Yikes, my head was really turned by all the gorgeousness. I would need a regular shower in the bathroom. It would not be a deal breaker for me, but the remedy would have to be a part of the sale. I cannot imagine anyone choosing a bathtub over a shower in the MB and I use my bathtub at least once a week.

I'd choose a bathtub over a shower in MB-but it'd be a very different bathtub then. I wouldn't be able to handle this-pretty gorgeous-tub.

So yes I'd either fall in love with the house anyway and put an offer in knowing I have to remodel (but I wouldn't expect the price to come down to cover my remodel. I either am ready for something or not. It's not a maintenance/safety issue that needs to be taken care of. It's a personal preference thing)-or I would sigh and walk away.

The kitchen though..the more I look at it the more I like it. So fewer surfaces for my DH to scratch and abuse somehow..I think I'd very happy, maintenance wise lol

It is a 1,000 sq ft one bedroom on a tiny lot, I was lucky there was a basement shower. Its main draw is that a local architect designed it sixty years ago. People who look at it seem enamored of its history, and realtors say it will sell because of that. But I like a house that supports how I live, whatever its provenance. So this one is easy to clean, easy to cook anything in from spun sugar to chili to ice cream. Easy to have rambunctious grandchildren and toddlers in, safe without being too dowdy. I think you have to live with open shelving to discover how clean it is. It is really the aesthetic, not the cleanliness, that determines doors/no doors. I have lived with both and find open to be cleaner (for me). In my cooking/baking life it is the hood that matters, and keeping those filters clean.

Love the baskets and yes, I would definitely love to have this kitchen. This being said, if the baskets are included in the sale, you have to leave them. As a buyer, I would have concerns about finding the right size baskets if they are not included.

• "Lucky there was a basement shower". So, the ONLY shower is in the basement? One more reason, I'd pass on this house. I would not want to have to go down to the basement to shower.

Just to note, the baskets, and extras because when you shift the shelves around deeper baskets work -- those ones are stored elsewhere -- can definitely stay, that is no problem. When I build specifically for a house I leave that stuff, even if I have re-bought the same Elfa shelving about five times :) Elfa shelves up from Maine to Colorado with my fingerprints. I can't be the only one.

You home is unique and interesting. I'm not in real estate so I can't speak to how it would be received on the market. Seems like buyers wanting the "normal" basic kitchen may be disappointed, but it's so unique and custom that others may absolutely fall in love. More polarizing than a basic kitchen with closed in cabinets.

I completely agree with the suggestions to keep the lower baskets in place. It shows that the storage is useful and functional. I would pair down the open upper shelving and make it look staged / decorated. I would use primarily white dishes and if possible find some decorative dishes / items the color of your awesome SMEG fridge. I would take down the pots and pans from the ceiling since I think they're blocking the view of the nice cooking area.

Make sure your listing includes information about the accessibility the house offers! That could be a major selling feature and I hope you'll highlight it in your listing.

Beautiful kitchen! I love that Smeg fridge. As a prospective buyer, I would definitely want to see how you've been storing using the wicker baskets. I would keep them in.

I would leave the basket showing... love the space :)

I think the question is whether the baskets stay or go and the verdict on that is pretty unanimous - baskets should stay and it should be made explicit that they are staying.

As to the rest, all it takes is one buyer. It's already really going to appeal to a particular segment of the market anyway. Whether you or I or anyone else would want to buy is irrelevant because the house is what it is including the bathrooms :-)

I would suspect that the future homeowner is going to have some degree of eccentricity and vision and is not looking for a cookie cutter house but rather something unique.

However I am not understanding how the home is "accessible" given that the bathroom only has a tub that would be difficult for many people to safely or comfortably use.

It's accessible from other standpoints as far as I understood. So it'd be accessible to some people more than say some other house.

(yeah I realize this comment of mine is the smartest by far of all comments I ever made here LOL)

No to all the dust and dog hair in everything. I do not want to have to clean something before I use it, and I already ingest enough animal hair on a regular basis without having breathing more to get on my hands and knees to try to keep it out of my pots and pans. Not to mention keeping the dogs and cats from climbing through all of that in search of the cricket that made it into the house.

