I think this is the longest period of time between posts since last August, when I took time off from work. Not so this time… A ferw things have kicked in to high gear, several interviews with potential clients and some serious work on our continuing marketing and PR efforts.  Somewhere in there, Sally and I painted a bedroom.

I hadn’t given much thought to the number of kitchens we worked on in 2011 until this weekend. As it turns out, we’ve been involved in four. (Painting interior window trim is conducive to contemplating such arcane statistics…) We plan to have three of them professionally photographed this spring.

One was in the 1804 Federal home I’ve talked about in previous posts. The other three, just sort of dropped off the radar screen.

We designed this kitchen for a couple who made the decision to move out of Boston to raise their children. They found a beautiful older Colonial home that looks out toward Plum Island in Newburyport. As is the case in most older homes, the kitchen and bathrooms needed to be brought up to today’s lifestyle. In this case, there was need for expansion as well. A team of architect, interior designer (WKD) and contractor was assembled and the process began. Our role was to design the kitchen, pantry,mud room, powder room, front foyer for ground floor.

While Sally worked with the home owner on finishes, materials. sink and faucet selection, etc., I prepared a detailed set of construction/pricing drawings (including lighting and electrical drawings, detailed elevations, custom banquette and cabinet details.) for the kitchen and powder room. As Sally and the home owners made their decisions, I added the information to my specifications, which accompany the drawings. Later, the contractor told us he never gets or sees the qualityof detail and information he saw on our drawings. Music to our ears. ..

Located in Ipswich, we became involved in this project after the kitchen had been designed and the project was in construction. Our role was to review, comment and make recommendations on the layout and finishes. Most of out comments related to the island and a little fine tuning of the galley ares behind the island, lighting layout and design and Sally helped with all the final material and fixture selections. Sally was involved in other area of the house, which we will talk about another time. Sally did the powder room in this project, too. Black leather tile on the walls… Awesome…

Remember the blank wall below the upper cabinets. It will play a prominent role in my next post…

The final project, we will never be able to photograph. That was part of our agreement with the client. We are able to show selected preliminary plans, perspectives and sketches. For pure function, this is the best kitchen I have ever designed. Very tight and compact, everything is at one’s finger tips. Every detail was thought through and mocked up, down to the custom pulls on the cabinet doors/drawers and the concealed door pull in the mahogany wainscot on the hidden powder room door.

Floor Plan

The fridge is in the upper right corner of the kitchen. With it deeply recessed, the landing zone to it’s left works beautifully for groceries going in to the fridge or taking things out of the fridge. There is 48″ dual fuel range and exhasut hood to the left of the fridge. On the far left, by the powder room, is the pantry. The dining room wall has two sinks with dishwashers between. Lots of counter space on each end and between the sinks. All the “stations” are laid out diagonally one from the other so that when several people work in the kitchen they don’t bump into each other. There’s between 5 and 6 feet between counters.

Perspective looking toward powder room.

Dining room side of kitchen.

Pantry in foreground. Range/hood and fridge beyind.

Looking toward kitchen from garden room. Upper level will hold small table looking into garden. Lower level – informal seating. Stairs on far right lead to a wine cellar below. Love the “crow’s nest” floating over the stair…

I had thought that looking back at these kitchens I might see patterns or trends. Not so. What I saw were four unique solutions that were the result of a very dynamic process of engagement between ourselves and our clients. The “Process” may be the subject of a fairly philosphical post in the near future.

Cheers,

One clear singular thought emerged in my mind as I worked on Sally’s and my living room design vignette for this May’s Wenham Museum Show House. While color fashions and trends come and go each year, neutrals have a staying power that can not be denied, regardless of style or period.

They can be used as a neutral background against which a designer develops and expresses his or her details and color color palette, as in this project done by Boston’s own Richard Fitzgerald. (New England Home, July/August 2009, Interior designer, Richard Fitzgerald, Photographer, Michael Paternio)

Brooke and Steve Giannetti us neutrals as a stylistic and lifestyle expression. (Veranda, July/August 2011, Interior design  by Brooke and Steve Giannetti, Photography by Steve Giannetti and Lisa Romerein)

English interior designer John Carter shows us we don’t have to stick to whites. We can use browns, dark taupes – even wallpaper with wonderful success.  (2009 The English Home magazine, Interior design by John Carter, month of issue and photographer unknown)

Here’s an eclectic/modern living room done in 2008, an artful collaboration between the owners and Tate + Burns Architects. (New England Home, September/October2008, Interior deign a collaboration between the owner and Tate+Burns, Architects, Photography by Michael Paternio)

Finally, a page from John Saladino’s book Style, published in 2000.

What do you think of neutrals. Classic? Boring?

How do you use them?

Cheers,