Have you seen klb_2000's PS26? I believe it's 36 inches wide and it has 3 bands. I don't think she'll mind if I post a photo:

{{gwi:1427515}}

I have a 42" PS26 with 4 bands.

Odd numbers are kind of the general rule for aesthetics. Honestly, if you have four very wide spaces it would be ok...but for the 36"....I think 3 is perfect. (What a gorgeous hood!)

Not sure if this helps, but here's a picture of my not-yet-installed MA hood (36" wide) -- excuse the mess since the kitchen hasn't been put back together. Also, have you looked at mamadadapaige's hood -- not quite like yours, but it has 4 bands.

mamadadapaige's hood is 42" wide.

ella_socal, your hood is gorgeous!

I wish ModernAire had more photos of hoods on their website ...

Erikanh: thanks for the pic of kb 2000's beautiful hood. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's more like 30" wide (based on the size of range I think she has (Lacanche Cormartin?), plus standard subway tile size...). Which means there was probably never any question of going with 4 bands in her case. Still, it's nice to see how great a 3-banded hood can look. She really has fantastic taste, doesn't she?

BTW, your hood, erikanh, is probably one of my favorites on here, as is the rest of your kitchen (I've only seen the range wall, but it's enough!) I will go back and look at yours for reference, even though it is 6" wider than mine. (How tall is it, btw?)

igloochic: okay, so I didn't make that up about odd vs. even. Thanks! Trick is, there's the number of bands, then there's the number of "spaces" as you put it. In my case, 4 bands would yield 3 spaces, since 2 of those bands would be on the edges. So when you say 3 spaces would be perfect for my 36" hood, you are talking about 4 bands, right? Or do you mean 3 bands would be best, which would yield two spaces, like kb 2000's?

Ella socal: what a killer hood you have! It is definitely divided into 3 parts, compositionally, which is interesting in that it is only 2 bands. Something I hadn't thought of...

Keep those thoughts and pictures coming. They really, really help!

I have no photos, but would feel about it the same as you do. The example of how a window is split is a good one. What if instead of doing the 4 bands equally spaced, do a wider space in the center? That might keep it from looking like the bands are spaced too closely together. So instead of spaces at 10"-10"-10", have something like 7"-16"-7"?

Hi viva,

My hood is only 18 inches high. We have very low ceilings. I tried in vain to find where klb said how wide her hood was ... so silly of me to not think of counting the subway tiles!

When I ordered my hood, Teresa faxed me a mock-up drawing of how it would look. Do you think that would help at all?

Erika

Does this help?

Rhome, you are a genius! I was already going to say so based on your suggestion of considering uneven spacing. But now.. wow! I'm thunderstruck.

What you've clarified for me is that it's a matter of proportion as well as actual inches. Considering my hood is probably a bit taller than kb 2000s, as well as a bit wider, your rendering is incredibly helpful. I can see now how 3 identical sections would look being a bit over half as wide as they are tall (once you subtract the lip height). Do I like those proportions? I do.

Next DH will toss in his own 2 cents (he generally waits until I've made a decision, at his urging, before he realizes that he actually has an opinion about it after all!) With any luck we'll have a hood ordered by this time tomorrow. Finally!

Can't thank you all enough.

Additional thoughts still welcome!

PS -- if you're out there, kb 2000, I hope you don't mind this little dissection of your hood. It was done out of the greatest admiration!

I like either one with the 4 bands, and actually am surprised to find that I think I like the equally portioned one a tad better. It has style without looking like it's trying too hard...if that makes any sense in anyone's brain, but mine. :-)

OMG, ella_socal, that is one gorgeous hood! And I really like klb_2000's white/stainless combo hood - stunning! I'm almost afraid to ask how much these cost. I suppose I should go by the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" adage.

ella_socal, is that hood for a wall or an island? It's hard to tell from the photo.

Isn't it funny how "hood ornaments" moved from the front ends of mid-century cars to our kitchens?

Great work, rhome410. I think I like the evenly spaced bands a bit better.

Re my hood -- it is for a wall -- it will go all the way to the ceiling (10'), which is why it's so tall (looks a little like a Mad Hatter hat to me!). The price was not bad -- a little over $3k with a 1200 cfm blower. I originally was going to replace my Wolf hood with a bigger version but the cost to buy a custom MA hood turned out to be very similar, so I went custom!

rhome, I like the evenly spaced one, too, and for exactly the same reason: not trying too hard. (Although I have seen unevenly spaced ones that work beautifully, mamadadapaige's being brilliant example...)

lisa a: for me the amazing thing about modern aire hoods is that they are not that much more expensive than the pretty run-of-the-mill, non-custom hoods I looked at. And when I told Patrick I would probably need to move the hood 6" to the left in the near future (long story), he came up with a design that would allow me to do so without having to move the duct/outside housing/etc. How much will that save me? And he didn't charge extra for this. Add to that the fact that Modern Aire actually knows range hoods (unlike my local appliance dealer), can give you whatever height you want (this was major in my case), it's pretty hard to beat. Depending on what you want, of course.

