Sacramento Kitchen Design Blog

Sacramento Kitchen Design Blog

Sacramento Kitchen Design Blog

A Blog About Kitchen & Bath Design, Remodeling and This & That in Sacramento – by MrsNicolette

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NAR FINE CARPENTRY, INC. BRINGS BACK POGGENPOHL

May 8, 2013 — 2 Comments

Courtesy of Poggenpohl

Courtesy of Poggenpohl

The leading European kitchen cabinet manufacturer Poggenpohl is back in the greater Sacramento area. NAR Fine Carpentry, Inc. has opened a new showroom in the prestigious El Dorado Hills Town Center, featuring the latest trendsetting designs in German kitchen cabinetry. After being absent from the local market for several years, Poggenpohl has partnered with NAR Fine Carpentry, Inc. Nar Bustamante, president of NAR Fine Carpentry, Inc. has been involved with many successful Poggenpohl projects in the past and has recruited Oliver Aden to help establish his new location in El Dorado Hills. Aden, who operated Poggenpohl showrooms in Sacramento and San Francisco in previous years, is joining NAR Fine Carpentry after working on Poggenpohl projects in other parts of the state, as well as Canada.

Since its inception over one hundred years ago, Poggenpohl has remained dedicated to functionality, sustainability and the highest standards for design. There is something to be said for being the world’s oldest cabinetry company. Dedication to design, service, quality and innovation are a few of the reasons why Poggenpohl, founded in 1892, has remained a leader in the cabinetry industry for over a century. With a European sensibility, Poggenpohl cabinetry blends seamlessly into modern and traditional interiors and offers a unique aesthetic with functional design solutions. Impressive on the inside and out, Poggenpohl is as much about function, flexibility and accessibility as it is impeccable design. Our new drawers and pull-outs are crafted from the finest materials and the pull-outs come with indirect LED lighting that is automatically activated when the pull-out is opened. Functional accessories, such as spice shakers and porcelain or aluminum jars allow for flawless organization and complement the light-maple or walnut wood inserts. The signature functional accessories and 70 finishes, ranging from exotic woods to high-gloss lacquers, affordable European laminates, glass, aluminum and classic raised panel doors, allow for the integration of concepts to meet each customer’s individual needs and taste. The level of customization available allows for flowing transitions from living and cooking areas. The Poggenpohl line is versatile and adaptable, suitable for small spaces and budget conscious homeowners as well as large homes with more considerable budgets. With eight price groups for complete kitchen designs, each can be tailored to meet your needs and lifestyle.

The El Dorado Hills showroom will be the second location for NAR Fine Carpentry, Inc. in addition to the Carmichael showroom where other cabinet lines are featured. However, Poggenpohl will be showcased at the El Dorado Hills location only.

Poggenpohl White Drawers

Photo Courtesy of Poggenpohl

Poggenpohl White

Photo Courtesy of Poggenpohl

Poggenpohl Drawers

Photo Courtesy of Poggenpohl

For more information please contact NAR Fine Carpentry, Inc., 916.941.0775, fax 916.941.0776, http://www.narfinecarpentry.com. Located at 4220 Town Center Blvd, Suite 130, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762.

by Oliver Aden

NAR Fine Carpentry in Sacramento Magazine

April 16, 2013

This kitchen is complete awesomeness!

Sacramento Kitchen Design Blog

Our Orange Kitchen is receiving quite the recognition around Sacramento.  Whether it is the bright Orange walls, Industrial & Eclectic Style, or the Innovation use of materials, this kitchen is certainly a conversation piece.  When the Home section Editorial writer from  Sacramento Magazine contacted us for an interview- we had to agree!

f1945926be02dace1e03e11f9a09ab3eWith the article titled “A Little Contemporary, A Little Classy . . . A Lot Eclectic”,  the article shows that what the author took away from this kitchen was true amazement of all the fine details that we had designed and built.  And the beauty of being a Design / Build Company- is that we can very carefully design details that can AND will actually be built as planned!  Many of the details in this kitchen took a huge amount of orchestration & attention to detail- and it shows!  Our job Foreman was sweating profusely this entire job.

This project was…

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NAR Fine Carpentry in Sacramento Magazine

April 16, 2013 — 2 Comments

Our Orange Kitchen is receiving quite the recognition around Sacramento.  Whether it is the bright Orange walls, Industrial & Eclectic Style, or the Innovation use of materials, this kitchen is certainly a conversation piece.  When the Home section Editorial writer from  Sacramento Magazine contacted us for an interview- we had to agree!