And NO to having to walk to the basement to take a shower. ??? That is complete nutzville. This personalizized concept of “industrial” may all be admired in the abstract of a photo, but the concrete of living there is NO.

This is going to be a very difficult house to sell, regardless of architectural province. A one bedroom always is. A one bedroom with the only usable shower in the basement, a 7’ ceiling in the rest of the house, and that kitchen, well, that’s going to need a special kind of moneyed eccentric, or a very cheap price.

Go Sophie! I'm not a fan of open storage. Those baskets are dust and grease magnets. it would be a turnoff for someone with allergies/asthma.

I would be careful touting accessibility. I'm not that old and know my knees could not handle that tub or a daily trek to the basement for the shower.

It is a beautifully unique house. The light green fridge is just tops! I agree, with the suggestion above of how to stage the upper shelves and with leaving the baskets for the lowers.

um. aside from the shower and other aspects of the house.

not everyone has cats. or dogs. not everyone has naturally dirty kitchens. my old house was naturally dirty, no idea where the dirt came from. i thought all houses were that way. it was even dirty inside the glass door china cabinets.

and then i moved, to an old house. i expected it to be dirtier, but it wasnt.

it has the same gas-fired forced hot air heat, but the kitchen is clean. the same china cabinet that had always been dirty inside... is clean.

so, i guess sometimes kitchens are naturally clean.

now i dont know if this house that OP has presented is clean or dirty. but i suspect that an awful lot of people who scream about open shelves being dirty just have had the bad luck of living in naturally dirty houses.

my open shelves all stay clean. i dont get dust on top of my not-to-the-ceiling cabinets. *shrug*.

lol ninigret

I loved reading "naturally dirty house"..reminds me of "Natural Born Killers"..))

Love the kitchen! Feels very much like the back kitchen of a small dinner! I say leave baskets amdabe a label maker so everyone can remember what's in all the baskets!

me too. : )

Label maker- for the new build, with lots of pull out drawers, hubby said we might need a label maker so we know where everything is for the first few months.

Oh how beautiful!

@elisea2 Tyvm- it has been a slow process here, but finally feeling like we are moving ahead.. if you would like to see more photos you can go look at my profile page under; New Build/Gabe :)

As someone who just 2 years ago bought a house where there is NO bathroom at all upstairs where all the bedrooms are, I'll put in a reminder that there are all kind of trade-offs in people's minds when making decisions about buying a house. Walking downstairs to use the bathroom isn't ideal, but it was still the right house for us to buy given all the considerations involved. Your house is beautiful and I have no doubt someone will buy it immediately :)

Those photos make my heart go pittapat. Thank you for posting those!

I like the bathroom and kitchen ..there are some misery guts on here !

I like it and I would keep the baskets in. We’ve moved a lot so examining kitchens is sometimes awkward if the current owners are still in the house. I’d suggest supplying some more info. for perspective buyers since this is a little different setup. As a buyer, I’d like to see:

How you use the baskets currently

Are they loose on the shelves or are they on a glide or rails of some sort? I ask because i wonder how they operate when you pull them out especially if they have heavy items. I’ve seen “baskets” before with solid bases and bottom mount glides. Even the same baskets on a shelf that rolls out would be good. Then you could lift the basket and take to a workstation (depending on how you use them).

Does this system have more options available? I’m specifically thinking about drawers with clear or frosted glass fronts like the ones by the range. Or even making the shelves roll out. Might not need it everywhere but it would be good to know the possibilities. I personally keep all the food in a pantry so my lower cabs are full of dishes and such. My cats like open shelves and options that keep the look but block access would be great too.

Also, enough of the pieces move, I’d want to know how you use the kitchen for different events vs. everyday. With a good photographer and staging that could be a good selling point - to show some set-up options. It’s a kitchen for every day of the year - whether is two for pancakes, a holiday dinner with multiple cooks or end of season canning. With the roll out sections it looks like you can have an amazing amount of counterspace.

