Design STL Kitchen & Bath Issue 2018

JULY/AUGUST 2018

KITCHENS WITH STYLE COLOR AND SOPHISTICATION REIGN IN THIS COMPTON HEIGHTS HOME. p.47

Super Smoke: The story of the lost typeface p.30

Women in design share advice for success p.41

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JUL/AUG

C ON T EN TS DISCOVER ON THE COVER

17 WOVEN FROM MEMORY

Photography by Alise O’Brien

A custom table runner recalls a childhood in North Africa.

18 A TIME WARP

A conversation with Katherine Ladendorf 20 IL MERCATO

Imported Italian foods 22 CROSSING CONTINENTS

Wabbani connects indigenous craftspeople with customers.

DESIGN 25 FABRICATED STORIES

A home-born textile company 26 GREAT LENGTHS

Dress your windows.

28 ART IN THE MOMENT

José Garza welcomes your questions at CAM. 30 HOLY SMOKE

PROPERTY 33 SECOND ACT

Wild Carrot opens on Shaw.

34 NEW HEIGHTS

Redemption for a Clifton Heights church

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALISE O’BRIEN

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A thousand stories in a single wooden typeface

THE PERFECT BALANCE

Laurie LeBoeuf has combined seemingly disparate elements to yield a work of perfection.

36 A RED REPOSITORY

Inside Marcia Moore’s studio

FEATURES

D E S I GN CR US H

78 PETER MANION

Working without fear I CON

80 THE BIG CHILL

1959—a huge year for the kitchen

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COOL GARDENS

WOMEN AT WORK

KITCHENS & BATHS

A SUNNY START

The chickens, the birds, and the bees

Stories of success from the world of design

What’s new in the home’s most frequently renovated rooms

Historic details meet contemporary style.

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INSIDE LOOK

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EDITORIAL

VIDEOS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Veronica Theodoro CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Jarrett Medlin EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stefene Russell STAFF WRITER Jeannette Cooperman DINING EDITOR George Mahe DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER Steph Zimmerman ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sarah Kloepple COPY EDITOR Kerry Bailey CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Pat Eby, Charlene Oldham,

Jen Roberts, Brooke Semke, Sydney Loughran Wolf INTERN Skyler Milton

ART & PRODUCTION

WANT TO READ ST. LOUIS MAGAZINE ’S LATEST CONTENT? Receive an overview of our current issue in your inbox every month

DESIGN DIRECTOR Tom White ART DIRECTOR Emily Cramsey DESIGNER Elizabeth Sawey SALES & MARKETING DESIGNER Monica Lazalier PRODUCTION MANAGER Dave Brickey STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Kevin A. Roberts CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS & ILLUSTRATORS

Sunny Eckerle, Alise O’Brien, Jennifer Silverberg, Carmen Troesser INTERNS Alyssa Dosmann, CJ McDonough

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

PHOTO GALLERIES

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EVENTS

DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EVENTS Jawana Reid INTERNS Aimee Hagnauer, Hailee Smith

WEB EXTRAS

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BUSINESS

PUBLISHER Ray Hartmann ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Carrie Mayer BUSINESS MANAGER Carol Struebig

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VOLUME 14 , ISSUE 4

SUBSCRIPTIONS

• pools • pool houses • patios • plantings • pergolas • fireplaces • fire pits

Six issues of Design STL and two issues of St. Louis Family are included with a paid subscription to St. Louis Magazine ($19.95 for 20 issues).

Call 314-918-3000 to place an order or to inform us of a change of address, or visit stlmag.com/subscribe. For corporate and group subscription rates, contact Teresa Foss at 314-918-3030.

• outdoor rooms • outdoor kitchens • retaining walls • water features

ONLINE CALENDAR

Contact Stefene Russell at 314-918-3011 or srussell@stlmag.com. (Please include “Online Calendar” in subject line.) Or submit events at stlmag.com/events/submit.html.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Send letters to the editor to vtheodoro@stlmag.com.

Before

EVENTS

For information about special events, call Jawana Reid at 314-918-3026.

ADVERTISING

To place an ad, contact Elaine Hoffmann at 314-918-3002 or ehoffmann@stlmag.com.

DISTRIBUTION

Call Dede Dierkes at 314-918-3006.

After

Subscription Rates: $19.95 for one year. Call for foreign subscription rates. Frequency: Monthly. Single Copies in Office: $5.46. Back Issues: $7.50 by mail (prepaid). Copyright 2018 by St. Louis Magazine, LLC. All rights are reserved. Reproduction in part or whole is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of the publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts may be submitted but must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. ©2018 by St. Louis Magazine. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1600 S. Brentwood, Suite 550 St. Louis, MO 63144 314-918-3000 | Fax 314-918-3099 stlmag.com

Make Your Outdoor Dreams

Come to Life!

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LETTER

FROM THE EDITOR

With this issue, I learned to look at art with new eyes, thanks to CAM’s José Garza.

“Artists are not bound by particular ideas or materials,” he says.

If I could keep one item from this issue, I wouldn’t know how to choose. What I really want is to set a table of Italian pasta, cheese, and rosé atop that pink table runner from Metro Weaving.

THE FOUR KITCHENS featured in this issue

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vibrant colors and intriguing patterns. Turn to page 25 to see all that she’s up to…

Starting on page 41, read about more women in design. Our five profiles offer a glimpse into successful careers in business, interior design, and architecture. Even for those of you who aren’t in the business of home design, there’s plenty to be gained from their stories. I particularly like Carol Wall’s mottos: “Don’t be afraid of change” and “Don’t waste your time.”

Last, we’ve stuffed the pages of this issue with inspiration from around the world. Metro Weaving’s pink table runner (p. 17) was created with African sunsets in mind; the foods on page 20 have been imported from Italy; the custom cabinet fronts from Wabbani (p. 22) were built by artisans in Guyana. Take delight in the fact that the world—in ways both large and small—comes home to St. Louis.

vtheodoro@stlmag.com

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CARMEN TROESSER

have one key design element in common: their owners’ subtle use of color as a way to express individual style. In playing with color, they’ve bid farewell to the decadeslong love affair with the all-white kitchen, choosing instead a more personalized look of warmth and elegance. If you’ve ever thought about getting away from stark white in your own kitchen, turn to page 47 to learn how other St. Louisans are using slivers of gray, bold strokes of black, and touches of green throughout their spaces. After you’ve taken in those new uses of color, check out our interviews with local designers for the story “Pretty Powder Rooms” (p. 54). Charming wallpaper designs, jewelry-like fittings, and statement sconces imbue the traditionally small firstfloor rooms with loads of creativity. Who says the kitchen gets to have all the fun?

For a double dose of fun and adventure, look no further than our story about Suzanne Miller Farrell’s small-batch fabric line, The Storied House. Farrell placed her successful consulting career on infinite hold to pursue a dream vocation. In a home studio in the Central West End, she’s designing fabrics in

I always enjoy reading the stories Stefene Russell writes for our Icon page, but this issue’s entry is special to me. I may not have been in the market for kitchen appliances at the now-shuttered Stix Baer & Fuller, but in its heyday I spent blissful hours there shopping with my nonna.

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PRODUCTS AND PLACES

CONNECT

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS

metroweaving.com

Woven From Memory Katherine Ladendorf spent the early part of her childhood in North Africa, where brightly painted buildings fade under the desert sun—so when, during a cold, damp St. Louis spring, Design STL asked her to weave a custom table runner, she began with bright fuchsia and, using two shuttles, wove in an unbleached yarn, fading the cloth to the tessellated pale pink she remembers. $210. —JEANNETTE COOPERMAN

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FIRST PERSON

A Time Warp Sustaining a centuries-old craft whose beauty covers, warms, and dries us.

shafts, you get more complexity.

A jacquard loom, you can tell each thread what to do; people draw pictures with those looms.

WHAT YARN DO YOU PREFER?

Cotton. I like its weight and feel.

I work with a finer-gauge yarn than a lot of hand weavers. It’s very slow—my coarsest fabrics have 20 ends per inch, which means if I want to do something 10 inches wide, I need 200 pieces of yarn across and I have to run the shuttle back and forth 20 times to get an inch of fabric.

AND THE REST OF US DON’T HAVE A CLUE HOW MUCH TIME THAT TAKES. I don’t expect people to

recognize that, because industrial fabric is just crazy cheap.

People say, “Why does this cost $30?” It should cost $80! It costs $30 so maybe you’ll buy it.

WHAT’S YOUR END GOAL?

Just to make fabric. I don’t weave things that are crafty. It’s nice if people recognize that I made it, but I’m just trying to produce fabric that has as smooth a surface as commercial fabric, with a selvage that’s either smooth or interesting and colors that are subtle.

YOU DO WEAVE SCARVES...

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ARE YOU STILL USING THAT FIRST LOOM?

No, just last year, I bought a serious one, with an air compressor. It’s still hand weaving, but instead of throwing a shuttle four hours a day—which was killing my elbows— I touch a switch and air shoots the shuttle across. It bangs like castanets, because it’s made of maple. To change the pattern, I push a pedal and air moves the shafts.

WHAT PATTERNS ARE POSSIBLE?

The simplest loom does a plain weave, like a bedsheet. With four shafts, you can do a twill, a diagonal pattern that makes the fabric much more supple. As you add more

YOUR COLORS ARE SOFT, TOO.

A lot of hand weaving is kind of garish. I look hard to find my yarn, because the textile industry in this country is almost gone. I like a lot of blues and jewel colors. This spring I’ve been using peridot green and amethys. It has that stained-glass look, like it’s lit from behind. –J.C.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS

When Katherine Ladendorf was little, she leaned against a window screen and studied the mesh. Her mother sewed—and tiny Katherine pulled the fabric apart. By the time she was 8, she was working on a loom, “it was tiny, just a toy,” that her parents gave to her for Christmas one year. “I coudn’t do much with it. I knew I’d need to wait until I was an adult before I could get decent equipment,” she says. Over the years, the craft’s fascination never faded, so as soon as her own kids were steady on their feet, she bought herself a big floor loom in 2001 and learned to weave on it. Then, she started Metro Weaving.

