I was hired for this large home hybrid kitchen design project by a local contractor I have years of experience working with. Trust is a valuable and scarce commodity in the building industry unfortunately. I write these articles in the trust building process with you, as you consider hiring your contractor, because creativity and successful design come out of a trusting working relationship! The theater room hybrid project showcases a design suggestion made by the Gepetto Craftsman after looking at the plans drawn by the architect for elliptical windows topping off the glass doors to the porch. When I got the architectural drawings and took a look at them I felt that the drawings were leaving out a huge opportunity in the woodworking in the room. Let me give you a picture to set the stage:
The arches are a repeated architectural theme throughout the home and I felt that the architect didn’t draw this wall with a grasp on the abilities of a skilled modern woodworker. Drawing on the relationship I have with the builder and client, I suggested some changes to the plans to include a solid wood arched raised panel to finish the look of the wall. The builder and client agreed with me that the warmth, classicism, and functional results of my proposed drawings would be a great direction to refurbish this 1920’s home.
Eliptical raised panel – all solid wood – no veneeering – click to enlarge
A solid wood, arched raised panel is a difficult construction challenge because the solid wood used in construction doesn’t naturally conform to the designed arch. I have to measure precisely and use old world wood bending techniques. The highly technical machinery setups to manufacture the wooden arc of trim would baffle less accomplished craftsmen.
Arched Panel Detail – click to enlarge
While I am very proud of the arched panels – they’re only the beginning of the mixed spaces designed into this home renovation. Take a look at three more detail pictures and then let’s move on into the kitchen.
Creatively the client wanted a little diversity through out this kitchen design. Originally the client had a very dark raised panel Kitchen that they renovated 20 years back so this was the 3rd renovation this customer had done in this house. The conversation about how they had evolved the house through the years was very educational. In this renovation, they wanted a timeless, simple, and open approach to their central living environment as the kitchen adjoins an open sitting room and is the most used space in the house. The open transitions and framework are to facilitate family conversations while doing mixed tasks like homework and food prep.
The first idea on the drawing board was filling the whole room with cabinets, but as we talked with the client about their needs and style we evolved into a super simple result. The original kitchen was full of late 80’s raised panel and dark cherry when we started.
In the design process we opened up the feeling with open-front shelving to achieve a sleeker, clean, zen feeling. The craftsman feel was brought out with an eclectic warm touch and breaking the kitchen into sections. The front area is composed of the wooden front dishwasher, the mosaic tile back-splashes behind the sink and granite counter tops for food preparation next to the stove and between the sink.
Countryside tourists visiting the blue ridge mountains and countryside enjoy a stop off at the Old Toad Pub. The rustic ideal and design theme were desired in this project to attract the weekender tourists from the Washington DC, Baltimore, and Richmond metro areas as they spend a weekend at a nice countryside bed and breakfast or tour the local wineries near Charlottesville VA. The reclaimed barn wood facing used on the bar was taken from a barn not twelve miles from the restaurant’s location by Gepetto Craftsmen who finished out the bar design to serve both the drinking patrons, but also the speed and accessibility of the staff serving the drinks day in and day out. The L shaped bar with service corner helps separate the bar area from the seated dining area. Our commitment to solid wood as a craft shows through in every polished inch of the bartop surface! A proprietary mix of curing, polishing and chemical finishes builds a deep luster on top of the gorgeous wood grain that you won’t hesitate to serve, spill or clean on top of. Contact us to start your custom bar construction for your home or business.
Rustic Bar Construction | Custom Restaurant Fittings
The concept for the pecky cypress kitchen project came from a lack in the home builder’s kitchen’s ‘spirit’. The floor plan layout make the kitchen viewable from the entry hall, and left much to be desired in it’s style and warmth for this central piece of the home design. The homeowner was not able to get a satisfactory response from the general contractor and so turned to Gepetto. We brought a willingness to listen, and extensive design experience to the table to help the home owner make an organic visual and tactile experience come to life in their central living space.
The key component that breaks the design mold, achieving the goals of the homeowner in the process, was to use the exotic and difficult to work with Pecky Cypress wood species. Matthew Wiley’s modern eclectic design sensibility and daring to work with the unique scarred grain pattern in the cypress brings the unique look and functional success to this kitchen and bookshelf project. You may be wondering where the difficulty comes from. Take a look at this closeup picture:
Architectural millwork for spiral staircase construction across Virginia, Maryland, Deleware, Philadelphia and Southern PA. Virginia Custom Spiral Staircase Builders project slideshow is above. Get a quote for your custom staircase manufactured by hand from local VA craftsmen. The most complex designs fit intricate spaces and can be quoted and completed efficiently to meet your project’s deadlines from our Richmond shop. Warehouse renovation from the ground up with reclaimed materials from exposed beams or old flooring can be done on budget and timeilne with a shop as capable as Gepetto. Builders of exquisite wood architectural elements like spiral staircases and curved railings like pictured here in this slideshow take great care with the materials to bend and twist with the wood grain. Along with the complex measurements that are required to accurately build in the three dimensional turns of a spiral, we take great care to meet the structural strength and weight bearing needs of the staircases we build.
We have used solid wood joinery with the center column in several projects, but here we blended the the flexibility and strength of steel to meet the architectural needs of this project. The three levels of the Ladybird Hat Factory renovation were connected with this spiral staircase built around the elevator shaft. The new addition of an elevator to this late 19th century building left us plenty of structural integrity from which to hang the floating staircase. The extra large internal diameter allowed us to use a lower angle between steps as we completed the arc between levels. Walk in sometime to experience how the arc of the staircase moves through the space. Complete the turn on solid wood planks as you rise from level to level and feel the craftsmanship that we intended.
