An Elegant Display...Finished

I am so excited to share these photos of our front display. We are more than pleased with the way it turned out.

This classic design features inset cabinetry from Custom Wood Products, Walker Zanger porcelain tile from Stafford Tile, an ivory CornuFe range, a masterpiece tin hood from Metallo Arts, a black walnut countertop on the island from Grothouse Lumber, Crema Marfil Marble, and of course the chandelier from the castle (mentioned here).

This is such a New Orleans style kitchen. The vintage finish on the island gives it the old yet worn feel and the eggshell finish on the other cabinets accomplish the classic look that we were going after.

The hanging gardens pattern hood from Metallo works perfectly with the chandelier.

I will be posting photos of our other displays soon. We are awaiting some pewter tops from Metallo Arts, a vetrazzo recycled glass top, and a few appliances for one of our displays that is sure to knock your socks off!

The Epitome of Faded Grandeur

Today, while searching for some inspiration, I stumbled upon this website. I assume it is for people looking for fabulous movie locations (most of which seem to be in Europe). I was looking for Victorian era kitchens and was pleased to find many wonderful examples. This abandoned castle took my breath away.



I will post some better examples of Victorian Era kitchens, but this image definitely needs to be discussed. The back left part of the picture shows the built in cabinetry and the right side shows the stove. I now see where Clive Christian got his inspiration...period kitchens. I am so in love!

This appears to be another kitchen in the castle. I could stare at these photos for hours.
The stove again, in the main kitchen. Is that subway tile I see?

Beautiful Details!
If you look closely, you can see the delicate mural that adorns the walls in this room.


I love the shade of blue in this room.
This is my favorite room. I guess it was the library or a ballroom. If I had lived here it would have definitely been used as my ballroom.
I have had a love for old abandoned homes for years. My mother had this book about anti-bellum homes in Louisiana that I used to pour through when I was a child. I never grew tired of those images. I have so many questions for this castle. Who lived here? Why did they abandon it? There must be someone out there who would want to live here. It is kind of sad that no one gets to live amongst these beautiful rooms. I am so happy that I found this website and this castle. I will visit these pictures often for inspiration and post some of the beautiful Victorian kitchens that I found real soon!

Mahogany and All of it's Splendor...

I have been a very bad blogger lately. With the holidays, our upcoming move, and work consuming most of my time, I just have not been able to spare a few minutes to focus on my blogs--until now!
Today, I had the chance to visit a kitchen that I completed last year. I had not seen the lovely tile back splash yet and was eager to take pictures. Boy do I wish I had before pictures of this space. It was one unsightly room! We removed a large walk in pantry, which was where the range and cabinets on the far wall (in the above picture) are now. It also consisted of laminate countertops, a peninsula that took up far too much space, and very out-dated appliances.
My client's chose these beautiful African Mahogany Inset cabinets. The upper cabinets are a custom 4 feet tall. Can you imagine having all of that storage?
This is my favorite thing about the kitchen-- A custom Armoire/Refrigerator/ Pantry. The center cabinet is the refrigerator and the pantries are on either side. This kitchen will always be special to me. My client's encouraged me to use my imagination---my favorite type to work with (and they are also related to one of my co-workers.)

A few things that I would have done differently:

1. I would have gone with a wood hood or a beautiful hood from Metallo Arts (too bad that I did not know about them then.)

2. I would have added an island in the center of the kitchen.

Overall, I am very proud of this kitchen!