As soon as I arrived in the kitchen and started hyperventilating, Mary...the chief administrator of the whole house (from planning the whole thing, to co-ordinating the designers, to the day to day management of the whole spectacular)... said Mr Bakes, the kitchen designer, was in town so she'd give him a call. Before I could take my next melodramatic breath, he arrived and answered my 4 hundred questions about his beautiful space.
The entire kitchen, from design to implementation, was created by Mr Bakes' company... '
Bakes and Company'. All the cabinetry was custom, hand-painted maple. See why I couldn't breathe? It featured solid walnut drawer fronts and curved walnut veneered side panels on the island benches.
The sink was custom brushed nickel.
The tapware was from France, from
Margot.
Heartstopping.
The island benchtops were Carrera Marble, 'joya' polished.
All the nickel cabinetry hardware was custom made by Mr Bakes. Yep, '
Bakes and Company' custom polished nickel handles and knobs. It gets better....Mr Bakes' company also created all the accessories!.... and all the beautiful copper cookware, which is manufactured locally on Long Island, under the brand 'Bakes by Design'. My post travel depression gets worse when I discuss such matters... custom design, local manufacturing, exquisite workmanship. Sigh.
The wooden bench-tops were a natural oiled walnut, oiled using a food safe organic oil, allowing for the counter to be used as a food preparation area... and also allowing for ease of repair. Marks and scratches can be lightly sanded and spot refinished with oil, no need to re-sand the complete surface. Genius.
Digressing... I have to say that, if this was my beloved kitchen, there is no way I would be using these masterpiece bench-tops for any food prep at all. I'd use the other thousand metres of marble benchspace to chop my zucchinis.
Anyway, the walnut counters should be re-oiled once a month or so for maintenance.
The splashback was designed by Mr Bakes himself and custom made for him by '
New Ravenna' (of course!) It's natural stone, chosen from a colour palette to resonate with the kitchen. Mr Bakes' concept drawing was converted by computer to cut stone mosaic pieces, laid out in the factory in one mat and then supplied to the project in approximately 16 sheets for fixing.
Solid walnut drawer fronts.
I could cry.
The range area counter tops were Quartzite, a slightly harder surface than marble..... and ideal for either side of the range.
Spectacular.
Hand painted maple.
Look at the finish! Perfection.
Mr Bakes asked what we used for our kitchen finishes in Australia. I told him how popular 2 pak is. He asked what 2 pak was and when I told him about the whole polyeurythane thing and the spray on situation, I could see him shudder slightly. He was such a gentleman, he didn't have to use any words to express his slight disbelief.
"Life is so different back here", she said in her haze of post travel depression.
I picked the lights were from Circa Lighting, even before I stepped foot in the kitchen.
I know my lights.
Sigh.
The floors were plain sliced White Oak with Jacobean stain.
The kindly Mr Bakes.
I chatted with Mr Bakes about the whole pricing of a kitchen setup like this one. Let's just put it this way, if this kitchen was created here in Australia, it would be at least double the price that it cost over yonder... and that includes the appliances. :(
The kitchen opened out into another delightful sitting room, furnished by
'Old Town Crossing'.
Looking back, you can see how this room then flowed back into 'The Den', by
'Kate Singer Home', that I featured here on Monday.
I loved this kitchen. It was edgy, with contemporary accents on a traditional base. Years ahead of trend.
What do you think? Could you see yourself washing up your good glasses in that gorgeous sink? I can!
