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Week 7 of a Contemporary Show House Kitchen Design: All in the Details

April 8, 2009 in Designing, Guest Blogger, Showhouse by Matthew Quinn | 2 comments

Editor’s note: It’s hard to believe that the Decorators’ Show House & Gardens opens in little more than a week. 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 seventh installment about how one of his spaces is taking shape. Look for his final installment next week as we anticipate the grand Show House opening on April 17.
 
I love jigsaw puzzles. This past week’s show house schedule was probably the most elaborate and complicated puzzle I have ever tackled. Designers are moving in incredible rooms of art and antiques amongst a sea of painters, tile installers, electricians and plumbers working on last minute details. Patience, deep breaths and the amazing organizational skills of our Director of Business Development, Dusty Miller, has kept me out of the emergency room this week. Our work is down to perfecting the tiniest of details, which sometimes takes longer than the entire rest of the process. I thought I would share a puzzle with you. Below are several small detail shots in the modern show house kitchen. See if you can assemble these to visualize the entire space, and if not, I will solve it for you next week. 
 
Gnosis
The stainless steel-framed bronze glass hood and framed Gnosis mosaic backsplash
 
 
PaneledWalls
The paneled walls resembling the terrace French doors
 
 
WolfOvens
Two side-by-side Wolf ovens
 
 
countertop
The honed granite Walker Zanger countertop
 
 
Hardware
The Matthew Quinn Collection hardware on the Downsview cabinets
 
 
KohlerKarbon
The stainless steel countertop and custom granite sink with Kohler Karbon faucet
 
Check back next week for our final blog in this series, when we unveil the finished kitchen. We’re excited for the grand opening! Purchase tickets to see the Show House in person at decoratorsshowhouse.com.

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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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