You know the saying, “The family that dines together, stays together”?

Or how about this one: “The kitchen is the heart of the home.”

These days, we’re pulled in so many directions  -  the hours between breakfast and bedtime filled with work, school, homework, practices and games…..Yet we still need to be together…..

This is something my clients keep asking for – new and different ways to be together in their home.  Especially the kitchen, where we naturally gather – to cook, read, drink our morning tea, help with homework, and of course – eat…..

This was my childhood – growing up in the seventies – eating together in the “breakfast room”.  Long gone are the days when we dined in the dining room.

But then, a funny thing occurred, after the invention of the “kitchen island” (the breaking off of the “peninsula” which divided off our 70′s breakfast room from the kitchen):

Everybody started hanging out there!

Enter my clients!  Lately, they have been requesting islands that can also serve as their table. Take this trestle-style farm table, for instance.  It visually breaks down the barrier between kitchen and eating even more than the island.

Do you see the chairs peeking out from behind that island/table?  The trestle base allows the chairs to pull up.

But what if you want to raise that table up to “counter height”?  You can always pull tall stools up to it.  But then some folks’ feet (mine!  children’s!) might dangle.  We recently tackled that problem for some clients:  A post and beam style table with integrated footrest  –  based on this inspiration picture below:

Notice how the table base pulls in from the edge of the table?  That way anyone can sit comfortably around the table without banging their legs.  But also notice:  There is a crossbeam at the bottom, which can act as a foot rest (like at a bar!)

So here is our rendition:

This full-on table will also act as a counter-height prep area!

I also think just a good-sized dining table in a good-sized kitchen is a cool concept.  Here are some of my faves:

But in the end, whether you just pull a table to the middle of the kitchen…..

or build an island with a bar…..

or create an updated version of the 70′s breakfast nook…..isn’t it all the same thing we’re after…..?

Togetherness…..

- marcelle

1.  via masterfile.com

2.  via sheknows.com

3.  via houzz.com

4.  via designcaller.blogspot.com

5.  via Marcelle Guilbeau, Interior Designer

6.  via dyingofcute.tumblr.com

7.  via idealhouse.tumblr.com

8.  via bungalowblueinteriors.com

9.  via room-galleries.myhomeideas.com

10.  via marthastewart.com

11.  via carlaaston.com

…..so the first thing to love is it’s situated in a cool historic shopping strip on Charlotte, right across the street from Richland Park, at the edge of Sylvan Park – my hood…..

…..next to the junk antique shop I used to frequent back in the day…..

Only 9’ wide, the building was originally an alley – hence the exposed brick wall with original painted advertisement, “dry goods, milliner and shoes”.

Owners James and Louisa Green took the wall back to its original state, once they discovered it was a historic 1912 historic gem.  The brick wall dates back to the 1880’s.

The second thing to love is the truly cool “cafe vibe”…..

It’s everything from the hipsters who hanging out there, to the smell of fresh, free trade, locally roasted coffee, to Spencer, the knowledgeable barista, who will happily whip you up something good…..

But there’s something more to this place – and the third thing to love -

- ever watched those 40′s detective movies?  David and I are addicted.  Well, sitting in here, you feel like any minute that gumshoe is about to step in, in search of his gangster…..When I told that to Louisa, she said that’s actually the vibe she felt about this place!  And which they sought to channel in their sensitive rehab…..

Which is the fourth thing to love.  Everything from the exposure of the original wood ceiling and structure…..

to the aforementioned brick wall graphics, to the reuse of the original wood floor.

But the fifth thing to love is near and dear to Marcelle’s heart:  reclaimed, handcrafted everything – from the 1890′s entry door, to the 30′s leaded glass transom above, to the 60′s steel storefront window – all found and refurbished by James and Louisa.

The front bar at the window is a wood door stoop found in a friend’s basement.  On it are carved “Roy + May 1952″.  The coat rack is made from the building’s original flooring, and hooks found at Preservation Station.

James, a very talented carpenter and furniture maker, fashioned the hook.  In addition, he made the chunky wood and metal tables (wood reclaimed from a demo’d house in Sylvan park), the bar front with the cool metal Tennessee symbol made from his mom’s torn down fence…..

…..and – well – just about everything in there.  (Contact him at hankwilliamsismyhero@gmail.com, if you’d like your own version of the tables – or to rehab a cool historic space like this!)

Some come on over to my hood for a good cup of joe – and possibly the coolest cafe vibe in town

Headquarters is located at:

4902 Charlotte Pike

hours are:

7-4 Monday through Friday

8-4 Saturday

10-3 Sunday

Check out their facebook page for more info.

- marcelle

images 1, 3-8 via marcelle’s iphone

image 2 via Sheena T. on yelp

So this is what I love about my job:  Going from this…..

…..to this!

A simple concept sketch, given over to some of the most remarkably talented craftspeople around – it’s like magic! The cabinetmaker, Jared Whitson, found some hardwood palettes up in the clients’ attic during construction.  Knowing my cool clients Suellen and Rick were searching for ways to incorporate a “Spanish rustic” look to the wood elements of their home, he made the island out of this reclaimed wood.

Here is a closeup, showing the slightly rough edges of the solid wood boards, giving relief to them…..

…..and a detail – wooden peg and character to the back drawer…..

And here is another one…..

Love what they did with it.….

The idea was to “pull the wood through” into the kitchen, by deleting some overhead cabinets, and adding back some rough hewn wooden shelves.  Love…..

…..especially the wooden pegs…..

And here’s one I had nothing directly to do with – save to refer Master Craftsman Extraordinaire Tom Ferris to the project…..

It’s the fireplace mantel! (Never mind the room itself is stunning….. Hats off to architect Susan Hager for a beautiful job.)

So in case you didn’t know, if you want to ring my bell, just bring in the reclaimed wood…..

For more on where to get reclaimed wood, other than talking to Tom, Jared, or the contractor Fred Lawrence, go to my previous blog post, great article on reclaimed barnwood…..

For more Lawrence Bros. pics of this beautiful house addition & renovation, click here.

- marcelle