KCB Boiler Room Breakfast Club: Custom Kitchens
With over thirty years of furniture making and construction experience, Kevin has built dozens of custom kitchens and cabinetry with his own hands and overseen the construction of many more. In the past three years, he’s worked with interior designer Katie Rosenfeld on two custom kitchens that felt like they deserved stage time in the Boiler Room—the Peony and the Sunflower. And so last month we hosted the conversation as part of our Boiler Room Breakfast Club series.
As Kevin was preparing for the conversation, he found himself updating a running list that, as he put it, “let’s you know where I’m coming from.” This was an unexpected result of the event prep, as it allowed a peek under the philosophical hood when it comes to Kevin’s approach. This "list,” which Kevin read aloud before beginning the evening’s conversation, has created a framework for his collaborations over the years, allowing all involved to flourish.
The list items he mentioned were:
I love upgrades.
I always look for opportunities to make things better, no matter what. Especially if it’s a kitchen, especially in cabinetry.
I’m in the “Yes” business. If someone says, “Let’s try this,” I’m going to try it.
I’m not afraid to give input, as a builder and as a cabinet maker. But I do it respectfully, and I usually don’t blurt out big ideas in front of clients before I talk to my designers.
I really firmly believe that little details add up to make a huge impact. And my details that I love are in the background. They’re not in your face. And as I said, my goal for the end result is understated quality.
Katie then moved the conversation from the realm of beliefs to the design details specific to the two kitchens, starting with the Peony, saying that “everybody who hires us wants a certain look, and I think it could be described as a ‘nostalgic traditional’-sorta feel. And the way that we approach our interior design is very layered.”
Kevin quickly followed suit with a deep dive into the thinking behind the kitchen parameter colors. “I feel like contrast is always huge between the parameter and the island and having different elements here. So here we have a light-colored island, with a dark parameter. Which is a little bit unique.”
Katie elaborated, giving us a peek into her method and how this went for the Peony:
“I usually don’t associate myself with that dark, moody-sorta look, but, again, this client did want to explore that. And it was interesting to me to— initially we were going to do a black kitchen. But we landed on this dark— I think it’s called “Railings,” by Farrow and Ball… And the island was a nice visual break…. As you explore the rest of the kitchen, there’s some oak pieces. And it’s really almost like a hodge-podge. It’s meant to look almost “apothecary” in style. Hence the hardware…you’ll see this really cool oak cabinet that we designed. ”
The talk then pivoted to the Sunflower project. Surrendipitously, the architect for the Sunflower project, JB Clancy, was able to attend and join the conversation. “In any design problem,” he began, “as everyone knows, there are multiple paths one can take. And coming out of the gate, we never just go in and say, ‘Here’s the idea. Do it.’ So we always begin with a process that has several options….and we like to use drawings in that very iterative process and have a conversation with the clients.”
Specific to the Sunflower kitchen, he went on:
“One thing the kitchen was not served well by was that door going to the back. It kinda made the kitchen like a hallway. When you sometimes put a door in a room, it’s now just a ‘through’ space. So we wanted to make it a bay, a space that would collect itself and contain itself….and made it a sitting space.”
This moment in the conversation elegantly illustrated the value of bringing on an architect when it comes to customizing your kitchen. In this case, this meant that the architect had in mind what could be called “the best seat in the house.” Or in JB’s words, “we figured, ‘Where would you want to be sitting all day if you were in this house? You’d want to be sitting, looking at this amazing Kousa dogwood and the garden behind.’ So that’s the idea of that banquette.
The island was also a pivot point when it came to the customization story of the kitchen, with Katie sharing how the design went way beyond the island itself:
“The homeowner really wanted it to have a ‘furniture feel,’ but this house is really grand. The ceilings are really high, the house is old and has really commanding architecture. So we had to make sure the island was commensurate with all those details but also— When something is really big, it’s hard to make it cozy. And Jess, in my office, is brilliant at being able to figure out how to scale these worktables so they don’t look like these big behemoths.”
“Katie’s team provided an inspiration image,” Kevin went on, showcasing his own design chops as a creative rooted in historic practice and allowed the space to “go there,” so to speak. “I looked at it and thought, ‘It looks like bleached walnut!’ So that’s what we did. We moved forward with bleached walnut and did some distressing, which I don’t do very often, but it came out great. It was fun. We beat it up with some chains a little bit.”
Wrapping up the conversation, Katie addressed the gratitude so evident throughout in a way that felt as layered and considered as her own design aesthetic:
“It’s so nice when you work on a project, and there are no egos, there’s true collaboration, and everyone respects each other’s point of view, knows what they know, don’t know what they don’t know, knows when to raise their hand and ask for backup or help, no one’s throwing each other under the bus—these are the kind of projects everyone wants to work on, but when you get advanced in your career, it’s like the only ones you want to work on…. Truly it was a pleasure.”
Kevin added, “like what Katie said, you reach a point where you want to work on things you’re excited about, you want to work with people you’re excited to work with, and you want to go to project meetings where you’re excited to be there.…this was one of those projects…so thank you!”
