting that I found (I think it's in Australia; they seem to have cool lighting there).

The island is the, um, gurney? from Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder. Looked too cool to pass up! I think the range would look better with copper and bright brass instead of copper and SS, same for the hood.

I haven't wanted to look at others' designs until mine was done, though I'm sure I could've benefited from the further education of seeing them all, and I look forward to reading the whole thread later!

cheers

It would have cohesion in a way in that it could be an exercise in finding inspiration from things that interest you, weather that is fashion, art or other. Although a thread like that might take it all to a higher level it is the beginning part of finding inspiration for a remodel that stumps many. I think a lot of people look at what others are doing to get started but why not try to encourage looking at something you already have or want or a time in life that made you happy...but have a spring board piece of art or fashion or interest as the theme.
I'm just not sure how you would title the post.

For the fashion thread, I was thinking that everyone would pick a fashion image and build on that, like the flapper dress in the 20's thread or the Ann Boleyn portrait in the Tudor thread (although I thing someone figured out it wasn't really Ann). The fashion would inspire the design of the kitchen but also hopefully be connected to the style and/or era of the house (Tudor fashion for a Tudor revival, mod mini-dress for an uber-hip 60s house).

For artwork, here's what Florantha suggested, snipped from the the "About" thread:

"How about asking the designer to integrate a piece of art into a kitchen design and require that a certain number of kitchen design features be inspired by the art? And let the designer choose the piece?

OR

Pick a single art piece for all to work with (agreeing on the piece might be hard, though.)"

I think we get more participation on the threads where there is more flexibility, so I would lean toward letting the designer choose. But maybe that's not enough cohesiveness?

I'm really interested in the following.
- Spanish Colonial Revival
- Artwork Inspiration - I could imagine the designer choosing a specific piece, presenting a picture of it, and then presenting a design based on it. I think the flexibility would encourage participation and be a lot of fun.
- Eclectic
- Beach House

pimped up pop art kitchen

Cawaps- That sounds like a great idea, for the fashion thread! We could all pick our own era, so we would have plenty of images to choose from...and it would be fun to see what people choose :)

I think "fashion" or "art" would be as cohesive as "Pink" or "Yellow" was. I would imagine it would be hard to agree on a piece of art.

I want to do eclectic because my townhouse is a recently done eclectic house from kitchen to baths to the infamous monkey room.

I just found out we are having a steam punk festival in port Townsend WA in June.

I would love to see colorful kitchens like in Mexico or Spain which have rustic elements but used differently than the rustic modern thread. Steam punk was a bit kooky.. Some interesting choice of elements but really not something I expect to see ever in real life.

I'm not seeing much consensus on next topics. We've got vots for:

Fashion
Art (I'm lumping "pimped up pop art kitchen" here)
Materials (but nothing specific)
40s house
Pimp this kitchen
Spanish Colonial Revival
Beach house
Eclectic
Colorful rustic

I think art had the most mentions, followed by fashion, and then eclectic and a material. But counting these things is harder than it sounds.

I am drawn to beach house and materials, but I'd be willing to try art. I suppose if determining consensus is difficult, there's always the option of drawing topics out of a hat! :)

Fashion is probably the category that is oldest with the most votes, so I would would say fashion or art inspiration.

We've done modern rustic, and I think that many of the kitchens have been colorful or eclectic, so while these are good topics, we may be repeating some general inspirations kind of soon if we go with one of those right now.

I've been the one lobbying for fashion, so I'm biased. But art would be a similar process, and I would be cool with that as well.

I'm ok with fashion and art. But I'd like to have somebody start the first post with examples of rooms done around pieces of art, or maybe some shots of what's hip in fashion this year. I haven't been paying much attention.

If we do fashion, (or art) I would be willing to set it up because I think it's been a while. I have some thoughts about how I would like to do it.

I don't think it necessarily has to be current fashion, although current fashion is so diverse, that covers an awful lot of bases. What I suggest is to use fashion as an inspiration or a particular garment as inspiration and this can drive the color scheme or the style of kitchen, and it could be done as a relatively subjective interpretation, or as objectively as you want:

Meaning a Menswear kitchen could have a tan floor, navy cabinets, brass hardware, a striped backsplash and leather seating--as a classic "blue blazer" kitchen.

