Hi!! I'm Allie and I am so excited to be able to post about the progress/finished product of client projects, design processes and ideas. I am not going to tell you colors of the year, trends, or posts of all the acrylic trays available (well I hope to not do this!) I want to share with you the progress and tips about real construction and design. And point out exciting details and decisions. I hope you find it interesting! I won't waste any time...
Nyc kitchen, black and white scheme, black cabinet hardware, white shaker cabinets, marble backsplash
I'm super excited about this kitchen. It's stunning and somewhere between transitional and modern. We made modern selections in hardware and backsplash and kept the design timeless with shaker white satin custom cabinetry. You can't see the countertops yet but those are coming. They will too be modern and dark grey but a natural stone called jet mist (Virginia mist, jet black mist etc.) It's such a user friendly stone. I have so many clients who all want beautiful Calacutta white slab counters but for those of the world who use their kitchens it's sometimes impractical.
Real life tip no one explains: Marble (just like teeth) yellows over time just in general. Maybe not as much as a coffee drinker or English tea drinker's teeth but same deal. When we says marble stains we don't mean you spilled red pasta sauce and now your beautiful white slab is red. It's not THAT horrible. You first get "dull" spots which are essencially the acids in foods taking the finish off the marble. Polished stone owners can see this easily you know the rings and spots that show up in the stone right away. That's why lots of times if it works with the design I suggest clients start out with honed stone because it maskes the dull spots for longer than the polished. It's like with a good wood table. Some of those marks are to embraced and are just part of working on a natural material. If you aren't willing to embrace age marks then white marbles aren't for you. That simple.
I digress... Back to Jet Mist we used here. It's a granite believe it or not and not a granite circa the 90s when it was all pink and green and black spotty crap that everyone loved. It's beautiful. It has these light soft waves of faint grey and white dots and an overall dark/medium grey appearance. It's granite so it's not going to stain from oils like a soapstone, not going to scratch and scuff like a limestone, and not going to acid etch like a marble. AND while those man made materials have come quite a ways in the last ten years they just don't carry the life and depth that a REAL material does. I am not against the Quartz Masters and Cesarstones of the world; I have used these in some truly fabulous spaces where they were striking but you can't argue a fact that it ain't the real thing and the depth isn't there.
The backsplash is milky white marble. It's a very linear modern stone that draws your eye down through the kitchen.
Jet mist granite, durable kitchen counter modern and honed
Custom made unlacquered brass finish on chandelier and brass art lights.
Well it's a work in progress that we are super excited about. Bring this back finished later...