Don't be smakin' your head too hard......just yet. Won't it have a completely new look once it's painted out?

Boy, what a fun kitchen you have there!

I agree with you. It's too top heavy. The hood is very dominant (and cool). How about just plain wood to blend in with the molding? Keep it simple.

Okay, I won't try to fight your intrinsic "Something's Off Meter", but honestly? I think if it were painted white it would not just be fine, but it would be awesome.

You have tall ceilings, you have really large windows, you have a really chunky stove. I think you can get away with a large element like that hood trimmed in beadboard. My photoshop is acting up right now, but I'll give it a shot to see what it would look like painted white.

I think it will look fine once it is painted.

I'm way too busy looking at the retro stove to notice the beadboard. Paint it white and it will work well. It will even match the scene outside the windows. :) (Is it spring yet?)

It's definitely worth painting before giving in to thinking it's wrong.

I think it just might be perfect once painted :)

Zip, I tried to find some jadeite green window treatments that had a vintage flair, but couldn't find any. These orange striped ones are the closest I could find.

I don't know what you had in mind for the windows, but some bulk up at the top would help balance the bulk of the hood. I added a funky initial to show what some sort of wall-hanging piece might look like. I totally think it still has the funky farmhouse vintage flair, but it's just not all the way fleshed out yet.

Again though, I know just how you feel when/if you just don't like something, so if it has to come down, then it has to come down! URG.

Here's sort of what I could envision,

Thanks for the thoughts so far! I agree with Reno and Sc-Irish, that when painted it will probably blend much better. Right now it does look super top heavy, especially with the crown up there.

It seems to take my kitchen in a whole new direction though. When putting the kitchen together and mixing old and new, I tried to watch my lines. I thought the hood, even though it's a beast and stainless would work well with the old stove because they have mimic each other's lines. The chimney going up seems to disrupt that feel to me though. Also, the kitchen has pretty simple feel to it, the chimney adds more of a formal/fancy feel to the whole kitchen. Which isn't bad at all, I'm just not sure it works with the other elements present.

I'm wondering if I should just take the soffit/chimney down , take the scoop off the top of the hood and just run the hood straight out the back wall, which I'm pretty sure can be done. Then leave above the hood just open?

Here's the stove and hood before :

So the top of the hood could just be flat, with the venting going out the wall? That would be AWESOME. I think either way it'll be a drop dead gorgeous kitchen, but if the "no hood" feel is more in line with your vision, go with it! I think it would be so cool!

Reno, thanks so much for the mock-up!!! Bringing some elements up towards the soffit like the window treatment does help out quite a bit, as does putting something on it. I might try painting it .. I'm now sure yet. When I first got it up, my brain started screaming, nope .. you've messed up big time. *LOL*. The big problem with taking it back down, is the crown was cut behind it, so we could wrap the top. Now we'll have to re-do that piece of crown going across the wall. Not a huge issue, just a pain.

I'm totally not worried about the fix. Seeing how fast you fixed your oven door dilemma gives me total confidence in both your and your DH's ability!

You'll know for sure if you could work with it or not once it's painted. You and I are a lot alike in that regard. No matter how many people say "it's great, leave it alone", I just feel it instantly if it'll work for me or not.

I'd slap some primer up there just to see, then if you just *know* it's not working, you can work on going back to your original vision.

>>

Yes, I'm pretty sure we can just vent it out through the back wall. When we got this up and I started saying, no .. this won't work my DH said he's certain he could vent it out that way if I thought I'd like it better than having a chimney/soffit up there.

Thanks Reno, I know you're the same way as I am with 'gut feelings' about this stuff. The oven door is a really good analogy for this .. I knew the blackboard was leading me down a different path from what I had in my mind. I feel the exact same about the soffit.

Where remember the bin pulls when I received them, even though they weren't exactly what I had originally in mind size wise, which gave me a moment of pause. They didn't change anything drastically though and they worked out okay.

My DH says I'm the worlds pickiest person and it's true .. I probably am. *LOL* On the up side, when I finally get something just how I want it, I'm so happy with it.