And I like to do dishtowels, because people can touch them and use them. I’ve noticed that my stuff sells better when people touch it and realize how different it feels.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS

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SEEN AROUND TOWN

Il Mercato Italian markets elevate the weekly grocery run from harried chore to sensory pleasure.

There’s no shortage of charm and deliciousness inside St. Louis’ specialty food markets, where everything from ribbon-shaped pasta in a kaleidoscope of colors and sparkling, flavored sodas evoke summertime in Italy. —VERONICA THEODORO 1. Sapori Antichi La Pasta, J. Viviano & Sons, 314-771-5476, 5139 Shaw. 2. Acciughe Salate Agostino Recca, J. Viviano & Sons. 3. Marella Lingua Di Suocera, DiGregorio’s Italian Market, 5200 Daggett, 314-776-1062. 4. Giuliano almond-stuffed olives, J. Viviano & Sons. 5. Clemente Bakery Bastoncini Origina, Parker’s Table, 7118 Oakland, 314-645-2050. 6. Marella Farfalline Arcobaleno artisan pasta, Parker’s Table. 7. Cedrinca Sicilia and Cedrinca Bombottini, J. Viviano & Sons. 8. Artichokes tapenade, Parker’s Table. 9. Lemon fruit slices, DiGregorio Italian Market. 10. Volpi pepperoni nuggets, J. Viviano & Sons. 11. A’ Siciliana Aranciata, J. Viviano & Sons.

12. Olio Extravergine D’Oliva Autentico Le Ferre, Anthony’s Italian East, 7641 Wydown, 314-721-3233. 13. Faccine Balocco and Pan Stelle Il Biscotto, J. Viviano & Sons. 14. Masi Rosa dei Masi, J. Viviano’s & Sons. Dishes and stemware courtesy of Miriam Switching Post and Treasure Aisles Antique Mall.

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MADE BY HAND

Crossing Continents Wabbani wants to connect indigenous craftspeople with customers worldwide.

IT’S SAID THAT a journey of a thousand miles

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Handwoven cabinet panels and river clay knobs by Wabbbani.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS, COURTESY OF WABBANI

begins with a single step. For Wabbani, every finished product that arrives in St. Louis starts with a single action—cutting reeds, digging clay, and harvesting cotton—carried out 3,000 miles away, in Guyana, South America.

Wabbani is a for-profit social enterprise that seeks to connect artisans in remote areas with customers around the world through handmade add-ons that fit IKEA’s Bjorket, Ekestad, Grimslöv, and Torhamn cabinet lines— or any Shaker-style cabinet with panels that are recessed more than 1⁄8 inch.

The company’s inaugural collection includes river clay knobs, cotton lampshade slipcovers, and handwoven panels that can be added to cabinets. These simple additions “transform a machine-made room into a handmade room,” says Wabbani co-founder Alice Layton, a social worker and instructor at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Layton teamed up with Paul Dinkins, a recent graduate of the MBA program at Washington University in St. Louis, to form the company in February. But the idea for Wabbani, which means “platform” in the Arawak language, started more than a decade ago, when Layton and her family spent three years living in Yupukari, Guyana. During that time, she helped villagers start small businesses to fund a public library and several community-run conservation projects. One of those businesses was a guesthouse that featured local handicrafts, including woven hammocks and basketry.

“We started to develop furniture and ideas that were essentially a hybrid of what I know as a North American and what they know as South Americans,” Layton says. “Wabbani really grew out of that experience of collaborating with craftspeople on the guesthouse.”

In addition to being handcrafted by indigenous Macushi artisans, the products reflect their culture. The knobs feature animal petroglyphs, and the panels are available in three patterns commonly made by Macushi basket weavers: Deertrail comes from the zigzag of a deer fleeing a hunter; Diamondback and Anaconda are patterned after snakes.

The products are then shipped to the United States, where they go through a finishing process. A tung oil–beeswax is applied to the panels to make them easy to clean, and the knobs are sealed with a clearcoat.

“What you get in the mail, when you order online from us, is a stack of panels that exactly fit the recesses of your cabinet doors, along

with double-stick removable dots,” Layton says. “It’s designed to be DIY.” Wabbani is currently taking preorders, and Dinkins says they will start shipping this fall. In the future, the pair hope to display the products in IKEA stores so that customers can see them in person.

“Preserving craft is a smart thing to do, because you’re preserving a culture, a habitat, you’re creating jobs,” Layton says. “The goal of Wabbani is to do this everywhere there are crafters who would like to participate.”

Learn more at wabbani.com. —MEGAN MERTZ stlmag.com

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We create windows and doors that flawlessly unite wood, glass and metal—captivating the eye, elevating the spirit and bringing your world one step closer to perfection.

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LIVING WITH DESIGN

VISIT

Fabricated Stories

storiedhouse.co

A textile company is born at home.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS

Scrawled on a wall of Suzanne Miller Farrell’s home are the signatures of the children who first lived there in 1898.

That, and the fact that her home once belonged to prominent 1930s fashion designer Grace Ashley, are the inspirations for the name of Farrell’s company, The Storied House, where she designs, paints, and prints fabrics for the home. Like her house, many of the patterns have their own stories, and she’s named some of her work after adventures abroad. Take, for example, China Club, a nod to an Irish casino; and Sanlúcar, a reminder of the ocean off Spain’s southern coast. Her work is environmentally friendly, too: She uses nontoxic inks and creates orders in micro-batches to avoid waste. “I want each pattern to have meaning,” Farrell says. —SARAH KLOEPPLE

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STYLE FILE

Great Lengths Statement fabrics in eye-catching prints and patterns claim their rightful space on designer draperies. Sydney Loughran Wolf shops the showrooms for looks that dress your windows in style.

Massaro Denim,

by William Yeoward for Designers Guild, $256. Available at Design & Detail.

Miao (ivoire),

by Manuel Canovas, $216.

Available at KDR Designer Showrooms.

Havana (black),

by Jane Churchill, $232.

Available at KDR Designer Showrooms.

Tamara (silver/ gold), by Jane Churchill, $204.

Available at KDR Designer Showrooms.

ILLUSTRATION BY SUNNY ECKERLE

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Jax (mint/red),

by Tilton Fenwick for Duralee, $77. Available at KDR Designer Showrooms.

Giradon, by Tricia Guild Design for Designers Guild, $268. Available at Design & Detail.

Silverdale (red/ green), by Colefax and Fowler, $372.

Available at KDR Designer Showrooms.

Kadi (pivoine),

by Manuel Canovas, $244.

Available at KDR Designer Showrooms.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE

Art in the Moment José Garza shows visitors that contemporary art is nothing to fear; rather, it’s a clue to who they are.

TEN FIRST-TIME VISITORS stand in a sunlit

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Select works from artist Addoley Dzegede’s current show Ballast

Claudia Comte’s Electric Burst

loosening our grip on technical, imitative skill as the criterion for value. “I hear, ‘Why is this art?’ or ‘This looks like it was made last night,’” he says. “That’s a very traditional way to look at art, and it’s outdated. Beauty’s not the reason to make art. With contemporary art, you get to see all the complexity—and some things are not pretty.”

Well past time to leave, the group lingers to ask more questions. The last to approach is one of the sharpest initial skeptics. She belongs to another group that goes “to the big museum” regularly, she tells Garza.

“I’m going to suggest they come here next time.” —JEANNETTE COOPERMAN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CARMEN TROESSER

steel-and-concrete exhibit space at CAM, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, gazing with furrowed brows at an exhibit by Tim Youd.

“He goes to the location where an American author wrote and retypes their novels or poetry,” explains museum educator José Garza. “He puts two sheets of paper in the carriage and retypes every word, and the top sheet starts to deteriorate.”

“The whole novel on one piece of paper?” somebody asks. “What’s the purpose?”

“To destroy the paper,” a man mutters.

“He sounds like a loner,” a woman says gently. “This might be kind of comforting.”

“Some compulsive-obsessive!”

It’s a tough crowd.

Yet Garza, CAM’s museum educator and an artist himself, welcomes every comment.

“We’re all complex people,” he says. “I was taught to look at work through a traditional lens, but the great thing about contemporary art is that it’s more democratic. Artists are not bound by particular ideas or materials.”

His own epiphany came when he saw Robert Rauschenberg’s “Bed,” the sheets rumpled in a way so vulnerable and intimate, he felt as if he were in the bed.

“It was the first time I genuinely understood the conflation of the art and the person. Until then, everything felt so separate.”

He loves it now, when a kid he’s teaching says of a huge painting, “I can’t see the edges. I feel like I could walk right into it.”

Garza urges new collectors to visit all sorts of museums, artist-run spaces, and galleries to get a sense of what they’re seeing.

“Contemporary art is less passive,” he remarks. “It’s in the moment; it can be a reflection of ourselves and the things around us. Something older is not functioning in that way; it’s more nostalgic. A collector should be open to something that will challenge them and provide a sense of self-discovery.”

Explaining autobiographical details in painter Trenton Doyle Hancock’s textured canvases, Garza says, “We’re all artists. We can make meaning out of different materials, colors, stories.” For centuries, he adds, “artists didn’t have control over their narratives.”

Nor did Garza, as a little boy who entered first grade speaking no English: “ESL was one hour, and the rest of the day was chaos.” Art class was the only time when he could relax.

