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| This house was done in 1979 or 80. This kitchen was the first one I designed that was out of the ordinary for this extremely traditional area. The design featured antique store fixtures such as, Tiffany & Co. China Cabinet, Goldberg and Sons Candy Store, and Gray Dunn and Co. Grocers. I won my first Best Kitchen award and my second best interior award. Although it doesn't look very radical now; stop and think about the kitchens that are being replaced now that are 1978 vintage and compare them. With a few tweaks (the refrigerator return and the valance, YUCK), this kitchen could be installed now as a 2007 design. The kitchen is solid Poplar with no plywood of any kind. Even the backs are T&G to match the wainscoting which is in the connecting family room and breakfast area. This kitchen was made with the barest of basic tools and finished in a spray booth that consisted of nothing more than plastic sheeting and a box fan. Notice the 3-1/2" wide casing and 5-1/2" base with plinth and rosette blocks which I made out of Poplar. This was one of the first jobs I did with my new Williams & Hussey. This was the first time that this kind of woodwork had been installed in a new home in our area for 40 years. The stairway is made out of Sassafras with all balusters and handrail made out of Red Oak. I was into a sassafras phase at the time. You can mix the two woods fairly easy because of the prominent grain in both. The downside to mixing these two types of wood is matching the stain because of the color and softness of the Sassafras. This house was a huge hit and sold the first day to one of the first people who came through it. They hadn't even been looking for a new house. I went on to do three houses for the buyer's brother. Needless to say, this was a huge boost to my career and my self-esteem. I almost killed myself doing this house because of the hours I worked and the stress I was under to get it done on schedule. I got very sick on the first day of the open house and had to go to the emergency room. Once I recovered, I went on to do the same thing on the next 50 houses all in good health. One of the hardest procedures for a trim carpenter (Joiner) to do is to marry two different kinds of wood work together. I have shown a couple ways I handled this procedure and the end results. |
