Gails' Kitchen: Sneak Peek

I don't think most people realize how much time will elapse from the day they decide to take on a renovation project to the day you can actually move your belongings back into the space, including all your own personal touches, and,,, begin living in it.   It can take even longer for the final finishing touches to be put in place and for those much dreamed about "after" photos to be taken.  Gail's kitchen was a project I started in January 2010, you can read all about the project and see before photos here, design drawings here , site progress here, and here. The project involved the renovation of not only her kitchen but an adjoining mud room and family room.   Construction wrapped up 10 months after my initial meeting with Gail, and just in time for her to use her brand new kitchen for Thanksgiving 2010.  But even at that point there was still a short list (ok, she might have called it a long list) of small details still to be completed. 

Flash forward almost a year later and I've finally had the chance to return to Gail's and take some 'after' photos.  (This could have happened sooner but coordinating shoots like this in the summer months is just too challenging.)  Its been an amazing experience to return all these months later and see Gail still gushing over her new kitchen like it was just revealed to her yesterday - she's literally giddy with disbelief and excitement that this is 'her' kitchen.  Its so satisfying to me to see the pure joy on her face when she's in this space and to listen to her tell me of all the parties and special meals that have been experienced.

Having any of my projects professionally photographed, or even photographed by myself, requires a huge investment of my own time (and money!) as well as the complete cooperation of the homeowner.  In all honesty its a challenge to find this time.   It can also take a couple of months to get into a photographer 's schedule depending what time of year it is.  Once scheduled,  prior to a shoot I'll spend a day picking up fresh flowers and food accessories and then I'll spend the next day at the house making sure everything is in place and camera ready.   The third day is spent at the house overseeing the shoot.  Did I mention,,,,,,,these after photos,,, require a huge amount of time!!??  

I was thrilled to work with the super talented photographer Donna Griffith just two weeks ago photographing 'after' photos of Gail's kitchen project.  I don't even have the final photos yet but I thought I'd share a sneak peek at some of the beautiful details that have come to life from all those design sketches and visions I had in my head almost two years ago.  Its a huge room and these images are literally a small 'peek',  capturing only a fraction of the complete space.

Please note the images below are just a few of my own candid shots, not the photographers.

Here you can truly see the beauty and character of hand made subway tile.

As Donna said when she arrived,,,,"I just want to sit down and have breakfast".  I bought the topiaries to dress the table but everything else I set out on the table belongs to Gail.

A huge oversize lantern I had custom made for the two story space. 

Even a year later the timing still wasn't ideal.  There was a construction crew working on the pool deck in the backyard but they were so accommodating every time we asked them to move their tools out of view! 

All Photos:  Carol Reed

NYC: Wall Street Architecture

When I was in New York earlier this month working on the Upper East Side Reno I spent an afternoon walking around the financial district on a sweltering hot Saturday afternoon.   Although I happened to have my DSLR with me it wasn't a pre-planned photoshoot destination but once there I was simply overwhelmed by the architecture that surrounded me.   I had never been to Wall Street before nor did I know much about this iconic eight blocks except for the image I had in my head from movies, television and the media in general.  I've been to the city many times but honestly I had never really had any interest in visiting Wall Street or given it much thought at all (what can I say, I live in the world of Design not not high finance!).  You can imagine how ecstatic I was to discover this haven of architectural beauties.  How did I not know about this!?

Its difficult for me to find the right words to describe my impression of Wall Street,,,because it was so unlike anything I had imagined it was or expected it to be.  The sheer towering scale of the buildings viewed from the very narrow streets is sensational, the neighborhood is strikingly charming and quaint in a way (?) with its centuries old architecture, cobblestone walkways, a Tiffany's,  and the historic Trinity Church holding court at the end of the street.  The street is a pedestrian only zone with no vehicular traffic and facades are void of signage or advertising only flags, all this completly evokes a feeling of being in a world of another time and is so unlike a typical urban streetscape.   Since I'm really not doing a good job here of describing what I saw, how about I just show you a few of the photos I took.....

What I love about the buildings here is that the colours are all so grey toned that even when you shoot and view the images in colour its very monochromatic looking.  All the images above are shown in colour except one!

I'm a complete amateur photographer but it is a passion of mine.  I love to shoot landscapes and streetscapes particlarly, I don't use photoshop or edit my photos in any way except to convert to black and white or crop images.  When I want high quality prints made for framing I send the image off to Elevator Digital and they take care of all the technical issues for me (resizing etc.).  Mostly, I like my images to remain true to the way I shoot them without any enhancing or special effects.  Sometimes I like to shoot slightly overexposed, sometimes underexposed depending on the mood I'm trying to capture.  What I love to do with my photos the most is have them printed and framed for wall art, sometime for myself, sometimes for clients.  When you frame an image it takes on an entirely new dynamic, I'll be getting several of these printed and framed and they'll be something like this...