A bridal dress could inspire an all Ivory kitchen.

I would *not* want the kitchen to take a singular fabric from the fashion world and simply use it as a textile in the kitchen.

The Idea is to reinterpret the fashion in the materials used for kitchens.

I don't think a historical fashion needs to inspire a historical kitchen. This Ikat dress from the 18th c. could inspire a contemporary kitchen, for example.

Marcolo, I gave visual examples of using fashion on one of the design around this threads awhile back. I'll have to look some more because I can't remember which DAT thread I posted the idea on. I do remember I used fashion out of the Women's Black and White catalog and how the 2012 fashion was a 1980's rip-off.

Found it! Look toward the bottom of the link below. Isn�t it funny how everything comes back in style after a while?

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1110530014438.html

Here is a link that might be useful: formica...so cool

Bumping for feedback.

Pal, I'm okay with you posting either fashion or art (I think they were the leading suggestions). As I said, I'm biased, so I'd rather throw the decision between the two to someone without a horse in the race, and you seem to fit the bill.

Jterrilyn, I'd forgotten about that post of yours. Thanks for the link. Your post may have been how the fashion idea got on the list to begin with.

It would be fun to design something around an artwork. Spiral Jetty, perhaps? Just kidding...

Cawaps, I like your Sepia Goth kitchen. It's busy, but light enough- not gloomy. The sink is AWESOME. Same with that zinc hood. The creepy dental lamp is a nice touch, but the leech jar is a must-have.

Streampunk. Heh heh heh. That's good!

Purplepansies, you have great taste in google images. You even chose a similar backsplash and faucet! The jet turbine table and the clock are great steampunk, but the tea maker takes the cake. I think those insulator lights are really pretty. The first time I saw insulators used this way was in a newspaper shot of the Edison Museum- they had dozens of them hung as pendants down a spiraling staircase, each fitted with an edison bulb.

Mtnfever, your kitchen is another pretty one- I love your Young Frankenstein table. I really love these gorgeous black and metal ranges- especially with the huge metal hoods. Time for a kitchen remodel.

Renee

This came into my email over the weekend (not sure how it found its way to me??). Thought i'd pass it on in case it interests any of you in the Boston area:

Steampunk is a movement that�s oozing into books, movies, fashion, and for some time now, home design. Imagine brass and copper, glass and polished wood, and intricate details that have been long neglected in overall design. The result is a wonderful combination of Victorian era antiques salvaged and reconstructed into clever modern day gadgets. Connoisseurs of the aesthetic have "steampunk�d" everything from computers, chairs, televisions, guitars and whole houses.

Experience Steampunk for yourself at Audio Concepts� Experience Center in Boston as they unveil their new Jules Verne room, named after the Victorian-era, science-fiction author that has inspired much of the Steampunk constructive ideas. This event is free and open to the public.

Here is a link that might be useful: To Register

There's a jargon issue here and I'm on the wrong side of the generation gap. Please clarify what "pimp" as a verb means in a decorating context...is it "make something cheap and trashy looking" or is it "try to tart it up to sell it without spending much" or "beautify it" or "exploit it" or "the sky's the limit because this is someone else's money"?

via urban dictionary-

pimped out
Having excessive embellishments or ornaments, particularly of the flashy kind, ie feathers in fedoras, black canes with silver handles, multicolored mis-matched shoes, and colorful crushed velvet suits. Preferably worn simultaneously.

I don't really want to see any pimped out kitchens and could really care less for fashion inspired kitchens, it would take the DAT kitchen threads too far out of my reality to be of interest. But I am only a lurker on these threads and would probably look in every once in a while no matter what you choose.

I think that the spirit in which "pimp this kitchen" was suggested was to pick an actual kitchen from a real estate listing, with the context of the home it's in, and provide a design board for remodeling it. Nothing more. The "pimp" part was tongue-in-cheek, a riff on MTV's "Pimp my Ride" for car makeovers. I haven't actually seen that show and don't know how crazy they get.

Makeover this kitchen might be a better description.