Corner cabinet with round front in Wharton Esherick’s kitchen (Photo: Lauri Hafvenstein)
One of the most eye-popping kitchens in the recently published book “Kitchen Think” is in the home of 20th-century American sculptor Wharton Esherick. As with the rest of his home and studio, located just west of Philadelphia, the kitchen is a product of exuberant creativity unfettered by concern for convention – think natural materials, organic forms and *color*.
Whether or not you’ve visited the place in person, there’s an opportunity to visit virtually on Sept. 13 from 4 to 6 p.m. (Eastern), when the Esherick Museum holds its annual fund-raising party. Enjoy the company of some fun and thought-provoking folks familiar with food, kitchens and more; enter the drawing for a three-legged stool made by Rob Spiece of Lohr Woodworking; ask questions about pizza, pantries or pot racks during the interactive portion of the party via Zoom. More information and sign-up here.
One of the many pleasing transformations described in “Kitchen Think” involves this kitchen in the home of Kathleen Funkey. Located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, it’s one of just a few kitchens I’ve designed without visiting the site in person — not my preferred way of working, but I do my best to accommodate each job’s constraints.
The case study in the book covers the project in broad strokes, starting with Kathleen’s initial email stating her interest in working with me, so I won’t duplicate that here. What you won’t find in the book are images of what the kitchen looked like before; this blog is the ideal place to share those. The room was furnished with a mix of cabinets, all in decrepit condition. An original recess in the wall between the kitchen and dining room (below) had had its cabinet insert removed, leaving an impractical vacant space.
Sink corner, before
Kathleen wanted a kitchen that would suit her needs and look at home in the house.
The big picture, before
The plan view layout
Before drawing cabinet elevations I spoke with Kathleen’s cabinetmaker, Jake Korpela at World of Wood. Having made drawings for other clients in the past who hired someone else to build their cabinets, I have learned the importance of emphasizing details – it’s galling to draw a built-in with inset doors hung on traditional butt hinges, half-inset drawer faces and a flush kick only to find that what the cabinetmaker ended up building was indistinguishable (at least, to sophisticated eyes) from something that could have come from a big-box home supplies store.
Stove area, before
Stove area, after
As the after images show, Jake did a bang-up job of following the drawings and building the cabinets. The soapstone counters complement the warm tone of the woodwork, and the room’s trim now matches that of other rooms in the house. The subway tile went in only recently – it wasn’t done when Matt Monte photographed the kitchen for the book.
“Kitchen Think,” the new book by Nancy Hiller, will ship from the printing plant this week (likely tomorrow). It will arrive in our Indiana warehouse a couple days after that, then the warehouse crew will fill pre-publication orders.
This is your last chance to get a free pdf of the book at checkout. If you order before midnight on Wednesday, you’ll get the book and the pdf for $38 plus shipping. After Wednesday, the book plus the pdf will cost $45.
“Kitchen Think” is a huge (368 pages), beautiful and thought-provoking book about kitchens. It’s filled with both practical woodworking instruction and hard-won advice on design and layout. Like all Lost Art Press books, “Kitchen Think” is produced entirely in the United States on quality coated paper with a durable and sewn hardback binding.
Cabinetry and remodeling by Denise Gaul. (Photo: Denise Gaul)
Most people who write books (at least, books of non-fiction) give some thought as they write to who their readers will be. For authors, it’s partly a matter of doing our best to convey as clearly as possible the particular kinds of information our readers will likely find useful. It’s also important for marketing.
Even so, few books are intended for just one kind of reader. “Kitchen Think” has much to offer anyone interested in kitchen design, regardless of whether you’re planning to remodel your kitchen. There are hundreds of luscious images to enjoy, rich in practical ideas and inspiration. The book will certainly be of interest to homeowners thinking about remodeling their kitchen, with analysis of areas that typically present problems and suggestions for how to enhance the pleasure of work involved in preparing meals. “Kitchen Think” offers a wealth of information and assistance for those new to remodeling, but it also has a few hard-won gems for those with a career of professional work behind them. And as a book for Lost Art Press, there’s also hands-on guidance, with chapters on how to start thinking about a remodel all the way through to how to build and install cabinets.
One type of reader who stands to gain a lot from the book is the spare-time woodworker who wants to build her or his own cabinets. So we made sure to include among the case studies a woodworker who fits into this category (or did, before she lost her job to downsizing and attended a nine-month intensive training at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship and started her own business, Denise Gaul Design). Denise Gaul and Alice Collins hired me to help with their cabinet design, reworking an impractical and uninviting layout. They chose quartersawn teak for their face species. Once the cabinet drawings were complete, they remodeled the kitchen, doing most of the work themselves. They tore out the cabinets and counters, jackhammered up the tile floor and gutted the room to the studs. Then Denise built the new cabinets over several months, installed them and acted as general contractor for the flooring, electrical and plumbing subs.
Denise (right) with instructor Aled Lewis at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship.
You’ll find the whole story in the book. Here are a few pictures.
Before: Alice in the kitchen, which had a tiled floor (so hard on the joints!) and cabinets with higgledy-piggledy variations in depth and height for no reason other than fashion. The traffic jam of appliances visible in the far corner made that area especially uninviting.
Alice with jackhammer at the start of demolition.
When she was working on the kitchen Denise had a studio in the backyard, but she had to take longer pieces of material outside for cutting, as in this snowy scene.
After: The big view of the kitchen, seen from the den. (Photo: Denise Gaul)
Denise retrofitted the dishwasher with a teak panel and built the kitchen side of the peninsula to house a microwave. (Photo: Denise Gaul)
A built-in pantry wall incorporates storage for small appliances and a phone charging station. (Photo: Denise Gaul)
The peninsula cabinet is especially clever, with open shelves and an electrical receptacle at the end. While she built the kitchen side to house the microwave and storage, Denise finished the back with teak shiplap boards and a door (at the far right here) that utilizes the inside corner between the dishwasher and the peninsula. (Photo: Denise Gaul)
The sideboard Nancy made for her book about English Arts and Crafts furniture for Popular Woodworking’s book’s division. Photo by Al Parrish. 2017.
Author Nancy Hiller will discuss her forthcoming book “Kitchen Think” on a new video discussion group called Bench.Talk.101. The free event takes place at 8:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. (U.K. time) on Thursday, July 16. If you are in the United States, the event takes place at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time.
There are multiple ways to enjoy the event. About 5 minutes before the event begins on Thursday, you can go to Bench.Talk.101’s Instagram bio and there will be a link to join the discussion. Or if you have Zoom installed on a device, you can join the discussion via this link.
If you miss the discussion with Nancy, it will be posted afterward here on YouTube. If you click on that link now you can view the previous Bench.Talk.101s to get a feel for the format.
Bench.Talk.101 is a freewheeling and informative chat, and Nancy is always a sharp and interesting person to interview.