Wow--its been ages since I logged on here, and just decided to stop in and take a look around! Nice to see my old kitchen still gets pictures posted now and then--it's nice to be remembered! :)

Your post made me think of one of my favorite kitchens from the 'old days' -- Redrange's beautiful kitchen I've linked to below. She has four bands on her hood, but it is 54" wide...might help give you a sense of scale for your hood..... (and yep, my hood is just 30" wide)

Good luck with your decisions!

(and ella_socal--your hood is gorgeous!)

Here is a link that might be useful: redrange's kitchen

ROTFL!! Patrick said the same thing about 4 bands on my 48" hood! And there's a picture in the catalog that's the same size, but taller, instead of under cabinet. They denied it was 48" in the catalog, but any TKO can tell you that if you flip the picture to right side front, the range is the 48" Thermador. :-D

I'm entirely with the crowd on this: Four bands, equal spacing. I think the three bands looks good on KLB's 30", but I don't like it on larger hoods. As y'all said, an eye is an eye apart.

I was right, DH does have an opinion. He prefers 3 bands instead of 4. He's worried that given the smallish width of our hood (36"), 4 bands will look like too much going on.

OTOH, I am leaning pretty heavily toward the evenly-spaced 4 band solution. You all have reassured me that I am not completely nuts on this, though I recognize that I may be boldly going where no 36" hood buyer has gone before. And I may later wish that I'd gone for simplicity over composition (I'm generally a big fan of simplicity)... but I can't know that in advance, can I?

BTW, DH is against the pot rail, too, on the basis that it seems to have a function but doesn't. Also the simplicity argument. I may have to give him this one, though with heavy heart -- those pot rails just look SO COOL to me... has anyone found a use for them?

kb 2000 -- I LOVE redrange's hood. I've loved it since the day I discovered it (like yours), while still a wee lurker. I have used it to try to sell DH on the usefulness of pot rails -- redrange's functions as a lid holder/displayer. I thought that was extremely cool and clever, but DH thinks that he and I are way too clutterful by nature to go around building clutter into our design. He's got a point.

plllog: that's hilarious that Patrick tried to steer you away from 4 bands on your 48" hood! Maybe 4 is his unlucky number. If I had even a 42" hood this would be a no-brainer. 4 all the way! I also find it interesting that ella socal's beautiful hood, while having only 2 bands, is divided into three parts because both bands are in the middle. And at the "culminating" part, the bottom, those 3 parts are evenly spaced. Interesting.

I don't have wall cabinets on each side of my hood so I put the pot rails on the sides thinking I might hang pot holders or utensils from them. Now I realize I have enough things hanging from my wall pot rails so I won't be hanging anything from them. I left the potrail off the front thinking I'd never hang anything on the front to hang in my face and also because my DH is tall and I was worried about him bumping his head on it. Nevertheless, I agree with you that the potrail is very snazzy looking and it's not expensive is it?

I really don't think that 4 bands will be too busy or that you'll regret getting them. What color are you getting?

Erika

You've seen 4 bands on the 30" hood in the above doctored photo, and don't think it looks too busy, so I don't think it will look bad on the 36".

To put your DH's opinion in perspective, is his an 'if you ask me, this is my opinion, but I'll really never think about it again unless you make me', while you live with the resulting decision several times a day, or does he really care about this as much as you do? If you order it your way, I'm guessing he's likely to shrug and move on with his life, but if you order it his way, you will always look at the hood and wish you'd followed your own instincts...Unless your house works way differently than mine. ;-)

Love the white and stainless steel hood. We live right near MA factory so my husband visited got the catalog and unforntunately we have an island cooktop so couldn't get one like the pic. We did get a 48 with I think 1200 btus this was dh one big thing he was concerned about when grilling as our last hood didn't work well. So per this forum we found MA I wanted a 36 or 42 for or 36" cooktop but DH insisted on the 48 I hope it looks ok. Will post pics when its up this weekend. But they have gorgeous hoods for almost same price as those others.

I've been looking at the mock ups, and I think four bands would work just fine. In fact, only using three bands on a 36" wide hood may leave TOO much space between bands. I'm sure you can get your husband to agree :) !

