RLD LOGO
.

Board Member 		A KITCHEN AS
ART GALLERY



To view this kitchen on the Trends magazine website,
 click on this thumbnail.

Designing for How You Imagine Your Home Will Feel


Before
As we toured their view home, the owners said, “It’s easier to tell you what we ‘hate’ about our kitchen than to give you a wish list!” 
- The washed-out oak cabinets
- Congestion around the refrigerator and ovens
- Blocked access. “… going around this peninsula to get to our nook or pantry.” 
- Blocked views. “This column is always between you and whatever is happening in our family room.”
~ “Large bars” in the kitchen window “imprison” the rest of the view. I noted that the kitchen/dining room wall blocked the view north.
BEFORE-1
BEFORE-2
Wish List
“We would love to have two cooking stations and to chat with our children, both during after-school snacks and homework time. We also host large gatherings, up to 150, several times a year.” Their love of dramatic contrast was evident in the colors, patterns and textures of both their art collection and furnishings.

As Landon overlaid view corridors and traffic pathways onto their as-built floor plan, we resolved natural ways to connect both spaces and views, including cutting a pass-thru opening into the dining room. Along those pathways, countertops settled in, then work stations. A new kitchen window with a large center section would “release” the view.

Art glass plates: Susan Temple. Bridger Glass Studio

To give the kitchen its own internal sweeping views and connect it to the art-filled rooms around it, a wrap-around, floating shelf displays a collection of art glass plates. That same shelf contains twin, custom-made, pull-out extraction units that disappear when not in use. To replace wall cabinets, base cabinets drawers are 3” to 6” deeper, front to back, than standard. This adds the equivalent of several shelves of wall cabinets above each lineal foot of base cabinets. The backsplashes are hand-cast glass by Rebecca Bergsma. 

Main view of kitchen, showing African ribbon mahogany cabinets with caramelized bamboo panels.
A hand-cast glass countertop rests above the canarywood desktop. 

The pass-thru is visible in the photograph above. 
The photograph below is taken from the dining room side of it.
To the left, you can see the custom-made extraction unit in its "at rest" position.
 
The slot permits meals to be handed between the kitchen & dining room.

To accommodate “volume” issues, i.e., the varying numbers of people in their home, a “working pantry” helps distribute cooking, clean up, and refrigeration. (Sub-Zero drawers, Wolf induction and gas cooktops, Miele dishwasher in the main kitchen; Thermador “Freedom” refrigerator/freezer units, Wolf double ovens, Sharp microwave, plus, a second integrated Miele dishwasher, and a trash compactor in the pantry.) In the pantry, the orbital finish of the stainless steel countertops maintains easily. Extra-deep, arched-top pullouts and Rakks aluminum shelves handle storage. Full-tiled walls emphasize the “working” aspect of this room.
Magnetic induction & gas cooktops give two chefs room to cook together!
Magnetic induction and gas cooktops give two chefs room to cook together!
Scullery off kitchen and wine bar to the right.
Scullery has a Thermador "Freedom" column refrigerator & freezer. The hospitality center features an Ariston coffee machine and the Sub-Zero wine refrigeration unit. The counter in the foreground is canarywood.

Close up of pantry sink,
showing orbital finish on the stainless steel
and Arwa "Quadriga" faucet.
Copper sink under cast-glass counter
Copper sink under cast-glass counter
Corner pullouts
Corner pullouts store small appliances near at hand.
Trash & recycle bins are close at hand.



Back to the
"Thumbnail Tour"

Go to "Reading Tour" index with
links to Landon's résumé & articles
such as: "Is Work Triangle Dead?"

On to read about Landon's 
"Designed by L.I.F.E." Process

Back to the "Home Page"