YL2008's Profile

I had a similar issue and filled the space with a kitchen cabinet from Ikea, which I made into a pullout for trash (in my kitchen, the gap was 20" so I made an 18-inch wide pullout with a 2-inch filler piece).

You also might consider filling the space with shelves, or open-style drawers similar to the ones by Viola Park, here:

http://www.violapark.com/vp/vp.php?page=1

You might look into getting the wall tile (and perhaps the shower pan) "re-glazed." I believe the process is fairly inexpensive and will make the tile look brand new will allow you to change the color. A glossy white, for example, would be very nice. I am not sure about the exact cost but a friend recently had a large bathtub re-glazed for $150, to give some idea.

"I have also contemplated doing open shelving on the upper cabinets (on the window side, at least) but I'm not sure that look is for me - I think it can too easily devolve into clutter."

I was going to suggest replacing the upper cabinets with open shelving and painting the lower cabinets grey - either the color you chose or charcoal. I have open shelves in my kitchen (made from Ikea butcher block cut to size and stained ebony) and I love them.

I generally think it is best to design your home to suit your taste and needs - not those of an occasional guest. I would not hesitate to use the smaller room as a dining room based on your post but why not get a dining room table that can double as a large desk? I have an eat in kitchen with a glass dining table (from CB2) which, as it turns out, I prefer to the desk in my office. It makes a great dual purpose table.

How big is the room? Another thought is to have some kind of banquette, table and chairs, and perhaps have the banquette fold out into a bed.

I agree that the base looks like scaffolding.

Maybe email a photo to this company to see if they can suggest parts?
http://www.affordablescaffolding.com/scaffold_frames.html#cross_braces

http://www.affordablescaffolding.com/rolling_towers.html

I would paint the LR grey - light grey or steel grey, depending on your preference.

We just removed popcorn texturing from the ceiling of a condo I bought recently. In our case, the "popcorn" turned out to be plaster texture over a concrete ceiling, and impossible to remove with any of the traditional soaking and scraping methods. We ultimately had a contractor sand it smooth and re-plaster the ceilings (smooth finish). I am very good at home remodeling projects generally but after it took me 8 hours to do approx. 4 x 4ft of this ceiling, I gave up and called for help! Also, it makes a huge mess and you have to protect the walls as well as the floors with plastic sheeting during the process. We did ours immediately, before any furniture arrived, and having witnessed what the project entails, I highly recommend either doing it at the outset or forgetting about it. If your ceilings are drywall, get a good drywall person to do it, and expect to do some patching and/or drywall replacement (in fact, it may be cheaper to simply put up new ceilings). If they are concrete, as mine are, you might consult with a mason as generally they are better with plaster work.

Regarding topics, some more tours of DC homes would be nice, and tips on shopping in and around DC. Perhaps post some profiles of DC-based interior designers and architects who are doing innovative things.

I have to say I found it a little depressing to see the explanation, recently, as to why "Southern" style was being allocated to the DC board - first, because DC has its own style and interesting things to report on, which has yet to be tapped, and second, because the style deemed Southern was a very narrow and stereotypical view of what that encompasses.

RE Lucketts store: I have been there a number of times and own several pieces from there. You can find good deals but in general you get what you pay for. BE SURE to inspect anything you are buying very carefully before purchasing. I bought a dresser there that was not inexpensive and it had significant damage on the back that was concealed by how it was displayed, and was not apparent to me until it was delivered (and no, the damage did not occur while en route the 1 mile to my farm).

I don't think the color combo is "very Martha." I do think it is very Belgian / Vandervoort, particularly when combined with the large format bluestone (or possibly slate) tile.

I am not sure why so many people are saying to get rid of the cabinets or paint them white. To me, this kitchen is begging to be contemporary, not some version of the Something's Gotta Give kitchen. And people pay $$$$ to put in dark wood slab doors like that; it is very trendy. I would however remove the cabinets above the bar to open the space up. I would also do something about the backsplash. One option is to go with white counters (the current ones or replace them with something like silestone or concrete glazed white) with a glass backsplash. Another option might be to incorporate some stainless steel as a backsplash. I would like to see something different on the half wall/ bar --maybe butcher block there (perhaps a double thickness of IKEA's pronomen). And I would definitely put contemporary steel handles on the cabinets; something simple and linear. I actually think this kitchen could be transformed into something pretty cool with just a few changes.