Actually, if I had thought about it at the time, I think I may have gone with four bands on my 30" wide hood--I like the way that evenly spaced mock up looks. (shockingly, in spite of obsessing over every other decision--I didn't consider the number of bands option at all! :) )

One other thought I just had--and something to keep in mind when you order--when I ordered my hood (directly from ModernAire because there were no local distributors at that time) I really expected there would also be a stainless band along the lip, under the pot rail. Apparently that was something I needed to specify (and I didn't!) I'm happy enough with the way mine looks--but something to make sure you specify correctly when you order your hood.

erikanh -- I remember your concern about DH's head hitting the pot rail. Putting them on the sides looks fantastic! I am currently too worried about upper storage space to leave room on either side of my hood for that, but if I could, I would. I am a HUGE fan of open shelving. In fact, I was very excited to see the kind of slatted metal shelves you have, which allow you to hang things from them (is that right?), and which cast absolutely exquisite shadows on your wall from the lights above. I see how those shelves and hooks might render your hood's pot rails somewhat superfluous, but to me it all looks of a piece. And superfluous is not the same as functionless (see my note to rhome below).
Oh, and my hood will be all brushed stainless steel (another long story).

Rhome, you bring up a great point about DH's opinions. Some are rock-firm and do or die. Others are just casual assessments-- he'll forget about them tomorrow. His hood trim opinions are in the latter category. However, his pot rail point got ME wondering how I feel about having a purely decorative element that presents itself as a functional one. I'm now wondering if that would bother ME. I really don't know. Generally my aesthetics run toward functionality -- I love the look of open dish shelves and hanging pots and wall-mounted knife-magnets and visible hoods. (You can see why I am so taken with erikanh's set-up.) So therein lies the rub. That's why I am so desperate to find a function for these front rails... any function... anybody?

rosma12- I predict your range hood will look great. 48" is definitely the practical choice for an island (where you need a bigger capture area than along a wall), and I bet it gives you the most aesthetic options as well (see my quandary). Can't wait for pix!

kb 2000 -- we cross-posted. Thanks for that advice. I think I am obsessing about this so much because it's the only decision I have to make right NOW. Full remodel is months away.

I should say, though, that for something you didn't think much about, your hood sure has inspired a whole lot of people. Your whole kitchen captures a timeless, cozy, harmonious, functional, "honest" feeling that is about as visually appealing as it gets, and oh so deceptively hard to achieve. Well done!

Thanks, ella_socal and viva99 for your helpful responses.

LOL, rhome, my husband resembles the one you describe.

rosama12, please post pics of your island hood! That may be the way we go and I'm having a hard time visualizing it in my kitchen.

Hi all.

I've been reading this thread eagerly because I am about to finalize my order with Patrick at MA for the PS26 (29?).

I love your hoods! So excited to have found MA on here after lusting over Rangecraft's Canterbury.

My hood is 42 inches & I went with the 4 bands, but I think I'd go with 4 bands on a smaller hood, too.

I am basically ordering the same hood as Erikanh (thanks Erika!) but with the pot rail on the front lip. I have cabs flanking the hood, so side pot rails are not an option. I just felt any pot rail kind of "completes" the PS26. Not a very technical reason. I probably won't hang anything on the rail permanently, but I plan to have some "S" hooks around and hang oven mitts, measuring cups, etc. while actually doing the cooking~my toddler likes to help i.e. grab everything so there is my *function*.

And I agree-the pot rails are snazzy.

Good luck!

So the pot rail plot thickens... you all make a great case for going with one in my case, since that is my "gut" desire. I'll give it another couple of days, then plunge one way or another. I'm definitely going with the 4 bands, though. Will keep you posted.

Katiebob, looks like you will beat me to the punch, ordering-wise. And it looks like you will have a very beautiful hood to boot. Congrats! Hope to join you soon!

Mine isn't the same style, but it *is* 36". I wouldn't have wanted a band down the exact middle for aesthetic reasons.

Talk wth the folks at Modernaire about other accents you can do. I love the hammered steel on mine (note that the bands are hammered as well)

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

I'm loving this thread; I love MA hoods and I love seeing all variations.

nightflyer - I love the hammered steel on your hood, but what is the finish on the part that isn't hammered? And what is the model number of your hood?

ella socal - love your hood, too! Which model number is your's? I love the riveted bands and the placement of the bands and the pot rail is a gorgeous touch.

Mine is a PS15. My two big decisions that took a while were 1. whether to get copper (no, because it's not coated and I didn't want it to oxidize) and 2. the rivets. Wasn't sure if the rivets would be too busy, but I like them.