Now, he’s helping the rest of us relax,

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TREASURES

Holy Smoke A thousand stories in a single wooden typeface IT’S CALLED SUPER SMOKE. At first glance,

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Central Print’s Marie Oberkirsch

When Oberkirsch opened a box filled with huge back-slanted letters and numbers, she knew that she was looking at something special. Because the type was so unusual, it had only rarely been used. She contacted Central Library, and the librarians located a catalog from William H. Page, the Connecticut company that produced it.

“That helped us identify it as No. 111,” she says, though it’s also known by the name of Super Smoke. Oberkirsch hasn’t pinned down

the production date, or the name of the designer, but she knows that it was made by hand and predates 1891, when Page was sold to Hamilton.

Bratkowski and Oberkirsch admit that the fanciness of Super Smoke makes its uses a bit of a mystery. “Because of the size, it would make a great header for a magazine,” offers Oberkirsch, “but it’s a difficult script to read.

It’s an enigma.”

Central Print (centralprint.org) hosts a lecture on Super Smoke on August 25.—STEFENE RUSSELL

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CARMEN TROESSER

it looks like something off a Haight-Ashbury concert handbill. “The psychedelic movement adopted this font,” says Marie Oberkirsch, director of Central Print, a print studio in Old North St. Louis, “so it does look very ’60s and ’70s.” But Super Smoke dates to the 19th century, and that’s where this story starts.

Around 1889, a “Mr. Lelli” founded Przewodnik Polski, or Polish Guide, on St. Louis’ Near North Side. In 1905, it was handed off to a parish priest, who didn’t know what to do with it. He begged his sister, Helen Moczydlowski, to move from Wisconsin to help. She and her husband, Boleslaus, bought a building at 1308 Cass, set up house, and put presses in the basement. The Moczydlowskis odd-jobbed posters, wedding announcements, and handbills, but their main task was publishing a paper every Thursday. They translated world and U.S. news into Polish, peppering it with neighborhood items.

After their father died, Mrs. Moczydlowski’s children showed up every Wednesday to help run the presses and wrap papers for delivery— but it was the eldest daughter, Helen Muenz, who became editor and publisher in 1925, when her mother died. The last issue was printed on November 9, 1969. That Sunday, Mrs. Muenz went to St. Mary’s complaining of chest pains.

The following Thursday, rather than reading her newspaper, the St. Louis Polish community gathered for her funeral.

In the summer of 1980, the Polish Publishing Building was still standing but had long been vacant. Tom Bratkowski, a North Sider and professor at Maryville College (now University), drove by one day and noticed that the doors were open. “That’s a bad sign,” he thought. He phoned Muenz’s daughter Helen Ortbals and got permission to go in and save anything of value.

Bratkowksi discovered two small presses—and several boxes of type—in the basement. He asked his colleagues at the college whether they could use the presses; when the answer was yes, they assembled a rescue crew and drove to Cass in a truck with a lift. Before the day was over, the weight of one press had crushed the stairs and everyone was covered in soot.

But Maryville had no use for the type—so Bratkowksi stowed boxes of it in his garage, where it sat undisturbed for 30-plus years: “I thought, there’s going to be a purpose for this.

I can’t throw this stuff away.” Then it occurred to him he could give it to Central Print, located mere blocks from where Polish Publishing used to be.

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REAL ESTATE, CONTRACTORS, ARCHITECTS

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A Second Act

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON BUNSE

Wild Carrot sets the stage for lasting memories.

It was only a matter of time before Casey and Laura Bunch embarked on their dream of owning a special-events venue. “We started a video company six years ago as a step toward something much bigger,” says Laura, who previously worked in events planning in New York City and Kansas City. While living in K.C., the couple’s St. Louis–based family encouraged them to look at opening a venue in their city. Four years ago, the Bunches did just that. “The Shaw Theatre stood out because of its location and the energy in the community,” Laura says. Wild Carrot opened its doors April 7 and hosted its first wedding four days later. “We went from having construction workers, day in day out, to a decorated space filled with guests,” Laura says. —BROOKE SEMKE

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NEIGHBORHOODS

New Heights A Webster Groves couple seeks redemption for a historic church.

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Dan built the staircase. “He’s a master craftsman,” says Duncan. “What makes this space so special are the small bits, the work of craftsmen, that Dan and Lisa incorporated.”

Sometime this summer, the Machecas will complete a fourth guest room in the bell tower. “Instead of a horizontal plan, the space unfolds vertically in four levels: from the entry to the bedroom to the bathroom to the hot tub on the roof,” says Lisa.

From the rooftop, on the third-highest hill in St. Louis, guests in the bell tower can regard the city, spread out before them. —PAT EBY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENNIFER SILVERBERG

LISA AND DAN MACHECA’S transformation of a Gothic church into The Clifton Heights Inn had heavenly results.

The couple carved out three guest rooms from the former Fry Memorial Methodist Church’s religious education classrooms, each with an elegant bath. They also converted the church’s sanctuary into a different type of event space that still radiates beauty and peace. An intricate stained glass story window provides a dramatic backdrop for weddings, meetings, parties, and private dinners.

Before taking ownership, in 2004, the couple had long admired the building, built in 1905 in sleepy Clifton Heights. “Dan’s sister lives three houses down, so we were aware of the property,” Lisa says. “The congregation had dwindled to just 19 members. We knew it was going to be sold.”

The initial idea was to make the church the couple’s primary residence and later operate it as a bed and breakfast. “We had raised our three daughters to their teenage years in Webster and were ready for a change,” Lisa says. The couple estimated that the renovation would take five years. The work was completed 12 years later.

First they reworked the church’s social hall into a family room, kitchen, and workshop.

The classrooms turned into makeshift bedrooms for the girls; Dan and Lisa claimed the pastor’s study as the master bedroom.

“After we moved in, we saw water spots on the plaster ceiling. The roof needed to be replaced,” Lisa says.

The couple soon learned, when plaster started falling from the walls, that the building needed to be tuckpointed. “My husband was good with a sledgehammer,” Lisa says.

“We removed every bit of plaster to the brick—which helped to relieve tension!”

In addition to structural repairs, the two replaced the knob-and-tube wiring with new electric and split the space into five heating and cooling zones to keep costs down.

Four years ago, as the building was finally being stabilized, Lisa and Dan turned to architect Anthony Duncan to finish the project.

“Our firm is familiar with repurposing older buildings,” Duncan says. “Everything starts with a set of drawings.”

“The sanctuary was one long, huge room,” Duncan says. “We used the grand staircase to divide it into a more intimate and usable space. The staircase provides a great entrance for brides.”

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MIXED MEDIA

A Red Retreat Designer Marcia Moore shows off her personality—and a passion for the color red—in her Maryland Heights studio space. —SARAH KLOEPPLE

A STATEMENT WALL

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DESIGNER COMPLEX

Moore’s office is located in a design center. Walking to her office requires passing door after door of interior design studios. “I had never been around other designers much, since I used to work from home,” Moore says.

“It easily could have been the other way, but we just happen to all get along, which is great.”

BEAUTIFUL THINGS

The art in the office inspires Moore. “I need to be surrounded by beautiful objects,” she says. “It gets my juices flowing.” One of the first items she purchased for the office was an abstract painting. “The color made me happy, and the fact that it’s abstract keeps potential clients from pigeonholing me into a specific style,” she says.

STORAGE SPACES

“The first thing I wanted for my office was storage so that everything wasn’t out in the open,” Moore says. The cabinets are

by Shiloh and from Beck/Allen Cabinetry.

“I tend to be messy,” she says, laughing, “but I’ve heard that the messier you are, the more creative you are!”

POPS OF RED

Moore found these bright-red chairs online at modway.com but only purchased one at first. Once she saw how well they fit the room, she ordered two more. “I love the Midcentury look of them, and red is definitely my color,” she says, pointing to her red eyeglasses. “I had to have red in here.”

ANTIQUE FINDS

Moore purchased the antique furnace grate for her home, but discovered that she didn’t have the space for it. The grate came from Junque, a salvage shop tucked away in the Lemp Brewery Complex.

“It is a junk shop,” says Moore. “The guy demolitions old city buildings and brings things back to sell. It’s the coolest place.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CARMEN TROESSER PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS

Bohemian Bangles wallcovering, by Phillip Jeffries, makes a bold statement with its red circles painted on mink-brown Manila hemp. Moore sourced it from nearby KDR Designer Showrooms.

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COOL GARDENS Butterflies, bees, and chickens. Backyard spaces with magical habitats.

BY KAE M. PETRIN

BUTTERFLY FANTASY

Shelley Pryor has lived in University City for 22 years. In that time, she and her husband have converted their yard almost entirely to native plants.

“They feed the critters,” she says, “and we’re all about becoming a restaurant for the food chain— for the birds, the bugs, and all the things that people don’t realize depend on our garden.”

Now, the couple has 1,200 perennials, 70 shrubs, and 24 trees. The garden’s been given “gold” status by the St. Louis Audubon Society, which evaluates yards on the basis of their degree of conservation.

Since transitioning their yard to native plants, the couple has seen more critters. “We see honeybees, we see songbirds—woodpeckers—and bullfrogs,” she says. “Yesterday we saw a Pandora sphynx moth that was the size of a child’s fist.”

Pryor’s watched rare and endangered fauna, such as monarch butterflies and honeybees, return, and she enjoys playing a part in that. “We’ve become quite a roadside attraction or restaurant for the native population in our neighborhood,” Pryor says. “We’re building a little restaurant for them.”

Native plants require less coddling than exotic species do. “Sometimes it takes a year or two to get them started, as with any plant,” Pryor says, “but once they’re going, and they’re happy, it’s awe-inspiring.” Pesticides and other chemicals are unnecessary. Native plants can be used to solve drainage problems, because they need the extra water, and they’re an important part of the food web: Non-native plants don’t feed animals and bugs in the same way.