Yes, when you can peaches the big island and smaller rolling counters, which have removable butcher block tops, can surround you, your sink, and the range so you are never dripping all over the floor. Which is useless with cats, only dogs clean up dripped sugary things. But, cats -- yours allow you to determine things? You have unusual powers and I am in awe. I wish I could upload the video of the cat reaching out to me from the upper shelf and losing his balance, to land in the (empty) sink. And then pretend he meant to.

Very quirky and I would love to walk through it and think about how I would use the space if I lived there. Ultimately, I would probably decide that is just too impractical for me and pass, but it would be lots of fun to look

Way too many baskets and not kid friendly. When I pull out a drawer with an extension it stops. The baskets do not. I'd pass on this house, but someone will love it just as you do.

Again, thank you so much to those of you who read the question and answered it! I know I can count on Houzz to help. Teaching me the term "misery guts" -- if that is not a typo it is being added to my lexicon, it will make me giggle forever. You who said kind or complimentary words, bless you. May you forever enjoy your kitchens, your preferences, your gifts with design and beauty and generosity.

"Misery guts" brings back memories. A term often used by my English grandfather ;)

I wouldn't buy this house, more because of the shower situation than the kitchen. But that's me. There is a market for this house, as is (with baskets) and I wouldn't bastardise the house to make it appeal to a different market.

It’s AMAZING. I would cook up a storm in there. Leave the baskets, and make it clear they’ll stay when you move. The empty shelves would feel overwhelming without them - you need to show people how they will use this.
It needs the right buyer, but I’m sure that buyer is out there.

I would vastly prefer the baskets over no baskets. I wouldn't want some with baskets, some without... if I need to remove any, I can certainly do so on my own.

I'd be wondering how to close them off if they were empty of baskets -- since otherwise the shelves would become cat nesting boxes...

There are other aspects of this kitchen I really love, too - ability to hang skillets and things from the ceiling (I'd need to keep an island of some sort as I'm six feet tall), and long counter spaces. And that fridge...

Seeing cast iron hanging there lets me know those hooks are sturdy.

Though, not being able to shower on the same floor as I sleep... a deal breaker. I am so glad I built my LAUNDRY on the living floor, and not down in my basement, as my previous house had! And I want to shower daily, unlike my patterns for doing laundry.

I'd also want to put in enclosed uppers instead of shelves at the end of the kitchen, but that wouldn't be a deal breaker, and I would do that myself.

I would leave the baskets to give potential buyers the concept of what actual drawers would look like in the lower cabinets. Wicker would not be an actual storage solution at my house because I have kids and a dog and I imagine cleaning off greasy fingerprints from wicker would be difficult. However, it is a pretty kitchen (it kind of looks like a crafty shop space more than a kitchen) and plenty of people could imagine drawers.

Did I miss where the kitchen sink is?

It's charming. Refreshingly personal. I don't know how that translates in the real estate market, but I'm rooting for a next buyer who loves it as is - may your house and this buyer find each other and enjoy a long, happy life together:)

I love the kitchen. It's an easy fix to the replace the shelving with cabinets on the upper left, and to replace the lower shelving on the right with lower cabinets. That will give lots more traditional storage. It's an unfitted kitchen and they just have to blend in and not match anything. It's a warm inviting space, not one of the all for show, don't touch, and don't get anything dirty, like so many here!

Keep the baskets and hope the right buyer looks at it. Someone will really like it, but it's not a place for everyone.

It not all that hard to convert a tub to a shower, we had to do that with two claw foot tubs.

I dig it. Also, my grampa and grammas farm house had no bathroom on their bedroom level-in fact, there was only one bedroom with a door and you had to walk thru their room to get to where my dad and uncle used to sleep. People deal. We really are a fussy spoiled society aren’t we? Sometimes it’s loke watching and episode of House Hunters. Wow this is a master bedroom? I won’t buy a house if I can’t fit a king size bed and 14 dressers and seating for 8 people and I need a reading nook in the master too. And you seriously expect me to look st this house that doesn’t have a separate shower for four and a deep soaking tub that my kids can swim in? And double sinks on a vanity 14 feet long and also his and her closets, walk in....cripes am I living in the slums, how do people stand to live in places without the “standard” expectations?