Thank you, ella! I am looking forward to seeing your kitchen; I do hope you'll be posting pictures. I'm sure your kitchen is going to be gorgeous.

I've shown mine before, but I'm so pleased with it, I can't help showing it again! (And please disregard the messy wiring in the photo as I didn't take the time to do a proper "staging." :-)) It's a PS26, powdercoated claret red to match my Aga range. It's 45" in width and 29" height -- 4 stainless bands and a pot rail on the lip.

Aren't we having a beautiful-hood-a-thon on this thread!

Nightflyer: Yours rocks. Love the hammered steel, and you're right: I hadn't thought of that. Will definitely look into it. (DH vetoed the mirrored stainless which would have given me the contrast I crave; maybe he'll go for the hammered.)

Marthavila, you know I am a big fan of your hood (no pun intended). I'm glad others will get a chance to see it. You make me yearn for a powder coat, but I know I'd be foolish to commit to a color before making ANY finish decisions for my upcoming remodel. (Could get ugly... literally.)

Thanks again, you guys, for the inspiration, advice and moral support. You're the best!

You know, Viva, I totally forgot that you are already familiar with my hood. (And, thanks again for the kind words!) I guess it's just that I regard Modern Aire as such a caring and warm, family-run business that when I see other owners of MA hoods here on GW, I begin to think of us as an extension of the MA family. In that sense, I felt compelled to join the party with my own bit of show and tell. LOL! Of course you know that also means that I can't wait to see you join the fam with your own MA hood unveiling. In that regard, I agree with you on not comitting to a colored hood without being pretty sure of the rest of your color scheme. But whatever you choose, I know it will look hot, hot, hot!(Like you, no pun intended) :->

Hood just went up today, so I thought I'd post a photo from my iphone. I would be excited, but I'm still traumatized from the install...

Looks amazing!!

Why the trauma?

Stunning!!

2 guys seemed to barely be able to lift it up and connect it to the vent. Then one had to stand on the rangetop in order to get inside the hood and drill it into the wall (I would recommend installing the hood first and rangetop second!). They scratched the sides of the cabinets somewhat since it's a tight squeeze...

I'm surprised that it's as quiet as it is for 1200 cfm. I swear it's quieter than the Wolf 500 cfm hood I had previously. I haven't grilled anything yet, so we'll see how well it gets rid of the smoke!

"Isn't it funny how "hood ornaments" moved from the front ends of mid-century cars to our kitchens?"

so if I still have a hood ornament on my car I don't need one in my kitchen? yeah....my buick has a hood ornament!

boy, you guys have some awesome hoods there!

Love all of the photos. I love Modern-Aire hoods, but I'm torn between powder coat or stainless for my white cabinets. I'm also torn between the PS11 or the PS26. I wish there were more photos on the Modern Aire website. Marthavila, your red hood is beautiful.

Wow this is so timely. I'm looking at ModernAire also. They now have a PS 29 which is the PS26 barrel hood with a curve at the top (instead of flat) so you can attach it against a wall without a cabinet above it. I can't make up my mind between the convex barrel PS29 and the concave shaped one. The PS 31 is also very pretty --- (looks like Mama's . . .)

ModernAire does certainly seem to have garnered a following here! Cleanclassic, if you email me I will send you the folder that Patrick send me -- filled with pictures.

I love ModernAire too. It was GW that helped me discover
these hoods. Thanks for posting all the great pics. It is
helping me to plan my next project.

This is the MA I dream for. I like 4 bands for my space.
I have 30 inches so when it comes time to order I am going
to have to figure it all out.
Enjoying the MAs.

~boxerpups

I love looking at all these hoods as KLB2000 is where I got my inspiration for mine. Not complete and the stove is not centered under the hood in this pic, but you can get the idea. This is a 54". DH finished out the trimwork which was kind of tricky due to the support beam we had to use going through it!

{{!gwi}}

Our MA PS 26 (PS 29?) is sitting in a box at our new home (under construction). Been that way for a while since I'm always holding a baby when I'm there. I plan to try to open it tomorrow. I'll take a photo!

We went with the same thing as Erikanh, but with the pot rail in front.

Patrick was super helpful to deal with!

Good luck!

FHB-- I've told you before but I have to say it again because each time I see it, it's looking better and better! : That range and hood combo is simply fabulous! I can't wait to see your entire kitchen!

Cleanclassic: Thanks so much for your nice words about my hood. It's one of the best decisions I made about in the whole reno. By all means, do follow up with Sayde for photos of other MA styles, or contact the company directly. They will be happy to send you plenty of photos. Good luck!

Boxerpups, follow your dream. You won't regret it!