Inside a Contemporary Kitchen Design, Week 3: Finishes

Editor’s note: With the Decorators’ Show House & Gardens less than two months away, we asked one of the participating designers, Matthew Quinn, to keep a journal of the process, every step of the way. Today is his third installment about how one of his spaces is taking shape. Look for a new installment every week until April 17 when the Show House opens.

It is absolutely incredible how quickly these show houses are being built! To think that they were just shells two months ago is unbelievable. Jim McQuarrie is the Bovis project super "hero" intendant, and under his direction, decisions that would typically be made in weekly meetings are now made in daily meetings and cell phone conversations. He’s good at keeping us on task.

We designers had to decide every finish well before the space materialized. I knew the probability of getting all five of us to agree on a cabinet finish for the St. Regis show house was highly unlikely, but five brains are always better than one. I scheduled a meeting with Mary Kathryn, Laurie, Patti and Robin to select the tile and cabinet finishes for unit 1130.

The finishes Design Galleria selected for the kitchen’s surfaces

No matter what the project, we always start with the floors! Since we had already selected ebony-stained wood floors for the transitional show house and dark walnut floors for the traditional show house, we gravitated toward an all-tile floor for the modern show house. The living room and dining room spaces are enormous, so we knew we needed the largest size tile we could find in three weeks—a task that we knew only Ronda at Walker Zanger could accomplish. She found a creamy limestone called “Parchment" that was ¾” thick and 36” by 36” in dimension. It’s soft, neutral and versatile, allowing us to cut these large pieces into any shape and size.

We decided to cut the tiles in half and lay them in a running bond so that the attention would be immediately diverted to the terrace and skyline views. And because the kitchen layout is so architectural, with mostly tall structures and perpendicular surfaces, we decided to accentuate these by contrasting the cabinet finish with the floor as well as by mixing a solid color lacquer with a stained veneer.

We also chose a gray-stained walnut from Downsview and paired it with a warm anthracite-colored high gloss lacquer. The lacquer is expressed in the side panels and with horizontal stripes on the tall wall that replicate the mullions in the tall terrace doors. When we placed these finishes next to the Wolf stainless steel finishes, we all loved the way they added a little bling to the look, rather than melting into the surroundings. Speaking of bling, next week I will share the details on the cool custom hood, backsplash, countertops and sink.