Interested in following Pryor’s lead? Get in touch with the St. Louis Audubon Society to join an evaluation list for Bring Conservation Home. The society will examine your yard, point out native and invasive species, and provide ideas for improvement.

Even if the gold certification seems out of reach, Pryor encourages other gardeners to think of the food web. “You can simply plant one or two natives,” she says. “Don’t be daunted.”

BEES BUSINESS

“Honeybees first came to attention when we were playing in the fields beside the grade school. We would go barefoot at recess, run across the clover, and try not to get stung,” recalls Jennifer McComb.

Decades later, McComb began hearing that honeybees were dying out. She watched a movie called Sister Bee. “I had thought of beekeeping as something for men,” says McComb. But the movie made her think: “Yeah, I could do that.”

She took a class through the Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association in February 2010, and two months later, she was a beekeeper.

McComb started with two packages of bees and a beginner’s kit that contained the wooden ware and protective gear. Now 59, she keeps 28 hives on different properties across the city and sells honey through Union Studio; her honey has even graced the menu at Vicia. She also sells beeswax candles, skin care products, and propolis, a resinous mixture that bees use to fortify their hives that has antimicrobial properties. “To me, the smell of this stuff—it’s the most luscious fragrance,” she says.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CARMEN TROESSER

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CHICKEN DELIGHT

At first, keeping chickens seemed “like a dream” to Jessie Mueller. She’d seen friends’ chickens but didn’t know much about the realities of keeping the birds: “It starts out with these cute pictures—and then it turns into something that’s really real.”

After more research, Mueller realized that chickens could actually benefit her family.

Fresh eggs are the obvious advantage, but Mueller also loves “the day-to-day of caring for them—getting up in the morning, going outside, being a part of the elements.” She also finds chicken clucks soothing, even meditative. “It’s getting you out of your air-conditioned home and being a part of the start of the day,” she says of her new avocation.

Mueller reports that the family’s three chickens have unexpectedly become companions. “I’ve been most surprised by how bonded they are to us,” she says.

Owning chickens has also brought her children more in touch with how food is made. “You get so detached from the food-to-plate pipeline. The farms are out there, and we’re in the city, and you just go to the grocery store to get fed,” Mueller says.

“Food is real, and it’s hard to create. It’s work.”

To get started, the family bought their chickens, supplies, and an A-frame coop from The Easy Chicken.

“If you’re starting out, try to get some chickens or chicks that do well in the cold, that are good egg layers,” Mueller recommends. She found that feeding table scraps prevented her birds from becoming picky eaters. Besides reducing food waste, she says, “It’s great because you’re literally putting your dinner outside, they’re eating it, and you’re getting eggs.”

Benefits aside, be prepared to make adjustments. Don’t expect chickens to leave your garden in peace. “They do have a tendency to pick at hostas and mess up your beds,” Mueller says.

Raising chicks, in particular, requires a time commitment. But for Mueller, the extra effort was worth it. “With children, it’s a magical experience,” she says.

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“TO ME, THE SMELL OF THIS STUFF—IT’S THE MOST LUSCIOUS F R A G R A N C E .”

She was encouraged to keep two hives to start because sometimes one hive will flourish and the other will fail. “If you have two, you can use one hive to help the other,” she explains.

McComb made sure to ask her neighbors whether they’d be OK with having hives nearby: “Everybody said, ‘Yay, save the bees!’”

But before you consider keeping bees, McComb suggests spending some time around honeybees.

As much as potential beekeepers can learn from reading, she says, “There’s nothing quite like an open hive.” Go to a class that involves an open hive experience; if you haven’t been stung, figure out how you feel about it. To keep bees, you should be able to work with them once a week and lift at least 25 pounds, McComb says, and she stresses the need for storage space: “Even if you only have two hives, there’s lots of stuff you need.” And prepare for the busy time of year, starting when the dandelions bloom and running through June.

McComb likes to set up a lawn chair and watch the bees come and go. “It’s enchanting,” she says, laughing. “Oh, and then there’s honey.” stlmag.com

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Five designers, architects, and business owners reminisce about the early years of their careers— and offer advice.

WOMEN

AT W O R K

AS TOLD TO JEN ROBERTS PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS

CAROL WALL OWNER, MITCHELL WALL ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

Starting Out: I took over running the firm when my husband passed away 19 years ago. The challenge I faced was that I’m not an architect, not a designer, and now I’m running an architectural firm.

There was blatant sexism and a huge pay disparity. It was impossible to have your voice heard. I’ve always been feisty, and I just took charge. Early on, I remember a client telling Mitch [her late husband, Mitchell Wall, with whom she co-founded the firm], “I don’t want to work with that pushy broad.” I was fortunate to have great advisors. Being a woman, I made sure to bring other women into the field and grow those women. Today, we’re a group of eight: We have three men and the rest are women, and there is no pay disparity.

Career Advice: Don’t be afraid of change.

If you’re unhappy where you are, don’t settle. Don’t be afraid to move to a different firm. Don’t waste your time. We have a short amount of time on earth, so make sure where you’re working meets your design philosophy and that you’re comfortable in the work place. stlmag.com

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SUSAN BOWER PRINCIPAL, BOWER LEET DESIGN

Starting Out: When I started architecture school at the University of Kentucky, there were only a handful of women—literally five and one female instructor. A lot has changed. I think it’s a great time to be practicing as a woman. We’re getting a lot more positive press, and women are assuming more roles of responsibility. For female architects, there are two major challenges to face: lack of construction knowledge and the fact that there aren’t that many female clients, particularly in the corporate world.

Career Advice: The design field is exciting and creative, and it takes discipline and dedication.

I’m an advocate for an architecture education because it’s all-encompassing. You’re prepared to think from the macro to the micro scale, or, to paraphrase a famous Italian, “from the city to the spoon.” You learn about shaping physical form and space, about the planning of cities—physically, historically and socially—and about furniture and interior design. It’s a rich, rewarding, and often frustrating field, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

ANNIE BRAHLER-SMITH DESIGNER, EURO TRASH

Starting Out: I worked hard to gain respect by being overly prepared. The fact that I’m a female means I need to be twice as prepared if I want to be taken seriously. I’m careful to be patient when things are “over-explained” to me. This morning, for example, I was getting bids for an indoor putting green. I had already schooled myself on the subject, made a list of the pros and cons, and homed in on what would best serve my client’s needs. When I met the first dealer, I had to breathe deeply a few times while the gentleman called me “dear” and asked if my husband was going to be joining us. I explained again, as I had on the phone, that I was designing and managing the project.

Career Advice: Don’t be intimidated by things you don’t understand. Women will over-prepare before they go into [a job] because they think they need to have all the answers. If I don’t understand something, I research the topic until I do.

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BEFORE

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EMILY CASTLE MANAGING PRINCIPAL, CASTLE DESIGN

Starting Out: When I first started, I worked in an architectural firm. There were 100 architects in a very large space, with four rows of desks, 25 deep, and there were only two women there, so you wanted to be liked. I had to do the very best job I could do, but I was never intimidated by that.

I was getting a degree in architecture, so it was a man’s world. In this industry, education and experience is key. My architectural background helps me earn respect from the architects and contractors I work with, as I’m able to fully understand the details of construction, as well as design.

Career Advice: Get a mentor. I had some of the finest mentors in St. Louis, so I never had to apply for a job. Mentors can help place you in the right positions. It’s really about the paths you take and who is on your path along the way. My first mentor was my college instructor. I worked for her after graduation, and then she referred me to my next position. After that, my career advanced from personal referrals and the connections I made along the way.

JANE ANN FORNEY CO-OWNER AND PRINCIPAL, FORNEY + ARCHITECTURE

Starting Out: Back in the ’80s, when there weren’t a lot of women in the architecture field, I was definitely one of the guys. I don’t know that it was so much of a challenge as you had to be thickskinned and not easily offended.

Career Advice: Start with a small-to-midsize firm. That is going to give you more of a variety of types of work. You’re going to be given responsibility a lot quicker than you would at a large firm.

It’s very easy in this industry to get pigeonholed— so, working for a company that does a lot of different types of projects, you’re going to get that exposure to family, healthcare, small commercial, retail, and residential projects. I think that’s probably the most important thing.

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THE DESIGN STL ANNUAL KITCHENS & BATHS FEATURE

Renovation tips from the pros Chefs’ musthave kitchen appliances The prettiest powder rooms in St. Louis

Kitchens & Baths

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High Style In 1958, the former owner of Katy and Dan Thomas’ stately Central West End home installed her dream kitchen. When the Thomases bought the house, three years ago, that kitchen remained, untouched by time for 60 years. What was a dream in 1958 was not functional for modern family living, nor did it fit in with the 1910 house’s architectural style. “We wanted it to fit with the Edwardian period of the home,” Katy says. –AMY BURGER

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DOUBLE OVENS The new kitchen features a KitchenAid wall-mounted double oven with separate range, harking back to its Midcentury predecessor. “We were initially planning to keep the Midcentury kitchen, so we bought our appliances a year before we did the renovation. We had to make it work,” Katy says.

A BAKING BAR A separate baking station provides deeper counter space for rolling out dough and features a pullout KitchenAid mixer and a microwave

for easily melting butter or chocolate.

“My daughter loves to bake, so it was a way to keep her contained in one area of the kitchen,” Katy says.

