Design Studio
REEDED
Our Reeded kitchen is aptly named for the ridges milled into the rift-cut white oak doors that form our entire statement wall. Looking like stylized plant stems laid side-by-side on a surface, our version in wood (close-up below) represents the growing trend for reed-like elements in various materials, for a range of practical and decorative applications. And while our light-toned reeded cabinetry grabs the most attention, we don’t want anyone to miss the other examples of this classical decorative technique that’s been around for millennia. In fact, this kitchen is all about vertical texture, from its reeded wooden backdrop to the fluted glass cabinet inserts and slatted marble panel fronting the island. Their upright ribs in wood, glass and stone unify these disparate surfaces into a pleasing and luxurious harmony.
Reeded, the kitchen, is also purpose-driven to deliver a living space that is a clean slate, a “do with it what you want” room. When the key working parts of the kitchen are hidden or disguised as they are here, they don’t influence or intrude on the family’s other lifestyle activities. However, when utility is called for, this kitchen responds out loud and with deliberation. The entire reeded wall opens to refrigeration, breakfast bar, pantry, ovens and vertical storage. To the right, dark cabinets built into the marble island and forming the range wall’s lower cabinets hide a host of other custom storage solutions. And the fixtures hit exactly the right note for this versatile space.
“One of our talented designers recently used reeded wood and fluted glass in a stunning kitchen renovation we all loved as much as the homeowners did,” explains Peter Cardamone, Bluebell FCD’s founder and creative director. “That further compelled us to give our new showroom a kitchen that demonstrates how we refresh ‘old-fashioned’ materials in current design applications. It’s fun to feed a trend that brings new life to once-popular elements.”
Reeding, fluting and slatting describe the usually linear and uniform textures on an otherwise smooth surface. As we use the terms here, reeding is a series of convex ridges and fluting is shallow, concave grooves. A 90-degree-angled version of the first two, slatting can be made by cutting
out or adding material to the flat surface. These design elements adorned furniture and architecture of the ancient Greeks and Romans and reappeared as ornamentation during the Renaissance and up to present times.
Of course, there’s more to our masterfully crafted Reeded kitchen than its intriguing dimensionality. It also boasts exquisite materials of the highest quality, innovations in cabinet interiors to serve any lifestyle and the latest in kitchen appliances and technology.
“Our Reeded kitchen represents tradition and versatility, making it timeless. Just the way we like it.”
Elephant’s Breath
BREAKFAST BAR
DISHWASHER
SINK
Elephant’s Breath
REFRIGERATOR & FREEZER
Here, a trio of vertical textures. Above, bold cuts through the marble’s vivid veining create a dramatic slatted front panel for the island.
To create the doors at right, our cabinetry wizards at Premier follow a proprietary process. This includes hand-selecting premium-grade, custom-cut veneer “by the log” from sources all over the world, planning and laying up individual panels’ veneer “elements” for each cabinet in the project, and constructing the cabinetry to Bluebell’s specifications. For our kitchen here, they painstakingly centerbalanced the reeded oak boards of each door from the middle out. Using minute adjustments, they ensured the reeds at each panel’s edges were full-width and that the doors’ wood grain lined up from top to bottom in each column.
Above, fluted glass reveals the interiors of the two dark-stained upper cabinets on the range wall, giving us a reason to repeat the flat-sawn white oak veneer inside, but in a light finish. Integrated lighting illuminates the contents and adds a glow to the night kitchen as well.
This custom range hood is a design team favorite. To achieve the rich movement of color across its surface, the fabricator’s artist applies a combination of proprietary wet and dry chemical processes to the raw metal of the hand-crafted steel shape. The resulting chemical reaction between the metal and the artist’s inspired “recipe” yields a patina that’s unique to this piece.
More trademark Bluebell FCD attention to detail shows on this range wall. Honestly, what our stone technicians crafted with the marble in this kitchen is pure magic. Notice how the veining on the edge of the marble shelf matches that on the backsplash? How it reinforces rather than competes with the rhythmic flow? The six-inch-deep shelf also conceals integrated lighting.
Where are the outlets? We have various ways to make them supremely accessible but quite unobtrusive. For example, out of frame on this end the island is a TRUFIG flush-mounted outlet that’s hand-painted to blend into the natural marble figuring around it. Nor can you see the two outlets required by code to serve the cooking area. These are built into the range side of the glass-front cabinets flanking the hood, stealing a little bit of space from each bottom shelf’s interior.
