Design Studio
The season’s upon us, and everyone here at Bluebell Fine Cabinetry & Design is sending you warm wishes for a joyful holiday and an exceptional 2023!
Here in Wayne, Bluebell’s team of designers and installers are looking forward to an exciting year ahead. We’re impatiently anticipating our amazing new showroom, just a few steps away from our current quarters. That proximity allows us to keep an eye on its construction progress. We can’t wait to move in!
In late 2017, Bluebell opened its first Wayne showroom and design studio here at 200 West Lancaster Avenue. Envisioning, designing and building a “home” of this magnitude was a huge step for us. We were betting that the location would attract the discerning clients we knew our expanding design team had the knowledge and creativity to serve well. Looking back now over the five years, we’re humbled by and immensely grateful for the many homeowners and designers who have been delighted and inspired by our showroom kitchens. Thanks to all of you, we outgrew the space much sooner than we had anticipated.
This holiday magazine marks a departure for us. Having never featured our kitchens
before, we’re paying loving tribute before we say a final farewell sometime this spring. Our current kitchens, which are still setting trends, have been a marvelous resource for our design team. By showing various possibilities and products, they’ve made the work we do for our clients a little easier and much more satisfying and joyful. Stow-away doors on furniture-quality cabinetry hiding wall ovens, beverage centers and more. An appliance “garage” so well-made that a visitor might never find your stand mixer. Leathered stone surfaces of brilliant artistry. Large islands, open shelves, glass-fronted full-wall cabinets, corner sinks, pot-fillers, amazing customizable storage solutions and more. We’re proud of every single feature.
Please “walk through” with us one last time and enjoy some of our favorite kitchen details paired with some of our team’s best holiday tips and tricks.
ON THE COVER:
One of our three fully appointed kitchens, this view shows how a wall of exquisite hand-painted Duquesa Fatima ceramic tiles by Walker Zanger brings elegance to the country vibe. We love the look of old hand-printed wallpaper. The brass and white metal hood by Raw Urth really pops.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Christian Garibaldi
STYLING: Kristi Hunter
Holiday Edition
Rift oak cabinetry in a black glaze, topped here with Calacatta Veniziano marble, sets the tone for our black & tan kitchen. A drawer outfitted with a stadium rack keeps spices and dried herbs close at hand and makes it easy to find—and restock—just what you need.
Speaking of flavors, the best chefs and home cooks know to replace ground spices and dried herbs older than a year. Don’t risk the exquisite flavor (and aroma!) of Grandma’s pumpkin pie or your award-winning game day chili.
Wolf gas cooktop, flush-set for a minimalist look and feel. The appealing low profile required precise installation in this marble countertop. Our installers are up to the challenge! Oversized white subway tiles and black-glazed rift oak cabinetry create pleasing backdrops to the pot filler by Dornbracht and medium bronze-finished hardware from Top Knobs’ Aspen Collection.
Our favorite seasonal spices? Saigon cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg and fresh-ground cardamom. Go ahead, do a taste test and be amazed.
Panel doors conceal the convection steam oven and M Series transitional built-in single oven by Wolf, then retract into the cabinetry when it’s time to cook. Mixing finishes and materials continues to be a popular treatment for luxury kitchens and shows beautifully here—rift oak in a white glaze and in a black glaze, both wearing Top Knobs’ medium bronze hardware.
Sure, that 25-pound bird looks mighty impressive. However, you’ll need a forklift to get it in and out of the oven and it takes longer to cook. (Don’t ask how we know this.) Consider two 12-pounders, like the done-toperfection one shown here. Roast one now for the big meal and do the second one for leftovers. Or do both at once and make four drumstick-loving guests happy.
Exceptionally fine fit and finish tell their own story about a custom beverage station in walnut with a natural finish. Or close it all away into the surrounding Benjamin Moore Dolphin Blue cabinetry behind retractable bifold doors that shut with a whisper—and no one will know you were sneaking cookies. Drawer hardware by Top Knobs, integrated cabinet lighting, Wolf coffee system.
When baking cookies, we recommend baking a single batch at a time on the center rack. The reason? You get the best possible results when the oven concentrates on a single batch. If you absolutely need to bake more than one batch at a time, rotate the baking sheets from the top rack to bottom rack once halfway through the baking process.
Come closer. The subtle light strip, integrated into the shelf above, reveals the exquisite craftsmanship taking advantage of the wood’s beautiful grain. Notice that the cabinet drawer faces below are set flush with the honed Lincoln Calacatta marble countertop.
Take a fresh approach to holiday entertaining. Serve pour-over coffee and pastries to old college friends some quiet morning. A neighborhood skating party—at an ice rink, if the pond doesn’t freeze—calls for thermoses of cocoa with marshmallows. Gather the family ’round your biggest screen for movie night, accompanied by construct-your-own pizzas and ice cream floats made with Dr. Brown’s black cherry, root beer or cream soda.
Our designers love these richly grained and custom-fitted walnut interiors and we agree. There’s something so luxurious about the ability to organize storage to corral whatever you choose to tuck away in it. The rubber pads in the drawer base keep contents—plates, in this case—from sliding around.
Holidays can be stressful enough without the added aggravation of items gone missing in cluttered drawers. Keep deep kitchen drawers orderly by stacking like items, using drawer dividers, and organizing things vertically (like cutting boards) instead of horizontally.
If you’re making whipped cream this holiday season, there’s a few things you need to know. Cold is key: chill your mixing bowl, whisk, and whipping cream in the refrigerator well in advance. You’ll get the best results if you whip between 1-2 cups (250ml-500ml) of cream at a time. Finally, whipped cream is best when served right after it’s made. If you need to make it in advance, sweeten it with powdered sugar, which will help to stabilize it.
Mmmm…this yummy charcuterie board is distracting! The festive fare sits on a Calacatta Veniziano marble island with waterfall edges. Its natural stone surface raises this presentation to delicious elegance.
Use a mixture of textures on your charcuterie board as variety is not only pleasing to the palate but also to the eyes. For example, instead of putting three hard salamis on the board, use some hard salamis like chorizo or sopressata, some thinly sliced meats like jamón or prosciutto, and softer paste like a pâté, mousse, or rillette.
Timeless materials and design elevate our truly spectacular entertainment bar —and the only one going with us to the new showroom. Integrated lighting illuminates fumed Eucalyptus cabinetry in a natural finish, leathered Belvedere quartzite counter and backsplash, Kallista entertainment sink, polished chrome Dornbracht faucet and leather-wrapped polished chrome hardware. Cheers!
Plan at least one delicious and festive non-alcoholic cocktail to round out the beverage menu for pre-dinner drinks or your holiday party. Easy favorite: drop a fresh red raspberry or pomegranate seeds into sparkling cider.