DINING DETAILS The Thomases were hunting for a long, narrow table. “They have these old tables, called drapers’ tables, that they used for ironing or laying out draperies,” Katy says. After several unsuccessful bids on antique models, they decided to have one made. Turntech, a custom table leg turner in Pennsylvania, made the legs to their specifications; then they

FASHIONABLE FLOOR Greek key railings around the house inspired the border of the hexagonal tile floor. The Thomases wanted rectified tile that would lie perfectly flat, which posed a challenge because most of the hex tile produced today is pillowed. They found Heritage Tile, a company near Chicago that is one of the few manufacturers in the U.S. to still produce it. It took Northwest Tile Co. five months to complete the installation.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALISE O’BRIEN

CABINET CUES The couple engaged Cristian Saleniuc of Intelligent Design Woodwork for the cabinets. Custom was important, Katy says, for “working around oddities.” She chose full-inset cabinetry rather than overlay for a more period-appropriate look and had it painted in Benjamin Moore’s Onyx and fitted with unlacquered brass hardware. Church Hill soapstone countertops complete the look. “We debated on the paint color,” Katy recalls, “if black would be too stark—but I wanted to pick up the black from the leaded windows.”

had local woodworking company WunderWoods create the top from reclaimed wood. The rustic table is paired with comfortable white Chippendale chairs from Restoration Hardware. Three hanging fixtures from Rejuvenation cover the length of the table, and track lighting on the ceiling illuminates the work areas.

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THE DESIGN STL ANNUAL KITCHENS & BATHS FEATURE

Haute Kitchen After 12 years in their beloved 1910 Arts & Crafts home in Compton Heights, Elizabeth and Keith Wolkoff had just one room left to renovate: a dated, inefficient kitchen that was dark and sequestered from the rest of the house. On a trip to Northern Ireland to visit Keith’s cousins, who are professional chefs, the Wolkoffs were inspired by the airy kitchens they saw there, filled with natural light, unusual color schemes, and high-tech appliances. Upon their return, they hired Jay Eiler of J. Eiler Interior Design to transform their space into a cutting-edge chef’s kitchen. “We love to cook and entertain, so this is the most important room in the house,” says Elizabeth. “We looked at it as our 10-year wedding anniversary gift and gave ourselves everything we wanted.” –SYDNEY LOUGHRAN WOLF

DELUXE RANGE & HOOD “I wanted something on the heavyduty, almost commercial side but with a style that fit the house. The quality and look of the La Cornue cinched it for me,” says Keith. The exquisite French range, purchased at brooksBerry, has a multifunction convection oven, five brass gas burners, and seven cooking modes.

For the enameled steel doors and hood, the Wolkoffs chose Pure White with brass and stainless-steel accents. “This was the starting point, and it dictated everything else we did,” Eiler says.

A COOL WET BAR “I was concerned about opening up the wall between the kitchen and the dining room and leaving an abrupt transition from a soft space to a room with wall-to-wall built-ins,” says Elizabeth. Eiler’s solution? Designing a wet bar that looks like a freestanding piece of furniture and is consistent with the kitchen cabinetry.

PAINTED CABINETRY The lower cabinets are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Regent Green, a saturated color that feels both modern and timeless. For balance,

Stonington Grey, also from Benjamin Moore, covers the upper cabinets.

“It’s a nice-size kitchen, but anything too dark or heavy would close you in,” Eiler says, “so we agreed to keep it soft above and add visual weight below.” The countertop’s 2-inch pale gray marble slab provides harmony.

GLAZED SUBWAY TILE When the Wolkoffs expressed interest in using subway tile, Eiler proposed a large-scale glazed Waterworks brick. “It’s really thick, pitted, and textured, not typical. It lends authenticity to the kitchen,”

says Eiler. Black grout emphasizes the tile’s beauty and echoes the tone of the lower cabinets. “It has an uneven sheen,” says Elizabeth. “It’s particularly beautiful and reflective at night when the lights are on.”

STATEMENT LIGHT FIXTURES A dramatic redesign of the kitchen layout necessitated the removal of a wall and connection of the kitchen and dining room. “Traditionally, pendants are placed over the island, but that would block the view and connection to the dining room, so we placed them over workspaces to create great surface light,” Eiler explains.

The brass pendants with clear glass shades are from Visual Comfort.

“From the outside, they look like lanterns in the windows,” Keith says.

TEXTURAL HARDWARE Waterworks brass knobs with raised centers grace the upper cabinets, and linear pulls from Vesta, in varying lengths, accent the lower cabinets, refrigerator doors, and wet bar. “I wanted to create visual contrast by mixing things up; the round versus the linear shapes play off the light and dark cabinets,” says Eiler.

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THE DESIGN STL ANNUAL KITCHENS & BATHS FEATURE

BLACK, WHITE, BOOK-MATCHED The team selected three slabs of Bianco Gironda marble for the countertops and to create the grand book-matched backsplash on the range wall. The backsplash was a huge decision (no pun intended) and at 400 pounds required some serious engineering to install. Cutouts for the shelves, sconces, hood, and outlets were drawn in advance, and the slabs were templated by laser on site. A crew of five was required to maneuver the marble into place. “It’s the design focal point of the room,” Taylor says. “It adds to the character and to the feel of the space.”

RANGE & HOOD The combination of a Wolf stainlesssteel range and a Zephyr stainlesssteel vent—painted a matte black—is a nod to Liz’s love of mixing materials and doing things just a bit differently. “We chose a chimney style vent instead of a boxed-in hood because the latter would have covered too much of our marble wall,” Liz says.

PORCELAIN FOR THE FLOOR The selection of a white porcelain floor tile was not only smart but also stylish. “The porcelain’s size and scale is in keeping with the kitchen’s large proportions,” Taylor says. The decision to use a herringbone pattern is a nod to the roots of the house.

The gray grout showcases the floor’s pattern and makes cleanup a breeze.

SO COOL Liz and Steve Sloan purchased their 1925 Renaissance Revival home in University City for a somewhat unusual reason: Its kitchen had not been recently updated. “We wanted to renovate the kitchen ourselves, because we both love to cook,” says Liz. They sought design advice from Kim Taylor of K Taylor Design Group, and then the three set out to honor the architecture of the house while imbuing the space with elegant modern touches. After six months, in a remodel that enlarged the room from 192 to 337 square feet, the kitchen is now a breathtaking union of period-inspired details and natural materials awash in a warm palette. “For the first two weeks after the kitchen was completed, I felt like I was on vacation,” says Liz, a wedding photographer.

“It’s finally sunk in that this wonderful kitchen is ours.”

–SYDNEY LOUGHRAN WOLF

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AN INVERTED PALETTE From the start, Liz knew that she wanted to incorporate black, white, and brushed gold into the kitchen’s color scheme. She gathered a selection of her favorite vintage jewelry, photographed the pieces against creamy, white marble, and sent the picture to Taylor, explaining why she loved the combination of metals, woods, and leathers. Enter SherwinWilliams’ Tricorn Black, in a matte finish. The designer used the color on the wall cabinets, on the island base, and on the window trim. Then the trio selected matte gold hardware from Schwinn—bar handles on doors and knobs on the cabinets—to add a glamorous, vintage touch. White walls and tile backsplash allow the dark elements to stand out.

JEWELRY-LIKE DETAILS Brushed brass light fixtures in coordinating styles sparkle like jewelry around the room. Over-scale globe pendants from CB2 hang above the island; mid- and long-arm sconces with glass shades from Schoolhouse Electric are centered above casement windows and stretch out over the open shelving. The fixtures bathe the kitchen in a golden glow.

WIRE CHAIRS, ETC. The butcher block island is the center of the room’s action. Fabricated from a single piece of natural walnut, the island seats four. On one side, cabinets and drawers run four rows deep. The opposite side features four brushed brass chairs with leather upholstery, also from CB2. “I had fallen in love with a similar but pricier style online and was thrilled to find these,” says Liz. stlmag.com

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Chesterfield 633 Spirit of St. Louis Blvd. 636.519.1611 Maryland Heights 11585 Lackland Road 314.677.6713 beckallencabinetry.com

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THE DESIGN STL ANNUAL KITCHENS & BATHS FEATURE

Beyond White Melissa and Drew Carter’s 1907 Parkview home kitchen needed two things: more light and more space. The homeowners turned to Mainline Group Architecture’s Allen Roehrig to help them achieve both. By adding textural elements that spark visual interest and a palette that works in touches of gray and black, the homeowners turned a traditonal kitchen design into one that stretches just beyond the limits of an all-white aesthetic. “I wanted variety,” Melissa says, “and to make the kitchen warmer, to move beyond an all-white kitchen.” –SARAH KLOEPPLE

RECONFIGURING THE ROOM “The kitchen was outdated,” Melissa says. “And it was cramped,” Roehrig adds. An old staircase cut the space in half, creating a utilitarian area behind it that held a pantry. “It was a kitchen designed for the needs of a homeowner from 100 years ago,” says Roehrig.

He combined the two areas by eliminating the staircase and added a steel beam to support the second- and third-floor walls, as well as a secondary false beam to establish symmetry.

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COLOR CODE Melissa teamed up with Dave Scheu of McMillan Cabinetmakers to create elegant and efficient storage space.

The white lower cabinets were painted in Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace, and Melissa specified that the other kitchen cabinets feature saturated hues such as Sherwin-Williams’ Tricorn Black and Farrow & Ball’s Plummett. “I need a bit of black in every room,” Melissa says. “I think it’s stabilizing and striking.” The island houses two refrigerator drawers.

FLOOR FACTS The floors throughout the historic home are oak, and a wood floor was always the plan for the kitchen, Melissa says: “I wanted it to be continuous, and it felt softer and more comfortable to stand on when cooking.”

COUNTERTOP CULTURE The countertops are Calacatta Arabescato marble, with the exception of the island’s top, which is polished oak. “There was some concern

in terms of how much wood, with the floor and such a large island,” Roehrig says. “We debated back and forth whether or not to go with a different stone, but we found that wood was better at keeping the balance of natural materials.”

FAUCETS & FIXTURES Melissa elected to mix brass and nickel fixtures from Waterstone as a way to bring in both variety and warmth. She even added brass knobs to her Wolf range and placed the statement-making red knobs into storage.

