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Contemporary Kitchen Design Week 6: The Amazing Race

April 1, 2009 in Designing, Guest Blogger, Showhouse by Matthew Quinn | No comments

Editor’s note: It’s hard to believe that the Decorators’ Show House & Gardens opens in just over two weeks. In the weeks leading up to the opening, we asked one of the participating designers, Matthew Quinn, to keep a journal of the process, every step of the way. Today is his sixth 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.

I think I figured out why Design Galleria loves to partake in show houses; we are addicted to the challenge. It is our own “Amazing Race” reality show! Although we have participated in more show houses than any other kitchen and bath design studio in the entire Southeast, this was the ultimate test. Not only did we take on a show house in a high rise while it was under construction—which was a feat in itself—but we also committed to creating 3 kitchens, 3 bars and 7 bathrooms!

If we did not already have 15 Atlanta Symphony Associates Show Houses under our belts, the pictures below would be quite scary. These pictures show the current status of the modern unit kitchen in all of its glory. It is hard to believe that interior designers start moving in their furniture, drapery and art this weekend. With the right combination of hard work, long hours and a little bit of magic, it continuously amazes me how it ALWAYS gets done.

I will let you know next week if I was able to sleep at all this week.
 

Kitchen

The metal surround of the custom hood could not be templated until the sloped ceiling was finished. The bronze glass hood inserts could not be templated until the metal surround was made. The lights and fan in the hood can’t be installed until the glass inserts are installed. 

 

Kitchen

Since the peninsula has a granite countertop and a stainless steel countertop butting into each other, the granite had to be templated and installed before the stainless could be templated and installed. The appliances are always one of the last items to be installed in a kitchen and require the decorative hardware so the integrated panels can be drilled for them. 

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Week 5 of a Contemporary Kitchen Design: Fixtures and Hardware

March 25, 2009 in Designing, Guest Blogger, Showhouse by Matthew Quinn | 4 comments

Editor’s note: With the Decorators’ Show House & Gardens less than a month 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 fifth 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.
 
Sometimes, design can be like a bullet train. The process can start out slow and cautious, but once a solid foundation of design decisions has been built, there are soon fewer options for each stop on the ride. Before you know it, the train is moving faster and faster and the decisions become easier. For instance, after getting most of the layout and finishes selected, I could not think of another faucet that would be more perfect for this kitchen than the Kohler Karbon. The way this faucet can be articulated is so cool; it can be configured to be very tall in order to fill huge pots and spray out the corners of the huge granite sink, or it can be folded down very small so as to not block the terrace view. I kind of like pretending it is a microphone, too. 
 
Karbon
Kohler’s Karbon faucet as shown with the contemporary kitchen’s large granite sink
 
Again keeping the view in mind, I knew I wanted three pendants over the peninsula that would be basically translucent during the day and add just the right amount of light and interest at night. Since this design “train” seems to be about horizontal stripes, I chose the Ingo pendant from WAC Lighting because of its long, slender white glass body and horizontally striped etchings. There is not an incredible amount of space between the drinking bar (I call it this because anything other than sipping wine or martinis here would be done in the adjacent casual dining space) and the peninsula and the tall terrace doors, so I really needed a counterstool that had very little visual weight. The almost transparent Kartell Charles Ghost counter stools from Design Within Reach were again an easy decision. The decorative hardware was really all that was left to choose and that is always one of my favorite decisions. There are hundreds of options that could have worked in this modern kitchen, but I knew that only one would be perfect. I decided to custom design the hardware using two of the elements in the space: the stainless steel of the ovens and countertops and the bronze glass of the backlit hood. This piece, called "Marquet," is part of my own hardware collection [Ed note: The Matthew Quinn Collection], and what makes it so versatile is that any material—from stone to horn to wood—can be inserted into this handle’s slot, making it the perfect hardware for anyone’s design “train.”
 
Marguet
The Matthew Quinn Collection custom-designed cabinetry hardware, incorporating  the stainless steel of the appliances and the bronze glass of the backlit hood
 
I’ll take you behind the scenes of even more of the contemporary show house design next week. Have a great week!
 
 

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Making it Memorable: Week 4 of a Contemporary Kitchen Design

March 18, 2009 in Designing, Guest Blogger, Showhouse by Matthew Quinn | No comments

Editor’s note: With the Decorators’ Show House & Gardens less than a month 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 fourth 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.
 
I believe every room should contain something memorable. But too much “memorable” can cause visual schizophrenia, so the art of editing becomes the lithium to a harmonious interior. In order of hierarchy, I know I already have gorgeous 10-foot-tall glass doors opening to a huge terrace and southern views over the mansions of Buckhead, along with a unique and memorable ceiling. Creating a handful of secondary and tertiary focal points is all that is needed to bring this space together. And I have to remember that at night, the southern view is mostly dark, so I need to play with lighting to create my own interior “skyline.”
 
Design Galleria
A view of the developing design, plus details of the "stripes" Design Galleria is employing for a strong linear feel
 
I have already played with the horizontal lines of the space by using “stripes” on the tall paneled wall, so now I want to play with the verticality of the space. Centering a stainless framed hood with bronze glass inserts on the angled part of the ceiling did the trick. Not attaching it to the back wall and lighting it from the inside with LED lights made for an even stronger visual statement. To continue the theme of intersecting planes, I decided that instead of tiling the wall behind the induction cook top, I could hang a backsplash like a piece of art. And art, this backsplash is. 
 
Gnosis
The stunning Gnosis marble-and-limestone mosaic chosen for the backsplash
 
Made by Gnosis Tesserae in Lebanon with the tiniest brown and gray marble and limestone tiles, it brings the classicism of the St. Regis into the modern St. Regis of today. The backsplash coordinates beautifully with the honed Brown Pearl granite countertops by Walker Zanger. A rectangular section of the stainless steel countertop on the peninsula appears to have been removed and replaced with a granite sink; meanwhile, the “removed” section of stainless steel will become a chef’s table that will be used as an island.  
 
Now we are down to the last few details… I still have to select hardware, pendants lights, barstools and a wall color. See you next week!

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Inside a Contemporary Kitchen Design, Week 3: Finishes

March 11, 2009 in Designing, Events, Guest Blogger, Showhouse by Matthew Quinn | 1 comment

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.

Kitchen finishes

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.

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