Nar Fine Carpentry Sacramento Magazine ARticle- Orange Industrial Kitchen

Courtesy of Sacramento Magazine- Photograph by Roy Wilcox

f1945926be02dace1e03e11f9a09ab3eWith the article titled “A Little Contemporary, A Little Classy . . . A Lot Eclectic”,  the article shows that what the author took away from this kitchen was true amazement of all the fine details that we had designed and built.  And the beauty of being a Design / Build Company- is that we can very carefully design details that can AND will actually be built as planned!  Many of the details in this kitchen took a huge amount of orchestration & attention to detail- and it shows!  Our job Foreman was sweating profusely this entire job.

This project was a design collaboration between President of Nar Fine Carpentry, Nar Bustamante & myself, Nicolette Patton.  Every step of the way was new and exciting.  From the layout & appliance placement, to the use of cabinet & building materials.  We stretched the use of concrete countertops to the limit, as well as Steel.  Speaking of steel, the clients weighed in BIG on the steel details, as the clients used their fabrication shop to do all the steel work.

Pick up your copy of Sacramento Magazine April 2013 or read online here.

More Photos of this Project:

Full Kitchen View

Full Kitchen View. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Custom Steel Hood & Zebrano Eating Bar. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Distressed Post on Island. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Pop-up Outlet on Concrete Countertops. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Island View. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Steel Hood w/ tapered layers. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Cantilevered columns over Oven & Pantry- Twisted cabinets above. All LED lighting. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Floating LVL Beam shelves & Cantilevered Concrete counter landing. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Radiused LVL Desktop. Photo by NAR Fine Carpentry

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Dovetail Drawers. Photo by NAR Fine Carpentry

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Exterior Dining Room View- Custom Aluminum windows. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Exterior View to Kitchen. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Dining Room Buffet. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Floating LVL Beam shelves suspended by Airplane Cable. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Fully Integrated 48″ Refrigerator. Custom Backplate & Handles. Photograph by PhotographerLink

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Kitchen Desk. Photograph by PhotographerLink

NARI Dinner was a Hit at NFC

August 20, 2012

Our showroom rarely sees more than 6 people at one time, so we were very thankful for the HUGE turn out for our NARI July dinner meeting at Nar Fine Carpentry in Sacramento.  A BIG thanks to everyone that helped put it together!

The Set-up

Nar & Nicolette working the door

Checking out plans for NARI’s new community service project “Greenhouse”

Happy NARI members & staff- Thanks Brenda!

Enjoying the NAR Fine Carpentry Showroom

Love those Smiles!

NARI Presidential Business

“Greenhouse” Community Service Presentation

Laughs Unlimited…

Even the desert was color coordinated!

And the prizes…

I think this one will be for the wife

Our Crystal Cabinets Rep, Buzz Hegerle gearing up for his presentation

Bradley Builders & Nar Fine Carpentry make a great team!

Even little Kailani got to play

The NAR Fine Carpentry Field Team

 

 

 

 

NARI Meeting Hosted by Nar Fine Carpentry, Inc.

July 13, 2012

As proud members of the Sacramento NARI Chapter- National Association of the Remodeling Industry, we are pleased to announce that NAR Fine Carpentry will be hosting the next Chapter meeting at our showroom.  This coming Tuesday, July 17th 2012 from 5:30pm – 7:30pm we invite you to come out for food, drinks and a great time among area industry professionals.

NARI will be presenting an exciting and inspiring Community Service Project that will help Sacramento Youth- The Green House Project

If you have never been to our showroom before, this is the perfect time to get to know us.  Register for the dinner here or visit our website.

Barn Door Sliding Hardware – A Must Have Accessory

March 14, 2012 — 1 Comment

Not only does barn door sliding hardware work, it can create an interesting twist on a room.  Hardware that was once considered extremely rustic and outdoors, is now on my mind as a “must have” accessory.  Much like the function of closet door hardware, the barn door style is a slider that is exposed, revealing its working parts.  It consists of a track and a wheel, which can be exposed with a hanger or concealed with a soffit or wall face.

Uses:  Doors: Interior or Exterior, Closets, Cabinet Doors, Artwork, Window Shutters, Glass Panels: Shower doors or Interior Doors.  We need not look any further than BarnDoorHardware.com for track and wheels and other necessary parts.

