DIY & Remodeling With Margot Guralnick
LA creative director and designer Sarah Sherman Samuel and her husband, Rupert Samuel, thought nothing of tearing out the cabinets in their LA bungalow with their own bare hands. We've been watching them in action via Samuel's blog Smitten Studio. The two are can-do sorts, but not so handy that they could tackle building the replacements. Nor were they ready to shell out for a cabinetmaker. Instead they took the high/low road: They bought Ikea cabinets and turned to LA-based company SemiHandmade to put up a good front. As Sarah explains: "The genius part is that at Ikea you can buy the cabinets without the doors and drawer faces, so then by getting those at SemiHandmade, you end up with beautifully crafted and high-quality doors and drawers, but it's still less expensive than a custom kitchen. It's like the ultimate Ikea hack."
Photography by Sarah Sherman Samuel.
Above: Sarah puts a cabinet door in place. The cabinetry all came from Ikea; the doors and drawer fronts are the work of SemiHandmade, which uses Ikea's plans (or architectural plans or even legible sketches) to create customized fronts. Sarah chose SemiHandmade's DIY Shaker design, which is made of maple with MDF inset panels (and is called DIY because the wood is untreated and unstained).
Above: The cabinet doors freshly painted in Farrow & Ball's Pigeon await installation. "Originally we were going to paint the doors and drawer fronts ourselves," Sarah writes in her chronicle of the project. "I researched spray guns and read up on different DIY techniques, but in the end we hired a professional. By the time I factored in the price of the sprayer and considered all the time it would take me, it turns out hiring the professional ended up being more cost-effective."
She settled on the color by painting foam core boards with several possibilities and moving the boards around over days to see how they looked in different lights. She was initially inclined to go with a dark shade, but during the testing process this nuanced gray-green emerged the winner.
Above: Rupert assembles the Ikea shelves. Sarah reports that they were able to follow the Ikea instructions without going too cross-eyed, and that it took the two of them a full day to install the SemiHandmade doors and drawer fronts: "The drawer fronts snapped in quick like lightening, but hanging the doors and adjusting the hinges took a bit of time."
Above: SemiHandmade ships its designs across the country and is planning to set up showrooms near some of the largest Ikea stores (it's currently in Burbank, California, two miles from Ikea). Wondering about costs? The company reports that most clients spend $5,000 to $10,000 on its doors, panels, and drawer faces to complete a room. Ikea cabinet boxes and hardware typically cost $1,000 to $3,000, and, if you pay for assembly and installation, that generally runs $1,500 to $2,000—so projects generally total somewhere between $8,000 and $15,000.
Above: Sarah's high/low approach extends to the fixtures and finishes: The apron sink is from Ikea—the Domsjo; $185.99—while the counter and backsplash is Calacatta Gold marble. The kitchen is shown here nearly finished—cabinet and drawer pulls are still to come.
Above: "I've always wanted a kitchen with marble countertops," says Sarah. "I know they aren't the most durable or practical, but come on, the heart wants what the heart wants." She selected the slabs at an LA marble yard and expected to go for Carrara, but discovered "Carrara is generally more gray with smaller veins, and Calacatta is whiter with more dramatic veins. The slab I found was very white and the veins have the prettiest range of colors, including touches of gold and green."
Above: Further departing from Ikea, Sarah chose a high-end faucet in a brushed bronze finish: Brizo's Solna design, which has a hidden pull-down spray wand at the tip of its spout.
Above: Sarah test drives her own designs on the new counter. The Walnut Serving Board Hexagon ($48) is from her online shop, Sunny Afternoon, which specializes in picnic wares (most of them made by Sarah and her father). N.B.: The shop is currently on hiatus while Sarah works on her new website.
Above: Here's a glimpse of the kitchen with the new handles in place—Sarah says she waited for months, until her father was visiting, and got him to install them. They're brass Lewis Dolin Bar Pulls from MyKnobs.com.
Above: The kitchen opens to the living room and dining area. Upper cabinets flank the kitchen window but fade into the background thanks to the fact that they're painted white—Wimborne White from Farrow & Ball—to blend with the walls. SemiHandmade supplied the bar front; the stools are from Organic Modernism. Go to Smitten Studio for more details, including Before shots of the kitchen.
More ways to customize Ikea? Have a look at Superfront, makers of cabinet upgrades; Bemz, which specializes in transformative slipcovers; and Pretty Pegs, a line of custom furniture legs—all made for Ikea designs.
N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on February 17, 2014, as part of our Great Danes issue.
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Outdoor Spaces With Sarah Lonsdale
An old-fashioned summer staple in the Napa Valley where I live is a plastic bag filled with water and hung from farmhouse back doors. It took me a while to realize that this not-so-glamorous device is an effective way to keep flies and other summer insects at bay (alas, mosquitoes are not deterred).
Leave it to the chaps at Kaufmann Mercantile to source a good-looking equivalent: the Anti-Fly Glass Sphere by Mexico City designer José de la O of Studio José de la O. No excuse now not to give it a go.
Above: The Anti-Fly Glass Sphere hangs from a leather rope and is $99.
Above: It is the refraction of light against the water that confuses insects, especially flies, and keeps them away.
Above: De la O worked with a family-run glass-blowing business in Mexico City to create these mouth-blown vessels. Just fill with water and suspend near food.
Looking to add to your insect arsenal? See Gardenista's Five Favorite Fly Swatters and consider making a batch of Alexa's DIY: Bug Repellent Balm. And if the bugs still bite, have a look at Erin's Natural Mosquito Bite Remedies (used tea bags are one of the seven solutions).
N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on July 2, 2014, as part of our Block Party issue.