Unless I'm doing one large oversize print, I try to group images into groups of 2, 3 or 4's combining both landscape and portrait orientation as I did above.  Once I've decided on which images I like grouped together, I'll decide if I want them printed in black and white or colour.....

....and then I figure out my final image sizes, matt sizes and decide on frame colour by doing mock-ups similar to these (very rough above!), often I do this on a scaled elevation of the wall and I'll normally include the frame too (not shown on the above).  For frames I always do a simple rectangular profile in white, black, silver or natural wood.  Lately I've been doing a lot of white framed coloured photography, which I LOVE.  Then once all this is figured out I send the original image files off to Kevin at the printing lab who takes care of printing, matting and framing for me.

If you ever visit NYC I highly recommend a visit to this neighborhood whether you're passionate about architecture or not, its simply an experience like no other.

All Photos:  Carol Reed

A Family Home Office

Many months ago just before the end of 2010, a past client of mine contacted me about finishing one of the remaining 'original' rooms in their otherwise fully renovated cape cod style house.  This room was the Library or Home Office and it occupies a very prominent space in the home at the front of the house directly off the front entry.   The parents are both successful professionals with their own practices/business and have two young girls.  This room needed to function as a home office for both parents and space where both girls could work on school projects with mom or dad.   It was a tall order!   Home offices have similar needs to address as kitchens,,,lots of worksurface, storage, organization, ergonomics, and the ability to accommodate equipment and work gadgets.   Here's a look at what one corner of the space currently looks like - its obvious that nothing is working here.

  

Existing space

The solution to a space like this is built-ins.  Built-in cabinetry that maximizes the vertical space available and accommodates specific types of storage needs.   I designed 3 walls of full height built-in cabinetry for this room to provide worksurfaces and accommodate lockable file storage, computer equipment, supplies, binders and a book collection.   To soften all this built-in cabinetry I decided to add a custom made free standing table desk, an area carpet and some patterned fabric to give the room a more relaxed homey look and make it feel less 'officey'.   All these months later, the cabinetry is now nearing completion, the custom table desk and fabric treatments are being made, and installation is scheduled for sometime in September.

The concept board above is a look at some of the key pieces selected for the room early on in the planning process - in addition to these pieces an area carpet, upholstered arm chair, wall art and desk lamps will be sourced for the room over  the next few weeks.    Below is a floor plan of the proposed new layout with built-ins.

I presented at least 4 different layout options for them and this was the winning plan.  The table desk could easily accommodate mom and one or two of the girls working on a project.  There's additional knee space on the side return, loads of file storage, a wall of bookshelves, a separate area for printer/fax/copier, supplies and stereo equipment.  Dad has his own separate work space complete with a loads of upper cabinet space for all his paper work.

The room's two windows will get new fabric roman shades with a wide gros grain ribbon border (along the edge as opposed to inset as in the sketch above).  A custom upholstered stool will tuck under the knee space of the long wall of built-ins and can be pulled up to Mom's or Dad's desk when needed.

The fabrics for the roman shades and upholstered stool shown above right and the cabinetry finish is on the left.  The base of the table desk will be painted in a dark navy blue/green.

I first saw this fabric about a year ago, I photographed it and ordered a sample for future use.  Well it didn't take long for this project to come along and I knew instantly it would be a great fit for this space and suit the classic casual vibe of this client's home.  A pattern that's not too over the top flowery, it's very branchy and leafy and has the odd bird in there too.   The existing paint colour of the office is a pale warm yellow/green that's also found in this print.

I was thrilled when I spotted this room in the July/August issue of Veranda Magazine with the same or similar fabric.  I love the impact it has when used on all the upholstery and drapery.  I'm not certain its the exact same fabric, the colour way is slightly different with a gold/tan background as opposed to the blue/grey background of the fabric I selected but its so similar its hard to tell the difference.  I also noticed that they brought in a hit of tourquoise in the accessories just as I did with the gourd lamps,,,and I think its a fun compliment to this fabric choice.

With the new school year fast approaching this new home office will be ready just in time to help this busy family tackle all their work and school projects with ease.   I'll post some after photos this coming fall and show you how it all comes together.  

Photos 1 thru 6:  Carol Reed

Photo 7:   Veranda Magazine