Design Confidently, Live Comfortably
| January/February 2005 Arts & Crafts Made Modern Antique Collection Provides the Details The couple turned to their collection of Craftsman furniture to supply the authentic details for the new kitchen. The brass knobs and drawer pulls for the kitchen cabinets were cast from iron knobs on a chest of drawers and old pulls on a writing desk, both Gustav Stickley originals. The graceful corbels supporting the overhang on the kitchen island (photo, page 2) are fashioned after similar pieces on a wooden settle, or bench, manufactured by Gustav’s brothers’ company, L. & J.G. Stickley.  Set to serve Kathy wanted to tuck a Stickley china cupboard in this niche alongside the table until she saw a butler's pantry like the one above in a photo of a kitchen by Craftsman architects Greene and Greene. The table is a rare Stickley piece for which Ed made a new wooden top to protect the leather original from everyday use. The Friedmans also wanted to provide a home in the kitchen for pieces of early 20th-century pottery they’d collected. A niche above the stacked wall ovens creates a focal point for a piece dating from 1910, while others glisten in the light cast by the long row of windows above the wall unit. The display niche, as well as the backsplash behind the stove and sink, is covered with white subway tiles Kathy had noticed in homes built by Craftsman architects Charles and Henry Greene as well as Wright. Ed and Kathy added some drama to the original square design of the brick-red Welsh quarry tile floor by having some of the tiles cut into diamonds to mimic the shape of the cabinet knobs. Introducing Arts and Crafts motifs subtly was one of the Friedmans’ goals. “We wanted to have the Art and Crafts theme but without overdoing it,” said Kathy. It was that goal that persuaded them to abandon a plan to light the kitchen with an oversize reproduction Frank Lloyd Wright chandelier. They opted instead for small recessed light boxes trimmed in oak to match the cabinets. “My theory about these things is that if they are well placed and well detailed enough, they disappear visually,” said Morosco, who devised the lighting. “The idea isn’t to ornament them to make them fit in, but to make them blend in -- sort of like architectural camouflage.” NEXT: Two Movements Merge |
 |
PHOTO: KAREN TANAKA
|
 |