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Kitchens With Margot Guralnick
Jamie Blake of Blakes London applied a high/low mix of materials—from marble to readymade beadboard—in his design for a sun-splashed kitchen. We featured the house in Endless Summer in a London Victorian. Thanks to the popularity of the kitchen, Blake has kindly offered to share its secrets.
Above: The open kitchen is fronted by a marble-topped island built from wood textured to look like reclaimed timber. "The best way to describe the design is an exploration into textures," says Blake, ticking off a list of materials that includes porcelain floor tiles, beadboard paneling, subway tiles, and painted brick. Note that the designer carefully hewed to a subtly contrasting pale palette offset by dark overhead cabinets and a trough of herbs sprouting in the middle of the island. Photograph from Blakes London.
Above: The upper cabinets have a surprise lining of white subway tiles with dark grout. Only clear glassware lines the shelves, allowing the design to shine through. Photograph from Blakes London.
The Materials
Above: The countertops and backsplashes are Carrara marble. Considering splurging on marble in your own kitchen? See Remodeling 101: Marble Countertop Pros and Cons and read Michelle's cautionary tale, My Dirty Secret: How I Learned to Live with a Marble Backsplash.
Above: The cabinets are painted a Farrow & Ball dark charcoal called Railings; $97 a gallon.
Above: The cupboard's Metro White Matt Flat Wall Tiles came from Tons of Tiles in the UK; £0.32 (50 cents) per tile. Home Depot sells miniature one-by-two-inch Metro Subway Matte White Wall Tile, shown here, for $5.95 per square foot, and two-by-seven-inch Metro Soho Subway Tile Glossy White for $6.97 per square foot. For a top-of-the-line, handmade version, consider Heath Ceramics Modern Basics tiles. Subway tiles can be patterned in a number of ways; see our White Tile Pattern Glossary.
Above: What looks like old wood, Blake reveals, isn't reclaimed timber: "It's a finish that we do ourselves, completely handmade to look like reclaimed timber. Almost any color or texture can be achieved." Since Blake's technique is labor intensive (not to mention proprietary), we suggest sourcing Reclaimed Barn Wood. It's available in a wide range of finishes, including a whitewashed version, from Elmwood Reclaimed Timber, in Peculiar, Missouri.
Above: Not every detail in the kitchen is rarefied. On the back wall, what looks like old-fashioned, carpenter-built tongue-and-groove wood paneling is prefabricated MDF fiberboard. It can be sourced at building supply stores, such as Lowe's, where White/Satin Hardboard Wall Paneling is $19.98 for an approximately four-by-eight-foot panel. For more ways to put it to use, see our Rehab Diaries: DIY Beadboard Ceilings and The DIY Kitchen Overhaul for Under $500.
Above: Another surprise is the floor: What looks like whitewashed wood is actually white porcelain timber-effect tiles. "They're all the craze in the UK right now," says Blake. "Porcelain tiles are in many cases more affordable than wood floors, require much less maintenance, and are great with underfoot heating—in the winter the floor has a warm feel, and in the summer a cool one." The kitchen's tiles are Origine Cire Wood Effect Porcelain Tile, shown here, from London company European Heritage; inquire about pricing. Also consider, Marazzi's US-made Harmony Porcelain Tiles, created with inkjet technology and available in four "wood effects." For the lowdown on heating your house underfoot, see Remodeling 101: 5 Things to Know About Radiant Floor Heating.
Faucet
Above: The kitchen faucet was built on site by a plumber. Feeling handy? How-to site Instructables explains How to Build Your Own Copper Pipe Faucet. You can source a variety of copper parts, including piping, elbows, and pressure cup adapters, shown here, at Home Depot; five feet of half-inch Copper Pipe is $17.98. Want to start with an easier copper pipe project? DIY: Copper Pipe Curtain Rods for $35. Photograph by Izabella Simmons.
Lighting
Above: The trio of Twisted Flex & Copper Pendant Lights hanging over the island are by Cox & Cox of London; £43 ($67) each. For an energy-efficient alternative, consider the Plumen Drop Cap Pendant Set in Copper; $44.95 (and read World's Most Stylish Light Bulb, Version 002).
Above: Industrial Scissor Wall Lamps were sourced from Etsy seller Long Made Co. of Houston; $175 each. For more of their work, see our post The New Industrials.
Accessories
Above: Canvas Home's 3 1/4-inch-tall Tinware Creamer is actually glazed stoneware (with mock chips); $8.50.
Above: Crate & Barrel's Grand Vin Carafe is $14.95.
Above: Ikea's Hederlig Red Wine Glasses are $1.99 each.
Above: In the middle of the kitchen island—territory that often goes unused—Blake inserted a custom stainless steel planter that holds pots of herbs. It can also be used to store bottles of wine and countless other kitchen things. To make your own inset, consider the 34-by-4 1/2-inch Stainless Steel Bottle Trough from Central Restaurant Supply; $45.79. For a similar idea, see DIY: A Picnic Table with a Built-In Wine Bar.
Above: The Dualit New Generation Classic Two-Slice Toaster comes in 11 colors, including cream; $239.95 from Williams-Sonoma.
Above: The electric Dualit 1 Litre Jug Kettle in canvas white (also available in black) is £49.50 ($78) from John Lewis. Larger sizes available.
Above: The Riess Enamel Aromapot by Viennese industrial designers Dottings comes in a range of sizes and stacks for compact storage; $188 for the half liter size on Amazon. The Aromapot is also available from Rodale's for $188, and in a smaller size for $158. Read about the design in the Remodelista 100, a list of our favorite everyday objects.
Explore more Steal This Look posts, including A Low-Cost Kitchen for Serious Cooks. And over at Gardenista, learn how to re-create A Romantic Outdoor Kitchen in Puglia.
N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on July 29, 2014, as part of our Summery Kitchens issue.
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