Just makes me laugh. I’d love to buy that place

There are also realistic expectations depending on stages in life.

My first adult apartment in Manhattan was a loft with panoramic views looking North towards midtown.

It had a loft bed with a ladder which was fine when I was in my 20's but wouldn't work so well at this stage in life.

Similarly, I lived in places which had one bathroom upstairs which was shared with my three other college roommates and we dealt with it :-) But now I wouldn't want to walk upstairs every time I had to pee :-)

As a concept it looks good but in reality I personally do not like it not because it does not look good because it does. The frig is out of place looks like in the middle of the kitchen, too many things out in the open, needs another beam to balance. I am not a fan of all open spaces as I believe families do not want to have to think about what to put in their space to make everything nice and neat and open spaces and shelves create more work. I would clean out all of the clutter on the back wall and the shelves so it looks all clean because there is too much going on from first look. I would also remove the pots hanging off the ceiling.

it is very personal but you can make it more welcoming by getting rid of clutter etc.

That's true! And if it doesn't fit a person's stage in life, then they shouldn't buy it, or buy it knowing they'll need to redo some things. We had a leak in our bathroom and had to use the basement one..HATED it. I can't be totally awake when I get up to pee in the middle of the night or I'm just done sleeping.

And the garden--that would be a huge selling point for me, seeing as how we've turned most of our yard, and are in the process of turning all of it, into gardens. And we just started beekeeping this year as well.

The most distracting feature for me are the pots and pans hanging from the ceiling. One, I just don't like the look- very cluttered and two, it suggests that there is no storage for them. I like the baskets on the lower cabinets but would clear out most of them and other clutter on the upper shelves.

At either end of the age spectrum, having a closely adjacent full bath is pretty darn important. Although my mom bathed me in the kitchen sink as a baby, and washed her hair in the kitchen sink too, rather than in the claw foot, not many young mothers or those in mid life will want to do that today.

And I certainly don’t know of many older folks who want to be further away than the width off the house, with no stairs, from a full bath in their own home. Wherever I go, the first thing I check out is where the bathroom is located, and the path to get there. The reality of it is that a powder room setup won’t do very well when accidents happen. For baby, or great gramma. Sure, there are baby wipes, and fresh clothes, and diapers. For public excursions, you make do. But, in your own home? No, no, no.

Designing for those at either end of the age spectrum’s needs ensures that those in the middle are met also. That is why it is called Universal Design, and not Accessible design. Accessibility is a different animal. And this home does not meet the definition of either term, and should not be advertised as such.

Love the kitchen.

This kitchen will have great appeal to millennials in urban markets.

Not just to millennials, but to those like me old enough to remember the Smallbone unfitted kitchen. Sigh : ) .

Good luck with the sale, elise, and with your new house. I hope you'll share your new kitchen with us when the time is right!

I LOVE that kitchen. The baskets are great. I am saving this for my next kitchen ideas. I like the hanging pans too.

What a polarizing kitchen. Sorry, but I'm in the camp of "not in a million years". Impossible to keep things clean, and the baskets would wear out faster than wooden drawers. I also hate pot hangers ... too cluttery for me.

However, yes, the baskets should stay. If I were making an offer on this house, I'd write the baskets into the offer. I'd expect it'd be fairly difficult to locate this many correct-sized baskets again.

And yes it is a concept pefectly executed.

Oh, yes. I agree that the concept is perfectly executed. I just don't like the concept.

Regardless of your choices, the house is a product for a niche market: declutter, make it sparkling clean, and make sure it is priced appropriately. If you’re leaving the baskets for the new homeowner, I’d leave them for the listing pictures as they’re part of the kitchen.
Personally, when I see a pot rack in a kitchen I immediately think there is a lack of storage for cookware.
Good luck with selling the house!

A year later -- the baskets are Container Store staples, I planned that. The kitchen was fabulous for me for 7 years, the whole house was easy to keep clean and easy to use for crowds and fewer. Before putting it on the market I offered some artwork to our lovely library for their auction. The person who came to fetch them asked me for the house, paid me cash, we closed in ten days, and now she sends me loving emails :)