SITTING IN STYLE Melissa chose to repurpose stools that her mother had once used in her own kitchen but relegated to the basement. “My mother was excited to get rid of them,” Melissa says with a laugh. “They’re actually incredibly comfortable.”

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Pretty Powder Rooms Tucked beneath a staircase or around a corner, powder rooms are often outshined by their more prominent and glamorous first-floors neighbors. But not these!

We talked to four designers who showed us how they turned a modest guest bathroom into a shining example of beauty and function. –BROOKE SEMKE

ADJ INTERIORS Astratto wallpaper, by Romo, was the ideal choice for the home’s first-floor powder room, in light of all the navy and chartreuse accents that pepper the house.

“First and foremost, the powder room had to be an experience,” says designer April Jensen. “We wanted a wow factor, and the paper definitely made its presence known.”

Jensen, who doesn’t shy away from mixing metals, combined an antique gold mirror sourced from 1stdibs with stainless steel sconces by Visual Comfort and a vanity by Restoration Hardware.

The biggest challenge? Making certain that each new element increased the room’s overall impact.

“Each piece matters, because you have few elements in a small space,” she says.

AMY STUDEBAKER DESIGN Amy Studebaker’s client wanted a “hint of glamour” in her powder room while maintaining a classic feel to match the rest of her house.

She fell in love with the hammered copper sink from Waterworks’ Normandy collection, and it inspired the design of the rest of the room.

“We loved the way light reflects off the hammered sink,” Studebaker says. “It moved us to use the mirrored tiles on the wall.”

With the sink and the Devotion Water Mirror tile in place, Studebaker elected to keep the room “mostly achromatic to emphasize the reflections of the tile and the sink.” Nickel sconces from the Suzanne Kasler Camille collection for Visual Comfort, the Universal nickel washstand from Waterworks, and the Kensington mirror from Pottery Barn finish the room.

“We wanted this space to stand out,” Studebaker says, “and creating a dramatic focal point with the mirrored tile and fabulous wallpaper did the job well—without taking up space.”

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ROTH LIVING OFFERS AN UNPARALLELED CONSUMER EXPERIENCE. Our resident appliance design specialists will ensure that every selection fits seamlessly into your design and meets your lifestyle needs.

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Talk details with experts. Get a taste of all that your new kitchen can be.

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ANN SACKS Tile, Stone & 9929 Clayton Road Ladue, MO 63124 5/30/18 3:56 PM (314) 626-0488

THE DESIGN STL ANNUAL KITCHENS & BATHS FEATURE

AMIE CORLEY INTERIORS Interior designer Amie Corley appreciates the power of a powder room to speak for itself—and deliver a “completely different” experience than you’d find in the rest of the house.

“I love to make powder rooms a microcosm of design, a space where you can take more design risks,” she says.

Corley worked her magic in a traditional Ladue home by mixing a selection of stylish yet whimsical elements, such as Mr. Blow wallpaper by Abnormals Anonymous, brass-andmarble sconces by Kelly Wearstler, a wall-mounted faucet by Waterworks, and a Calacatta marble sink and floor tile.

The look imparts a youthful energy but never loses sight of the home’s architectural polish and sophistication.

“I love the juxtaposition of the wild wallpaper with the modern sconces,” says Corley. “The tension between these elements is such a surprise. I love how it all came together.”

MARCIA MOORE DESIGN The client requested a patterned tile, and Marcia Moore knew just where to look. After she showed her client a photo of a black-and-white encaustic cement tile by Mosaic House, they knew they’d found their focal point.

To heighten the tile’s drama, Moore elected to set the room’s white-painted cabinetry, made by Smithport, on feet, allowing the tile to run to the wall and give the illusion of space.

“This powder room is near the front door, so it needed to make a statement,” she says.

With so much attention paid to the tile, the remaining elements required a simple touch. White Flour, by Sherwin-Williams, is painted onto the walls. Moore finished the room with an Absolute White marble countertop from SFI Stone, a faucet by Rohl, and a sink by DXV from Immerse.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN A. ROBERTS

Finding the right sconces required a longer search. The Calla sconce, from Hubbardton Forge, answered the call, with its swooped base that mirrors the design of the tile.

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years to come. Elements such as tile, lights, and hardware have important appeal, but can be changed as tastes evolve. –MEGHAN HEETER People are thinking about the future. They’re considering a barrier-free shower, higher toilets and vanities. These things come into play earlier because they’re well designed, whereas in the past they looked utilitarian. Even grab bars are pretty. –ANNE KELLEHER If you don’t have a big budget, you should work within the home’s footprint. Let’s say you’re working with a kitchen. If there’s an adjacent closet or another space that would augment the kitchen, you’re better off from a budgetary standpoint to capture that space rather than try to add on. People also like natural light.

Anytime you can add light is advantageous.

–JIMMY JAMIESON

What did you learn from your project?

Renovations take longer and cost more than your estimation. It’s essential to have patience.

–GABRIELLE TULLMAN, FRONTENAC

Renovation 101 Tips from design pros and homeowners for creating the kitchen and bathroom of your dreams –CHARLENE OLDHAM What should homeowners prioritize when renovating a kitchen or bathroom?

The first question we ask clients when renovating a kitchen is “Do you cook?” It seems so obvious, but the answer can determine the investment level and layout of appliances. As one of the biggest budget items in a renovation, luxury appliances are worth the investment if they meet the needs of the homeowner and add to the function of the space.

KELLEHER, IMMERSE

Anything that can’t be easily removed is always worth investing in. I push clients to buy the nicest tile and cabinets they can afford, as those things can’t be easily changed out. Inset cabinet doors give a clean, tailored profile, and handmade tile is so beautiful. –AMIE CORLEY, AMIE CORLEY

It’s important, when selecting appliances, not to mix up a hundred different brands. You want to buy things of equal quality, whatever your budget is. I think it’s important that homeowners spread their money evenly. There’s nothing worse than buying the least expensive cabinets and putting the most expensive countertops on them. That doesn’t make sense. –JIMMY JAMIESON, JAMIESON

INTERIORS

INTERIOR DESIGN

A bathroom should be about 20 percent of your home’s value and your kitchen approximately 30 percent. That number can always go up, depending on the movement of plumbing or electrical or, in some cases, a major discovery during demolition.

Which design elements have staying power?

–MEGHAN HEETER, CASTLE DESIGN

–CHELSEA SMITH, CHELSEA DESIGN COMPANY

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The quality of your products should be in the price range of your home, but at any price range, people want stone countertops and stainless steel appliances. In the bathroom, you want it to feel as big as it can and offer more than one shower experience— a shower head and rain head or a shower head and a handheld option. People also want pretty: They want their fixtures to look like jewelry. –ANNE

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Invest in the bones of a kitchen to ensure long-term value. Quality cabinetry, durable countertops, highend appliances, and plumbing fixtures that feature solid brass construction will ensure reliability for

There are things you can source yourself and save on. Cabinetry is not the place to cut corners. –JILL MOORE, CHAUTAUQUA, ILLINOIS Trust your gut. Give yourself a break.

Understand that a room can take about 100 different paint colors and still look good. That knob shape isn’t going to make or break you.

–JENNY RAUSCH, KIRKWOOD

What advice do you have for homeowners who are embarking on a renovation?

Keep a notebook with phone numbers and notes all in one place. Schedule regular meetings with your contractor and make selections well in advance so that your decisions don’t delay the process. –GABRIELLE TULLMAN I think people have misconceptions about the role of a designer. When we met with the woman we eventually worked with, she asked lots of questions about our preferences, timelines, and budget. She came back with recommendations that played to each of our likes. Lastly, all of the interfaces with vendors, craftspeople, and tradesmen were handled by our designer, which left us free to do our jobs.

–LEANNE RIDENOUR, LADUE We began by getting the fundamentals right: open, airy, and with a layout to match the desired function. From there, we chose elements that give a timeless look—durable materials in colors that are relatively neutral and can be accented as times change. –PHIL VALKO, OLD NORTH ST. LOUIS

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THE DESIGN STL ANNUAL KITCHENS & BATHS FEATURE

CHRIS MCKENZIE MAC’S LOCAL EATS

Mandoline

“To slice through prep work fast.”

ASHLEY SHELTON, SARDELLA AND PASTARIA

Vacuum sealer

Used to freeze batch portions of protein and to seal foods to be cooked in the sous-vide circulator

SONNY LEWIS,

JESSE MENDICA,

DRAKE’S PLACE

OLIVE + OAK

KitchenAid mixer’s grinding attachment

Blender

“I use it to grind vegetables that flavor my soups, sauces, and pastas.”

Picking Favorites Food connoisseurs the world over turn to cherished kitchen gadgets to make quick work of ordinarily time-consuming tasks. We talked to several St. Louis chefs and foodies to learn the secrets, big and small, of their culinary success –PAT EBY

“Every day, in every way a blender was intended to be used.”

MARIE-ANNE VELASCO, NUDO HOUSE

Knife

“All I really need is my Fujiwara chef’s knife.

I use it for everything, every day. I keep it sharp, and it keeps giving back.”

LIZ SCHUSTER, TENACIOUS EATS

Le Creuset high-temperature spatula

MIKE MILLER,

“I’m a stove monkey, but I’m quick and mobile and don’t carry much to my jobs.”

KITCHEN KULTURE AND KOUNTER KULTURE

Granite mortar and pestle

“It was a gift from a Thai friend. I use it to make our curry blends and pestos, as well as for salad dressings at home.”

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RENÉ SACKETT, FARMERS’ MARKET MANAGER

Pasta machine

“I like the linguini cutter and the flat-sheet attachment, which I use to make ravioli.” stlmag.com

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Historic details meet contemporary style in a Claverach Park home.

WRITTEN BY AMY BURGER PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALISE O’BRIEN

S TA R T stlmag.com

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or Becky Melander, moving into a 1920s Tudor in Clayton’s historic Claverach Park neighborhood was truly a homecoming.