Spoke Wheel & Hanger Hardware

Barn Doors enclose a bathroom

Wide Door to separate Kitchen from Dining Area

The great part about using barn door hardware, is that you are not limited to what you can use as a door.  Using a distressed barn door can be a nice touch for a den entrance or use the hardware to enclose a flat screen TV.

Arched Barn doors to cover TV and also look like Doorway when Closed

A Laundry Closet using Barn Doors to Cover when not in use

Sliding Panels to display Art in a Museum

Our Contemporary Kitchen wins 1st Place!

March 1, 2012 — 5 Comments

Nar Fine Carpentry is proud to announce that our “Davis Contemporary” Kitchen has won our local NKBA California Capital Chapter’s 2011 Design Competition Award for 1st Place Large Kitchen.  This kitchen has also won a CotY (Contractor of the Year) award with our local NARI Chapter.  But we are very excited as this is our first award with NKBA, National Kitchen and Bath Association.  I have posted about this kitchen before in an article title “That’s Hot!!!  This Davis Kitchen Does Contemporary” as it is one of our “showstoppers”.  After being professionally photographed by Fred Donham, it displays how beautiful the woods and colors work together.

View of Anegre Paneled Soffit

Not only are we proud of our kitchen, but we are also proud members of the NKBA, National Kitchen and Bath Association.  The NKBA is dedicated to the advancement of the Kitchen and Bath Industry through education, certification and continually following new trends and products and ultimately help consumers create safe, energy efficient and functional spaces .  Nar Fine Carpentry attends our local California Capital Chapter meetings and courses.

Nicolette & Nar at the Sac NKBA Awards Gala

Not only are the NKBA awards judged on aesthetic quality, but also Safety & Ergonomics, Elements and Principles of Design, Design Planning (which includes NKBA 31 Kitchen Planning Guidelines), Creativity and Presentation.  Put these all together, and you get beautiful kitchens and happy clients!

We also want to congratulate all of the other Sacramento Design Award Winners.  One of whom, is a designer that we work with frequently, Janice Stone Thomas, who also won 1st Place for Open Plan Kitchen.  We are very proud to have provided our Crystal Cabinetry for her project.  Bravo!

Nar Fine Carpentry’s Kitchen uses Custom Cabinetry by Crystal Cabinets, featuring Anegre & Maple wood, slate tile and Seafoam Granite.  Nicolette Patton, AKBD and Nar Bustamante collaborated on the design and also did the remodel from start to finish.

Kitchen view with Buffet

Cooktop & Bar Sink View

Island & Refrigerator View

Buffet & Pantries

Touch-Open Cabinets; Blum’s Servo-Drive for any Cabinet

January 6, 2012

Taking the touch-latch even further, Blum has re-invented ServoDrive for use in cabinet access.  Servo Drive is an advanced motion control motor.  What that means for the kitchen, a great hands-free way to access storage.  Most people are familiar with the soft-close drawer system that is built into the drawer slide that catches the drawer before closing to pull the drawer in without noise.  Servo Drive by Blum, takes it one step further.  If you haven’t seen Blum’s ServoDrive video with their catchy theme song, don’t worry, I will spare you.  But do watch this.

As you can see in the video, a touch of the face of the drawer, and it opens.  This also works for wall lift cabinets.  Such as the Blum Aventos hinge, which can open up in 4 different configurations.

Blum Lift Stay

Blum Lift Up

Blum Up and Over

Blum Bi-fold Lift

These types of door operation are mainly seen in more contemporary kitchens, but because they open up instead of side to side, they can be a bit difficult to grab the handle to close.

I recently ran into this situation on one of my kitchen jobs that required the Bi-fold lift door.  We used the bi-fold lift door because we had clearance constraints due to an oversized hood.  But when we opened the Bi-fold lift it was too difficult for my client to close.  So here was our Servo-Drive solution (the video is taken from YouTube):

With the touch of a button on the bottom of the cabinet, the door comes down.  VOILA!

Servo-Drive requires a power source, transformer, and a sharp installer.  As my Blum Rep says, “it’s not cheap”, but it can certainly be useful in certain situations, especially the trash cabinet.

Doggy Spots

December 14, 2011 — 1 Comment

Most dog owners are like me, I keep the doggy dishes in the kitchen where everyone can kick them over.  It is always a challenge to find a place where the food and water dishes are available to the dog, but not in the way of its owners, and is also convenient to refill and clean.  I am seeing more and more requests to accommodate our little paw-footed friends in kitchen and bath design and beyond.  And a challenge it is.  Thanks to Houzz.com we can see examples of how designers are designing with Fido in mind.