Note the beveled edges on the vertical cabinet dividers under the cooktop. It’s a small but mighty detail that lends a furniture-like feel. Another detail is the inconspicuous finger-grips rather than hardware here and in the island cabinets.
Premier Custom-Built for
Hood: Raw Urth Tabernash style in steel, finished with handapplied custom Winter Blue patina
Cooktop: Wolf integrated high-efficiency gas 36” 5-burner
Counter, backsplash, shelf: Calacatta Paonazzo honed marble
Electrical outlets: TRUFIG flush-mounted, custom painted to match surrounding materials; others, flush-mounted & painted to match black flat-cut oak veneer
Yes, we know this is a kitchen and not an art installation! And yet… There’s that cunning deception of an island sink that sits discreetly below its marble countertop and that reeded white oak backdrop disguising all manner of useful storage and appliances. Even the sleek sculpture-like faucet contributes to the sense of non-utilitarian beauty and tranquility.
Less artful, perhaps, but more in line with practical luxury are the storage options that reside in the cabinetry below the counter and make any kitchen a delight to work in. For example, next to the dishwasher the sink cabinet has a stainless steel floor, a dishtowel holder and storage for sponges and dishwasher pellets.
Before you allow your eye to move on, please look closely at the beveled edge of the honed marble top and sides, which exquisitely frames the island’s dark stained cabinetry. It’s repeated on the other side, outlining the remarkable slatted marble panel fronting the island base.
Okay, go ahead, now let your view take in one section of our reeded white oak wall where it opens to unveil the breakfast bar that was waiting behind a set of clever hide-away pocket doors. The marble rear wall panel and counter set off black shelving and a cute set of stacked drawers. Both back-edge and under-shelf integrated lighting illuminates the beverage or snack station’s contents and prep tasks. Tucked beneath the counter is a selection of clever storage options, including a large, metal-lined bread and pastry drawer. It would work equally well as home to small appliances like toasters and electric kettles, refrigerator drawers for juices and coffee add-ins, a convenient icemaker or dishware and supplies.
Turn the page for a dramatic reveal of what actually is behind door number three!
All of our kitchens’ cabinets and drawers conceal a bevy of beautiful storage options that we’ve designed to help you find solutions to fit your lifestyle. Above, a drawer within a drawer under the breakfast bar features customizable sections to accommodate whatever equipment or dishware is looking for a home. Beneath it, another drawer’s peg system adjusts to secure your pots and pans—or plates and bowls—so they don’t slide around or bang into each other. Another drawer features a large, stainless-steel-lined bread and pastry storage bin with a sliding lid of clear acrylic.
To provide as much visibility into the two tall cabinets that flank the cooktop, we specified narrow-framed doors that hold fluted clear glass inserts. The frames, at just 1¼”, open and close with this specialized thin-line concealed hinge (below). Flush-mounted into the narrow door frame and cabinet frame (instead of fastened to the door panel and inside wall of the cabinet), its slim profile can’t be seen through the glass and its dark color renders it nearly invisible when open.
Hardware: New Hettich slim-line hinge in Titanium finish
Cabinetry: Premier Custom-Built for Bluebell FCD wall cabinet in flat-cut white oak veneer; Weatherburne door with fluted glass insert; frame: Ebonized Walnut translucent stain
What you see: To achieve the distinctive allure and visual depth of the island’s slatted marble panel, we brought in our stone engineer—one among several experts whom we tap to ensure that Bluebell’s often complex visions are executed accurately during production. In this case, the consultant’s drawings guided the stone technicians’ precise 90-degree, half-inchdeep cuts in the single slab, revealing the marble’s stunning natural colors and veining.
But first, to maintain the ¾-inch-thick marble panel’s integrity through machining, transport, installation and a future of random taps and kicks once in place, it was necessary to affix a ¾-inch quartz backing, adding needed support and protection where cuts rendered the marble only a quarter of an inch thick.
A little about the stone we used in this kitchen: Calacatta Paonazzo marble, quarried in Italy’s Carrara region, is a luxurious, much-prized natural material known for its unique veining patterns against a base of pure to creamy white. The veins, in shades of gray of varying intensity and with occasional golden or beige accents, are typically thick and dynamic, creating a sense of movement and depth.
It’s our attention to such details that lifts a Bluebell FCD kitchen far above the others.