Melander grew up about a mile away, and when she and her husband, Dr. Matt Melander, an orthopedic surgeon, returned to St. Louis after living in Indiana for Matt’s medical fellowship, they narrowed their house hunt to Clayton because of the excellent schools and her own sense of nostalgia.

“I love it for the memories it holds for me,” she says. “I had a really terrific childhood, and I wanted my kids to have that.”

Becky and Matt are parents to three girls: Willa (age 14), Adelaide (12), and Lucia (10).

Becky is a stay-at-home mother and the owner of Rebecca Melander Designs, purveyor of hand-painted wood and glass Christmas ornaments, which she sells at area boutiques.

Before their brief move out of state, the Melanders lived in a century home in Webster Groves, so they were no strangers to the charms and challenges of owning a historic house. Since buying their Clayton home in 2007, they have worked to both preserve and update it in their own livable, contemporary style.

Last year, they tackled their largest project to date: the renovation of a very ’80s kitchen.

Previously closed off from the family room, an addition that Becky says had been “plunked on” to the back of the house disconnected the kitchen from the rest of the home. A loadbearing wall separated the rooms, however, and the Melanders spent two years reviewing kitchen plans to reconfigure it without tearing down the wall.

“Finally, we thought, ‘If you’re going to dip your foot in the pool, you might as well go swimming,’” says Becky. “I really didn’t want to combine these two rooms, but it made sense.”

In the end, it worked out for the best, with the new modern kitchen blending seamlessly into the cozy light-filled family room. A threeseat wood breakfast bar marks the transition— the perfect spot for the three Melander girls to use every day.

“I wanted a space where they could be doing their homework and I could help them across the way while cooking,” says Becky.

The Melanders enlisted Keith Gegg of Gegg Design and Cabinetry, who had previously worked with the family by way of their contractor, Fred Lang, on the renovation of an upstairs bathroom. Becky says it was a natural fit to work with him on the kitchen.

“While Becky had a vision, I’m not sure she

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knew how to get it on paper. She needed someone to walk her through it,” says Gegg. “It really came down to a space-planning challenge. Once we got the layout, the rest went really fast. Becky is very decisive. She’s got great taste and a good sense of materials.”

The focus of the kitchen design was twofold: efficiency of space and of light. “It was so dark before. The cabinets were dark, and there was no room to work,” she says.

One of three original leaded glass windows was hidden behind a cabinet. The Melanders knew it was there because they could see it from the driveway, so they worked with Gegg to reveal the window and bring in light.

When it was time to select finishes, Becky didn’t want “the sterile feeling of an all-white kitchen. I wanted to brighten it up but not have it be gleaming white.”

Gegg created the sleek custom cabinetry from engineered quartersawn anigre, a fast-growing and sustainable African hardwood, in a light natural finish. Becky chose a slate-look porcelain tile for the heated floor and quartz countertops in white with gray veining that picks up the floor color.

Two large handblown glass globe pendant lights with walnut tops hang above the breakfast bar. “My goal for lighting was to have glass globes that were beautiful but almost invisible, and these I think do both,” Becky says.

Glass pocket doors and an open transom separate the kitchen from the dining room, which features French doors that open onto the front yard.

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Textured plaster walls and refinished original hardwood floors in the dining room, living room, and foyer bring out the home’s historic charm, and the furnishings and décor are comfortable and modern. “We have a real high-low mix of style—a lot of flea market stuff mixed with high-end stuff,” Becky says, pointing out pieces in the living room and the bright sunroom addition behind it.

Painted all white, with gleaming new hardwood floors, the sunroom features a NanaWall system that allows two, four, or all six glass panels to open, making the space fully accessible to the deck. This area, complete with a wet bar, is where the Melanders love to entertain.

Neutral pieces—including a pair of wicker chairs from IKEA, a palegray sofa from Centro Modern Furnishings, and a tree stump side table by David Stine Woodworking—are punctuated by pops of color in textiles, a red lacquer console table and a red Eero Saarinen Womb chair. A sparkling portrait of a lobster by local artist Rob Corley, who creates images from Mardi Gras beads, was a gift from Becky to Matt as an homage to his roots as a displaced New Englander.

Upstairs, more original leaded glass windows light up the landing, from which the bedrooms and baths radiate. The master bedroom is serene and spa-like in soft, natural tones. The Melanders painted an old parquet floor white and covered it with a textured area rug. Sheer white curtains billow over the open windows, and a vaulted ceiling makes the space feel large and airy.

Adelaide and Lucia, the two youngest sisters, share the remodeled hallway bathroom that helped inform the kitchen design. Black 6-inch hex tile with white grout on the floor is offset by white subway tile with black grout on the walls. A wood vanity adds warmth.

Overall, the house feels eclectic and contemporary, yet relaxed and unfussy. After more than a decade in the home, the Melanders continue to improve upon its solid bones while enjoying the enormous progress they’ve made along the way. stlmag.com

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THE

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PERFECT BALANCE

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WRITTEN BY

STEFENE RUSSELL PHOTOGRAPHY BY

ALISE O’BRIEN

Designer Laurie LeBoeuf combined seemingly disparate elements to make this house a work of perfection.

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“You’d better fly in for this one.”

That’s what Tom and Brigette McMillin’s real estate agent told them back in 2006, as they were trying to relocate back to St. Louis.

They’d suffered through months of weary house-hunting in a tight market, so they held their collective breath. But they were not disappointed: The first occupant of the 1939 Frontenac home, a finish carpenter, had lovingly handmade one-of-a-kind millwork and molding. There were stained glass windows, original crystal and brass doorknobs, and French doors opening onto a covered porch.

The house was unique, filled with details almost impossible to reproduce in the 21st century.

Fast-forward a decade, and the McMillins had fallen out of love with the house, partly because early–20th-century architecture sometimes felt like an awkward fit for 21st-century lives. They began to wonder: Should we move? “We looked for a year and a half and couldn’t really find anything,” Brigette says. “We just kept coming back to this house—so we decided to make it our own.” Brigette met Laurie LeBoeuf of Castle Design—who, as it turned out, was the perfect designer for the job. “We walked through the house, and I showed her what pieces were important to us to keep,” Brigette says. “They may not be totally on trend right now, but they have special meaning to us. She kept them and incorporated them into a brand-new design for the house.”

The whole process took about a year, with the final touches made last September. First, designer and clients talked color. “We painted all of the millwork and molding a pretty bright white,” LeBoeuf says. “Before, they’d had a warm cream tone throughout, so that helped brighten up the space.” Brigette loves turquoise sea blues, and greens, so “the palette stayed fairly similar,” LeBoeuf says. They just played with the intensity, varying it in different spaces. In the master bedroom, it’s a softer, cooler gray-blue. In the living room, there are jewel tones.

But paint colors were among the most minor aspects of this renovation. The dining room was expanded, creating a gallery leading to an outdoor loggia; Castle Design helped landscape a putting green near the existing pool, and French doors were added to every room in the back of the house. “That was one of the big goals for them, to bring the interior and the exterior together,” LeBoeuf says.

In the hearth room, the existing fireplace was taken down to the masonry, given a new cast-stone mantel, and flanked with built-in cabinetry painted cornflower blue, a color that’s

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picked up in botanical-embroidered Stroheim draperies. “We were looking for something with cornflower blue,” LeBoeuf says, “but the pink and the burgundy really pull everything together, and it’s also a really strong statement in that space.”

The living room is a perfect example of how LeBoeuf balanced the family’s traditional aesthetic with contemporary objects, transforming the overall style of the house to something more transitional, which was one of Brigette’s goals. The living room furniture retains a traditional spirit but has clean lines, allowing LeBoeuf to add a contemporary white Olly cocktail table, whose lacy curvilinear pattern echoes the subtle pattern on the sofa. The draperies, in Harlequin’s Pontia fabric and banded with turquoise, cream, and champagne silver, “look almost dip-dyed,” LeBoeuf says. The fireplace is original to the house, which lends the room charm and gravitas yet still feels fresh, thanks to a coat of that bright-white paint.

In the powder room, Brigette says, LeBoeuf really worked her magic: “I like Designers Guild, which can be a little more contemporary than what our house is, but it’s really fun and whimsical. I asked Laurie to try to find an updated version of the wallpaper that I had in there—and she found it!”

The pattern, Contarini’s Celeste, is “a really fun wallpaper,” LeBoeuf says.

“Plus, it brought in a lot of the blue and gray tones, as well as a yellow-lime color and some green and pink.” The sink and toilet stayed, but LeBoeuf zhuzhed up the room with a gold mirror and new wall sconces.

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The tour de force, though, is the master bedroom and bath—especially the bath, with its herringbone marble tile floor, soft gray cabinetry, and exquisite basketweave mosaic, made of Calacatta Gold and Botticino marble, in the shower. The fixtures are all gold, and many of the drawer pulls are glass, a nod to the home’s original brass-and-crystal doorknobs. “We have a lot of neat and unusual details that you can’t really find today, and we didn’t want to strip the character of the house,” Brigette says. “The trend is nickel, but we really wanted to stick with the brass–gold, because that’s just the house.”

And Brigette says that’s one of the reasons she and LeBoeuf forged such a fantastic collaborative working relationship: The designer respected the nature of the house, as well as the feelings and wishes of its occupants.

“I love that it wasn’t, like, ‘OK, let’s just start new. None of this is going to work.’” Brigette says. “Not everything did work, and I appreciated that keen eye, like, ‘You know, you really can let this go,’” she says, laughing. “I appreciated her being able to recognize that a lot of our pieces were really nice and they were timeless, and then to see those pieces in a different room—to see it in a whole new way. That’s how she helped my husband and I fall in love again with our house.”

