Tale of two kitchens It's not everyday a homeowner would willingly have upward of 300 strangers traipse through the house, casually inspecting one's kitchen and bathroom, but nine generous souls are inviting this "invasion" on Sunday.
One gets a modern update, the
other brings back the look of the pastBy Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comIt's for a good cause. The 14th annual Great Kitchen & Bath Tour, presented by the National Kitchen & Bath Association Aloha Chapter, is an apt benefit for the Hawaii Habitat for Humanity. The organization has helped families in need build their own homes by providing technical assistance, up-front costs and volunteer workers.
And Hawaii Habitat, as well as Homestreet Bank, will be providing their own volunteers to assist kitchen and bath firm representatives this weekend, as they showcase their work.
Michael L. Smith, a certified kitchen and bath designer with Kitchen Concepts Plus, Inc., said the event "gives homeowners the opportunity to visit private homes and see the various firms' design work.
"The advantage is it's not held in a showroom and people can see how the kitchen and bath designs fit in with the homes. The clients themselves (if they choose to stay at home that day) can also help be a salesperson for us."
And Smith couldn't ask for a more pleasant and energetic client in Lynn Kugle. The Portlock homeowner and Punahou School science teacher is more than happy with Smith's makeover of her kitchen. Working with Kugle, Smith softened a strong and "homey" cobalt color scheme to create a more elegant version of her bright and contemporary kitchen, while giving it a spacious feel.
Benefit for Hawaii Habitat for Humanity The 14th Annual Great Kitchen & Bath Tour
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday; pick up self-guided tour maps at NKBA member shops or call the number below
Admission: $10 (tax-deductible), provides access to the nine private homes on the tour
Call: 734-2891 for maps
There's still a bit of the blue that Kugle likes, but it's judiciously used in the kitchen's borders, an island countertop and the clear-glass accent cabinet with its black stone knobs, a little touch that reflects Kugle's interest in the earth sciences.
Smith also opened up the feel of the kitchen by adding a bay window, which opens into the living room and beyond the room's glass doors with a scenic view of the Pacific and back of Diamond Head.
He also redesigned the house's guest and master bathrooms, the latter complete with skylight, diagonal limestone tiles and overall white curvature.
"As a licensed contractor, I always listen to what the clients say, their needs, wants and desires," he said. "I've done this for 38 years, so I can zero in and help create the space the clients want in our regular sitdowns, as we meet and plan things out.
"I gave (Kugle) the initial roundoff figure for the work she wanted. She ended up paying more, but she saw the value of the changes that were going to be made," he said.Smith said the project took four weeks to complete, with no real major construction. He had a koa laminate floor put in, "something that's relatively new to the industry, in the last five years." The one and only kitchen sink was originally in the island area in the middle, so Smith had it moved to under the kitchen window facing the garage. The island's sink is now used for food preparation, and is covered when not in use.
He also increased the overall storage space, and added a wine rack under the bay window, situated between two diagonal cabinets and a pullout pantry. The counter tops are made of the Dupont synthetic Corian, placed on top of drawers with double trays for storing utensils, a lazy susan in the corner by the window sink, dishwasher and recycling center. There's also a small counter "garage" to park small kitchen appliances.
Larger appliances include a new microwave convection oven, regular oven and warmer, plus a built-in refrigerator.
"Every appliance was breaking down," Kugle said, explaining the main reason for the makeover. "The house itself is 30-odd years old, and through a referral from a friend who told me about Michael's work, had both the kitchen and the bath totally remodeled three years ago, with new plumbing on up.
"He made an immediate impression on me. He made the plan after our two-hour meeting, where he asked me about my cooking habits, my height, whether I was left or right-handed ... he makes sure his plan fits the owner," she said.
TOUR chairperson Judy Dawson, president of DESiGNER Kitchens & Baths and one of the firms whose work will be showcased on the tour, said "one of the latest trends (in the industry) is the mixing and matching of materials, whether they are for a countertop, backsplash or cabinets."
That statement fits Dale Maron's work to a tee. The owner of the whimsical-sounding Dreamland Builders is a full-service kitchen and remodeling specialist and the state's only certified kitchen and bathroom installer, only one of a handful in the United States.
A former longtime employee of Studio Becker Kitchens (which will feature its own award-winning residential kitchen design in a Kahala home on the tour), Maron left the firm three years ago to go solo. "I wanted to buy and sell real estate and create my own projects," he said, while in a Nuuanu house he worked on, "and something like this was more of a spec house."
It was "a spec house" that suited a professional couple like Tim and Grace MacMaster, who, with their two young children, were impressed by Maron's work and bought the home as is. The family has lived there for a little more than a year, and it was the kitchen that sold the MacMasters on the house.
"There's a nice symmetry of lines in the kitchen," said Tim MacMaster, backing Maron's claim that "95 percent of a sale comes from checking out the kitchen."
Maron wanted to purchase the house originally built in the 1920s (one of the first built in the Nuuanu area), as well as the subdivided land that included a second house located behind the main one that was built in 1954, and do the three-Rs on both of them: repair, renovate and remodel.But the main house, basically used as a storage unit by the previous owners, "was in such poor condition, the financier wouldn't loan me the money to buy it."
Adamant in his plans, Maron said he "basically spraypainted the house in white in order to 'upgrade' the house to average instead of poor, and got the loan. I then tore out the interior, gutted the entire house, and sanded and refinished the floors. There's an oak wood floor in the living and dining rooms, Douglas fir elsewhere."
He rearranged the kitchen for better use of space and, instead of attempting to impose an inappropriate "contemporary" look on the vintage home, Maron remained true to its original style.
"The kitchen cabinetry was done in the beaded board style of 1920s. It's as close to original as I could make it, something you would see in the more expensive houses of that era," he said. Compared to the kitchen's previous plain, doors-flush-to-cabinet design, "I wanted to take this old house and make the style of cabinet fit it, although I opted to use a granite countertop, instead of something like the original formica."
(So convincing is Maron's retro makeover, that although I'm embarrassed to admit it, when I originally peered into the kitchen I thought, 'this doesn't look like a redesigned kitchen at all!' and walked back out to the street to make sure I had the right address.)
Maron took out what was a free-swinging door that blocked the entrance to the kitchen from the dining room, and put in an open archway. Another unique touch is the faux-primeval mosaic placed under a large kitchen cabinet. Where once was a small amount of counter space and refrigerator, is a work of art comprising pieces of Corian and Avonite that Maron "bought from a guy that was going out of business."
The kitchen floor is made up of all-new ceramic tile, straight from Home Depot. The dishwasher is hidden behind a cabinet door and all the drawers are functional, even the corner and side fillers. Even the light fixtures and ceiling molding have that antiquated look Maron strove for.
The house's main bathroom has a black-and-white art deco design with diagonal floor tile. The towel bar is a piece of porcelain Maron found on one of his shopping ventures for the house, "like something from the 1930s."
All of this will be on display as part of this Sunday's tour, and Maron even promises to offer cookies.
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