The most logical way to integrate a “feeding station” into a kitchen remodel, is to leave some floor space open between cabinets.

Kitchen traditional kitchen
traditional kitchen design by san francisco design-build Harrell Remodeling
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Or if you have some empty wall space underneath stairs or near a closet, you can build a niche into the wall.
North Shore Kitchen traditional kitchen
traditional kitchen design by new york interior designer AMI Designs
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For our larger and older canine friends, a little boost in elevation is more comfortable.  You can build-in a toekick underneath the dish, to lift the dishes a few inches, which is helpful when cleaning floors.
Seaside whimsy in Centerville, MA eclectic kitchen
eclectic kitchen design by boston kitchen and bath Artisan Kitchens LLC
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In the image below, the designer has lifted the dishes and installed a solid surface under the dishes for easy clean-up.
John Bynum Custom Homes traditional
traditional spaces design by atlanta general contractor John Bynum
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If your dog is like mine, he likes to hang-out in the kitchen and wait for scraps.  Some homeowners have gone as far as having a doggie lounge built-in to their space (so they can relax while they wait for appetizers).  This kitchen features a window seat for the dog.
Shirley Corwin traditional kitchen
traditional kitchen design
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Or build a covered bed so you still have a surface on top.  This photo shows a bed that is built into a buffet area.
Minnesota Private Residence traditional kitchen
traditional kitchen design by chicago architect COOK ARCHITECTURAL Design Studio
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Another trend for dog lovers is to build-in a dog washing station in the Mudroom or Laundry.  A small, tub / shower with a pull-down shower head at a comfortable height for owners, can be ultra convenient and less stress on the doggies.
Ackerman Residence Renovation/Addition Norwich VT traditional laundry room
traditional laundry room design by burlington architect Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Stunning laundry room, mud room & dog shower traditional laundry room
traditional laundry room design by burlington architect Smith & Vansant Architects PC
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Another fun way to integrate a sleeping area is to create an indoor dog house within the walls of the space.
Tudor Addition Mudroom Dog House traditional entry
traditional entry design by boston architect LDa Architecture & Interiors
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The dog house below is also a tunnel to the outdoors.  It doubles as a dog house and doggie door.
Dining dining room
dining room design by atlanta general contractor FrontPorch
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Its clear that homeowners will go the mile to establish comfort in our homes for our pets, because they are truly part of the family.

The Large Kitchen Island

October 14, 2011 — 1 Comment

As a kitchen designer, my goal is to design a kitchen with style and functionality.  In terms of kitchen islands, the bigger the better, right?  Mmmm, not always.  Whenever I see a design with a huge island, I always wonder how (and who) cleans the center?  Large islands create great work stations because they offer so much surface area, but an island over 60″ one way can be difficult to reach, and who wants to get a step stool to clean a countertop?  Here are some tricks that us kitchen designers use to make large islands work, and stay pretty.

1).  Use different levels or heights to create display platforms for the center, end or portion of the island.  It is always nice when a large island has a bit of visual interest with a raised cabinet or countertop surface in its center or on a side, these can be used to place fresh flowers, a potted plant, fresh fruits, you name it.

Casa Paralea traditional kitchen
traditional kitchen design by other metros interior designer JMA INTERIOR DECORATION

2).  Design raised or lowered eating areas that help define an island and break up the surface area.  This is a very easy and functional way to divide an island.  You can also use a combination of #3 and #4 within your eating area.

Mediterranean Kitchen mediterranean kitchen
mediterranean kitchen design by los angeles interior designer Fran Kerzner- DESIGN SYNTHESIS

3).  Insert curves, angles and different shapes to create interest and definition.  A curved end or angled edge can be interesting and create movement and rhythm within the space.

More details eclectic kitchen
eclectic kitchen design by other metros kitchen and bath Cheryl Kees Clendenon: In Detail

4).  Use a combination of different materials to suggest different uses for each material.  Butcher block with granite, quartz or marble, can create a cutting or baking area among your work stations.

Wright Street Design Group Inc. contemporary kitchen
contemporary kitchen design by detroit architect Wright Street Design Group Inc.
Whatever space or challenges you face with your kitchen, use an island to create your kitchens character and personality, and if you have a large island use it in a large way!