This is pretty much the ultimate in “committing to the bit.”

Bruce and Melanie Rosenbaum own an old Victorian home near Boston, and a few years ago they decided to modernize their kitchen whilst retaining the original antique vibe: In other words, they steampunked it. And they liked the result so much that they: a) Went on to do the rest of the house in the same style; b) Bought a nearby house to steampunk and resell; c) Launched a business devoted to steampunk interior decorating.

Their stuff is simply gorgeous, and makes one long for enough cash to attempt something similar. Sadly, I seem to have a dearth of rich relatives who are likely to mention me in their will, so the best I can do is drool over the Rosenbaums’ house.

There are lots of photos of the house at Apartment Therapy, Steampunk Workshop, and Houzz, plus a short article about their renovation efforts here. There’s also a video tour:

The company they launched is ModVic, and the site’s gallery has photos of several of their commissions (including a tattoo station made out of an antique gas pump).

A couple of references on other sites are more puzzling: Trial by Steam reported that the Rosenbaums had signed a book deal with a working title of Steampunk Art, Fashion & Design, to be published in Summer/Fall of 2012. However, I can’t seem to find any other information about it, so I’m not sure if the book was scrapped or just delayed. Additionally, Wicked Local’s 2010 article about the Rosenbaums noted that they had launched a site called steampuffin.com, “offering Steampunk appliances, gadgets and fixtures to online shoppers.” Unfortunately, that URL goes nowhere. (There’s a link for “Steampuffin Exhibitions” on the ModVic site, but that goes to a “Coming Soon” page, which I roundly loathe.)

Steampunk fits nicely into the Victorian milieu, but is somewhat less daunting to outsiders (and rather more landlord-friendly) than a Gorey-esque decorating scheme. If your sensibilities like in the Victorian direction, the Rosenbaums’ designs ought to give you all kinds of ideas.

(via EPBOT)