Thanks so much for the help everyone on this!! I appreciate you guys taking a look and giving your thoughts. It's great to be able to run here with a problem and ask this group for help :)

FWIW, in the era of your house, kitchens sometimes had huge range hoods, so I think the bulk looks quite appropriate.

Here's an excerpt from an article:

Before electric motors were widely available to power active systems, most ventilation systems were passive, and range hoods had to operate like chimneys and flues. Once cooking commenced, the cook opened a round metal door in the wall under the hood and latched it to one side so that convection would take the rising hot air through pipes and let it escape through the exterior wall.

These early hoods were often massive canopies made of thick plaster (over lath and 2 x 4s) or metal-usually cast iron or occasionally copper or brass. Because of their often dominating size, kitchen range hoods needed to be suspended by heavy chains mounted in ceiling beams. These early models came in a variety of shapes-barrel, cone, or pyramid-to catch and dispel hot air from the room. Cast-iron hoods would be painted to match the kitchen wall color or black to match the range. Occasionally the hood's interior would be decorated with glazed white tiles.

Here is a link that might be useful: Old House Journal article

I would paint it and then if you dont like it rip away! I happen to like it very much.

I will be honest - I don't think the problem is the beadboard top, I think it is the hood. The huge chunk of stainless is just SO overwhelming - it dwarfs the stove in the distance shots, and is the thing you see when you look at the wall.

IMO,I would like to see the hood changed so that it had some stainless, and some white enamel to match the stove.

I think Les is on the right track. The stove should be the star of that wall. :)

Susan

I remember the original thread when you first put up the hood. I did not know which direction you were going to go with the whole thing. It is tough to pull off because of those windows on both sides or you could do something like KBL2000 did with her similar hood. That hood needs to be recessed between soffits or cabinets.

{{!gwi}}

I think the curve of the vent should go the other way, more like a cylinder or like mimicing a vintage refigerator door. Much like this range vent but without the Campbells design.

Can you build a verticle curve around it and conceal the metal? Bring the beadboard all the way down. Then it would look like a bump-out in the wall.

Here is a link that might be useful: New Hood Thread

From what I recall on the last few threads, Zip *loves* her hood, and changing it is simply not an option.

I happen to think it's awesome for the look she's going for. Her problem (if I'm understanding correctly) is that the beadboard enclosure around the hood changed the *feeling* of the kitchen, and is starting to take it in a different direction than her original vision, not that she doesn't like the hood.

Bungalow_house .. thanks so much for the link, it was a very interesting read!

CB, thanks!

Les, Mpwdmom and Dilly Dally .. I asked for help and you guys were providing your take on what I should do and I really appreciate that. I enjoy hearing other people's views, otherwise I wouldn't post. :) I respect your opinion on the hood, but Reno is right I really do like my hood and I like it with my stove. I also like the windows on each side of the range, it helps bring a lot of light into the area, the kitchen would not have windows otherwise. I also like the no upper cabinet look in my house, it makes the smaller space look bigger. I did realize when I went with the windows there and not cabs that it would provide a challange with covering the hood's venting.

I've decided to remove the beadboard soffit and vent the hood out the back wall, leaving it flat across the top and above it open. I think I'll be happy with this look, it's more simple and leaves the lines of the hood intacted that way. It's also more in line with what I originally had in mind. I've decided after staring at it all night *LOL* anything I put up there is for me going to take away from what I like about the hood.

I also think the hood should be white-but I'd take it to an auto body shop & have them spray paint it a glossy white like the stove,for an awesome look. If you shop aound for estimates-methinks you'll be surprised how inexpensive it is to do. Then-to fool the eye-I'd place a really colorful big tile or colorful ceramic something.. directly behind the stove (and under the hood)-then use valances that 'pop' in colors of the tile. Maybe even valences that have a scalloped edge-to mimic the roundness of the edges of the hood & stove? Great kitchen!

I know I'm not a regular on this forum .... but I love that hood! The above suggestion of almost creating a bumpout is great. With white paint, it would be a good accent and would look fine. I think. Your kitchen is lovely. However, please don't consider it small. My kitchen is smaller. Without upper cabinets, I would be totally lost!

Please, take a deep breath, and enjoy your kitchen!