PATH TO JAPAN
What if this was a kitchen in an ancient samurai or merchant mansion? And what if the original proportions and design elements were integrated into a 21st century kitchen?
The design is the raconteur of the clients’ love of traditional Japanese architecture. The mansion proportions opened up the ceiling to the roof line; added skylights; and raised reclaimed beams and posts. Wood is celebrated: distressed acacia flooring, Japanese lattice-door cupboards and a tansu-fashioned refrigerator. The cooktop backsplash encases their antique ceremonial horse-wrapping textile, inwardly lit. Imported Japanese hardware, textured wallpaper, wood-lined backsplash, balcony-rail hood, shoji-soft lighting, -all details are affectionately embraced.
The blue Bahia countertops carry the eye to the reflective blue glass tiles on the backsplash. A vintage Japanese two-piece tansu is re-purposed to be the formal china hutch and display of rare antiques from the clients’ private collection.
2011 National Award Winner, Large Kitchen Category