THE TALE OF TWO KITCHENS
Two boys travel deep into the heart of an old village with two rivers to battle a room with no rules and then find themselves fighting winds and high waves to reach the island of destiny.
Mitchell started the truck as Steve secured the last of the load – a bunch of squares they had to fit into a round hole. The call had come some weeks before – Sheila and Ajay needed a new kitchen – and today the boys would deliver … or die trying! Mitchell, not one to waste words, let the butterflies in his tummy do the talking; all too soon, they’d arrive and have to face the facts.
“Oh, she’s a bit out” Steve told his wife as he left that morning and they both laughed but when he got into his car, his smile was replaced by a troubled look. Pregnant with their first child, Brit knew “a bit out” was just the beginning and, as she sipped her wheat berry smoothy and waved goodbye, she wondered when she’d see her husband again.
Their clients had asked for cabinets of reclaimed wood and hoped to see some of the old kitchen incorporated into the new. They had liked the homey feel but wanted something fresh and functional – could Artefacts deliver? The boys decided on salvaged hemlock granary board from a local barn about 120 years old. The character and stability of the old planks would provide structure and allure; the broad grain and imperfections a never ending pleasure for the eye.
To break up the pattern, sheets of salvaged tin ceiling were to be added to certain panels. The dynamic swirls of the pressed tin echoed the hemlock grain but its uniformity took everything to a new level. Artefacts had long been exploring the use of tin ceiling as decor in framed wall art and shelves, store counters and headboards so all were confident with this addition.
There was just one challenge left – the house itself.
Like many old houses, straight lines can be hard to find and this one looked to set the record. Nonetheless, with every tool in their belts, the boys struggled through and at last, the new kitchen, with soft closing drawers, deep cabinet pullouts and hidden slides was missing only the dishes.
Flush with success but not out of the woods, Steve and Mitchell moved directly onto another challenge – an all maple kitchen to be transported by a tiny barge and installed in a new cabin on an island far out into Georgian Bay. If that wasn’t exciting enough, Brit, having finished her smoothie, was about to give birth.
This being an island, Robert wanted no man made material in his kitchen cabinets and, having visited the showroom where he saw a cherry counter that Steve had put together, the two decided on maple. The countertop would be hard maple, the cabinets soft maple and, for the facing boards, “wormy” maple which would be distressed and painted with Farrow And Ball.
Open framed shelving would accompany …
… framed cabinets with drawers and doors in …
… a distressed style. All would come together in the shop. But would it come together at the cabin. Never having been there, Mitchell and Steve could only hope.
On a beautiful but blustery day, Chris helped the boys load all the cabinets, countertops, tools and extras in the tiny barge designed to hold little more than an ATV but that wasn’t the real concern. The install would take three days and Brit let Steve know the baby was “knockin’ on the door”!
Having carefully built in some allowances, Mitchell and Steve worked their magic and Robert’s kitchen fell into place.
Drawers and doors …
… and open shelving but, did they make it back on time? After three days, Mitchell drove the van as only he could getting Steve home late on a Friday night and …
… Sunday morning Levi “Kitchen” Almeida was born.
But that’s a story for another time.