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American Lung Association’s LUNG FORCE, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Cancer Stem Cell Consortium, Farrah Fawcett Foundation, Genome Canada, Laura Ziskin Family Trust, LUNGevity Foundation, National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer STAND UP TO CANCER IS A DIVISION OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION, A 501(C)(3) CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION. IMAGES ARE FROM STAND UP TO CANCER TELECASTS AND EVENTS. THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH (AACR) IS STAND UP TO CANCER’S SCIENTIFIC PARTNER.

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ribe SubscW !

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

KITCHEN and

BATH RESOURCE GUIDE Refresh your tired spaces with the help of these professionals.

CLASSIC CABINET COMPANY 314-862-0545 | CLASSICCARPENTRYSTL.COM Classic Cabinet Company offers quality cabinetry for every style and budget, from builder-grade to full-custom cabinets. With so many options available, your cabinets are truly unique. Full-custom cabinets are handcrafted in Classic’s St. Louis wood shop. Classic Cabinet Company is your source for cabinetry in St. Louis.

FERGUSON BATH, KITCHEN & LIGHTING GALLERY

GEGG DESIGN & CABINETRY 636-394-4455 | GEGGDESIGN.COM

636-519-7299 | FERGUSONSHOWROOMS.COM

Gegg Design & Cabinetry provides clients with cabinetry that reflects

Dreaming of a new kitchen or bath? No one helps homeowners bring

their living habits and style. The company’s process is interactive and

their visions to life better than Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting

collaborative, with a heavy emphasis on space planning in the early

Gallery. See, touch and compare top-selling lighting, appliances, and

stages. A value-added approach maximizes the design and products

bath and kitchen products in Ferguson’s state-of-the-art showroom

to match your project, with offerings for every budget.

in Chesterfield. Let them help make your dream a reality.

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALISE O'BRIEN

KARR BICK KITCHEN AND BATH

McMILLAN CABINETMAKERS

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Karr Bick Kitchen and Bath’s promise is to create nothing ordinary

McMillan Cabinetmakers has been designing and handcrafting

with your space, style and budget. They help to find your inspiration

cabinetry for the finer homes of the St. Louis area for over 30 years,

and then create spaces you don’t want to leave. Karr Bick designs and

building a reputation based on outstanding customer service. The

installs each project—giving you peace of mind from start to finish.

company designs with clients’ needs in mind and offers a nearly limitless variety of woods, finishes and detailing.

METRO LIGHTING

MITCHELL WALL ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

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In business since 1967, Metro Lighting offers an unbeatable selec-

Mitchell Wall Architecture & Design began in 1976 with one mission:

tion of lighting, ceiling fans, home furnishings and accessories at six

to create your vision. They are a sophisticated boutique firm that

family-operated lighting centers throughout St. Louis. Metro Lighting

offers site planning, landscape design, interior design and architecture.

is committed to being environmentally friendly, and customers can

Their designs reflect an understanding of space, light, proportion and

find in their inventory a number of ENERGY STAR products, the last

color. Their team is here to help you—as they have clients around

in LED and other energy-saving devices.

and outside the country.

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

MOSBY BUILDING ARTS

ROTH LIVING

314-909-1800 | CALLMOSBY.COM

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When you’re looking to remodel your home to fit your life and meet

Roth Living is the official regional showroom for Sub-Zero, Wolf,

your tastes—whether through a complete makeover or one specific

Cove, Asko and Best. Come August, visit Roth Living’s new location

area, inside or out—Mosby Building Arts can help you say “Home

at 7800 Clayton Road. Their resident appliance design specialists

Never Felt So Good.” Architecture. Design. Remodeling.

will ensure that every selection fits seamlessly into your design and meets your lifestyle needs.

SAINT LOUIS CLOSET CO.

WILSON LIGHTING

314-781-9000 | STLOUISCLOSETCO.COM

314-222-6300 | WILSONLIGHTING.COM

Saint Louis Closet Co. provides customized shelving and accessories

Wilson Lighting opened in St. Louis three years ago, establishing the

for pantries, with free estimates. Purchasing in bulk is much easier

company’s fourth showroom since 1975. Wilson is so much more

when the space in your pantry is outfitted for proper storage. With

than a lighting store, offering home décor and accent furniture, with

a system made specifically for your pantry, things like food, paper

a staff of certified experts to guide you. Wilson also designs and

goods and even excess dishes and appliances can be neatly stowed

manufactures its own brand, called Mariana Home. With Wilson, you

away but still within reach.

can make something beautiful come to light.

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DESIGN CRUSH

PETER MANION Working without fear that it’s temporary and that it falls apart and decays, which is like our lives. It’s not about living forever. As you get older, you have more details and are more interesting.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS IDEA?

It’s one of these flukes that happened. I had installed a piece of blue felt as a backdrop to photograph my work, and I was working with plaster on my drawings. I was cleaning my trowel, and I put it on top of the felt and it just built up over time. Eventually I had to switch it out.

SO THE WORK DIRECTS THE OUTCOME?

Yes. You have to be here. Artists need to be rooted. The only way I’d find this is by coming to the studio and putting in the time.

ANY SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?

Harold Rosenberg, Nancy Spero, Carol Walker, but it’s not necessarily their work. I mean, it’s their work, of course, but it’s what I gather from it. It’s how they find interesting ways of speaking to you. My children inspire me. I like it when they come to work with me. Their fluidity is sort of where I want to be. Working on ideas without fear.

YOU’VE RECENTLY COMPLETED TWO RESIDENCIES. HOW HAVE THESE SHAPED YOU AS AN ARTIST?

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HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?

I draw things simply. I paint abstractly. I’m a person of material and lines and texture. All the tools I would normally use in construction have reemerged in the way I make my work. I’m not a paintbrush painter. I use trowels, plaster, spray paint, and rollers.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?

I’ve been developing new work that plays with two and three-dimensional mediums.

I use felt and plaster to create moveable sculptures. You can play with it and make different things. The idea of this work is

HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR APPROACH OVER THE YEARS?

I made a piece, and someone came to open studio and bought it. It was the first piece that I made that was completely abstract, and she found her own story in it. Before, I had always put all these little details in [my paintings], thinking, maybe someone will see this mark or this thing, but people weren’t getting it. What I realized is that I was trying to control the reaction. I was trying to say, ‘Look at my story.’

This woman loved the piece because it felt like her life. She said, ‘I’m this line,’ and I didn’t mean it that way. —JEN ROBERTS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENNIFER SILVERBERG, COURTESY OF PETER MANION

Peter Manion didn’t discover his artistic potential until his senior year of high school. “I had a phenomenal art teacher who saw an ability in me,” Manion says. “I knew I could draw, but art was never a consideration.”

His teacher encouraged him to apply to art school, and Manion enrolled at the Art Institute in Chicago. After college, he lived “the typical artist bohemian lifestyle” in Chicago before moving back to St. Louis.

“St. Louis was a difficult city for artists in 1998. It was difficult making connections here,” he says.

Manion had a few small shows but began working in construction after renovating his home and realizing that he liked the work.

When the housing market crashed, Manion left construction to be a stay-at-home dad, and in 2010 he started painting again. He exhibited his first show in 2012 at SPACE Architecture + Design. “That was the beginning,” he says. “I’ve been slowly growing my work ever since.”

In Spain, there was something about going there that validated me as an artist. I was working 14–16 hours; I was deep in it.

Vermont was validation from my peers.

Vermont gave me a community of artists who didn’t know me, but we had the same understanding of what is going on in the world, and they supported me in ways that I’d never felt before.

stlmag.com

5/29/18 10:59 AM

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ICON

THE BIG CHILL A look back at 1959—a huge year for the kitchen

ivory fridges and brown stoves that, aside from their shape and Modernist chrome detailing, don’t look all that weird to our eye today. In other parts of the world, however, kitchens were going wild. In the summer of ’59, in a model kitchen set up for the American National Exhibition in Moscow, Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev engaged in what escalated into a shouting match that made front-page news around the world.

Khrushchev accused American builders of being hostages to capitalism, forced to build shoddy houses that fell apart in 20 years so they could sell more. “We build for our children and grandchildren,” he gloated at Nixon. “American houses last for more than 20 years!” Nixon bristled, explaining that our houses were built to last, but by that time, “the kitchen is obsolete.” Khrushchev wasn’t buying it. But American housewives were—along with canary-yellow fridges, robin’s-egg–blue stoves, bubble gum–pink dishwashers, bright-red linoleum, and stainless steel counters. It was a strong look, and much of that eye-popping design didn’t last 10 years, much less 20. By 1969, the trendy thing was natural wood cabinetry, nubby curtains that looked as if you’d woven them yourself, and houseplants slung into macramé holders hanging over the sink. Fast-forward another 10 years, and anyone who still had red linoleum had learned that they now had a giant asbestos remediation problem on their hands. Who was the winner of the Cold War Kitchen Debate?

Perhaps it was us, sensible Midwesterners, who arched our eyebrows at faddish pastels, rarely had to call in a hazmat team when replacing the floor, and probably still have some of those boring old white fridges, now relegated to the garage and tasked with keeping the beer cool at family barbecues. —STEFENE RUSSELL

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARTHUR PROETZ, COURTESY OF THE MISSOURI HISTORY MUSEUM

THIS WOMAN STANDS in the home appliances department at Stix, Baer & Fuller, surrounded by sensible

stlmag.com

5/29/18 10:59 AM

KITCHEN & BATH & WHEREVER

featured bar/butler’s pantry designed by jenny@karrbick.com

KARR BICK

create your #nothing ordinary

2715 mercantile drive • st. louis • 314 272 3628 DSTL_Cover0718.indd 993 at home 5.21.indd 1

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WWW.MITCHELLWALL.COM | 314.576.5888 | 2 THE PINES COURT, ST. LOUIS, MO 63141

Mitchell Wall

architecture and design

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