Editor’s Note: The 2010 Atlanta Symphony Associates Decorators’ Show House & Gardens opens April 17 at 3639 Tuxedo Rd. We’ve once again invited kitchen design extraordinaire and Design Galleria principal Matthew Quinn to to keep a journal of the process, every step of the way. Today is his third installment about how the kitchen is taking shape. Look for his last installment this Friday.
So we now have a fabulous new kitchen layout that functions well and breathes new life into this space. However, as always, the details will make or break it and we still have some challenges ahead of us such as the ceiling height and low windows in front of the sinks.
I have found the best way to “raise” a ceiling is to paint the walls and ceiling the same color. If there is a color change between the wall and ceiling, you have drawn attention to the one line in the room you are trying to hide. Furthermore, painting the cabinets the same color as the walls will allow them to visually recede into the walls enlarging the space. Minimizing wall cabinets and using tall groupings of appliances and storage will also help “verticalize” the space. Again, instead of drawing the eye down and horizontal to the space between the countertop and wall cabinet, a tall cabinet becomes one vertical element and makes us look up. Wall cabinets were unavoidable in this kitchen but by attaching panels to them that extend to the countertop, “hutch ends”, we will further elongate that all important vertical line.
Placing the sinks in front of the windows that overlook the front yard is essential to the new plan, however, the window sill is 12” lower than the countertop. A well will have to be created between the window and sink to allow access to the window. Finishing the back side of the cabinet and installing a decorative backsplash from the countertop material turns this challenge into a design opportunity. I actually had this same situation at the 2006 ASO Showhouse where I used a wood countertop and a marble sink.
Challenges conquered, now it is time to select all of the gorgeous colors, materials and surfaces. I always start with the floor as it is becomes the foundation of the design scheme. Here we were working with an existing oak floor but we were able to stain it darker using my favorite mix of half Jacobean and half Special Walnut stains. Next I like to pick countertops and luckily, Marmi found us the most amazing marble on the planet. So now that we have two major decisions done, we can work on completing the rest of this “outfit”. A taupe colored suit would complement the dark brown shoes and our marbled dress shirt with accents of merlot, sage, greys and taupes, therefore, we will paint our perimeter cabinets taupe and the island cabinets a slightly darker shade of the same color just for fun. This taupe color will look great next to the two stainless steel Dacor refrigerators. The pewter and scagliola hood, a Matthew Quinn Collection exclusive from Francois and Co., becomes the hat, the camel-glazed ceramic tile from Renaissance Tile becomes the tie, the black walnut island tops from Craft-Art the belt to match the shoes and the polished nickel sconces and hardware from Matthew Quinn Collection the cufflinks and watch.
The patterns, shapes and trims are next and an important step in marrying this new kitchen to the existing homes architecture. Adding soft curves and circles to the rooms rectangular shape and existing beamed ceiling seemed right. Fortunately, we had many elements to inspire us with interesting iron, lead and millwork designs throughout the house.
The mirrored doors over the ovens were inspired by the clearstory window.
The sink and hood backsplash were inspired by the crown molding in the living room.
We custom made the gently radiused stainless steel apron front sinks complete with a gooseneck faucet by Matthew Quinn Collection for the Rubinet Faucet Co.
Perfect circles of pewter are recessed into the walnut island countertops playing off the round chandeliers above.
Together, this ensemble is timeless, sophisticated, elegant, textural, colorful and head turning. And, yes, I am “dressing” this kitchen with lots of my own MQC products, but why would I not wear things that I love.
On Friday, I will reveal as much as I can without breaking any indecent exposure laws…..