Drawers are carefully measured and pegged to the exact dimensions of the client’s bowls.
When it comes to kitchen renovation, the possibilities are endless. With such a vast array of choices available, making the right selections can be difficult. Ken and Louise Pascal, the owners of True North Cabinets, a boutique kitchen- design firm, spend lots of time with their clients, helping them narrow their choices.
“We create highly customized, detailed space tailored to our client’s lifestyle at a good value. By keeping our expenses low, we can give our clients the best deal possible,” Ken said.
Ken and Louise, married for almost 20 years, originally had careers in the corporate world, working for IBM. “I enjoyed my job selling computers,” Ken said. “However, I didn’t change anybody’s life. Now I have the benefit of knowing that I have made someone happy due to my work. We like to focus on the outcome in our projects. What does your room feel like when it’s finished? When you get up in the morning and have a cup of coffee in the kitchen, we want you to have a smile on your face, feeling really fantastic in your new space.”
Ken and Louise don’t advertise; instead, they get jobs through referrals by satisfied customers. “One of our recent clients saw a kitchen we had done for one of her friends. She asked for our name, and called. This particular client had a lot of storage needs. She is originally from Japan, and loves to cook. In fact, she teaches her Japanese friends how to cook American meals in her kitchen,” Ken said.
Ken’s client needed storage for the specialty spices from Asia that she uses in her cooking, and she wanted these spices next to the stove. He put in two Hafele pull-outs on either side of the stove top. One is for spices and the other is for cooking oils.
“We put in a new island, which was a dark walnut color. The deep brown provided a nice contrast to the off-white color in the rest of the kitchen and to the light natural color of the wood floor. The island is fully functional. In drawers in the island we put in cutlery dividers and utensil dividers. The utensil dividers made sure the spatulas don’t swish around,” he said.
Underneath the utensil and cutlery drawers are peg drawers. Ken added dish pegs to two deep drawers in the island, which enabled the client to store her collection of small Japanese bowls.
“I helped my client take advantage of all opportunities against dead space. The oven is on an angle in the corner. On both sides I put in little doors with cabinets so there is no dead space. Oven mitts and kitchen towels can go in the cabinets,” he said.
Ken put in two garbage bin pull-outs — one for trash and one for recycling bottles. In addition, there is a compost garbage bin next to the sink. The canister swings out and the lid stays in the cabinet. The compost garbage bin is used for wet garbage, as in the peelings of potatoes and carrots.
Ken’s client had a request; she wanted to display items she treasured in the kitchen. “I put in doors with glass on the top on either side of the stove hood. The glass is laminated with rice paper pressed in, which gives it an opaque feel. The rice paper comes into view along with the client’s artifacts,” he said.
Ken put a tilt-out tray in front of the kitchen sink to store sponges. The client didn’t want the toaster oven to be on display on the kitchen counter, so Ken had a cabinet built down to the counter and used the bottom half for an appliance garage in which to store the toaster.
A custom-tailored kitchen has a diversity of storage space tucked away in every nook and cranny.
“Having a Costco pantry for storage is a big need for folks these days. They go to Costco and buy huge packages of paper towels, cereal boxes, etc. — all in big quantities. They need to have a pantry in the kitchen or off of the kitchen to hold these gigantic supplies,” he said.
“In the case of the Japanese client, she had an odd-shaped pantry. It was a triangular walk-in. I put cabinet doors on the front to match the rest of the kitchen. It gave the kitchen a seamless look. The pantry had lots of shelves to hold items that the client bought in bulk for her cooking needs,” Ken added.
Ken and Louise worked with Braydan Construction of Stamford for the kitchen renovations. Judy Stoogenke was the senior designer on the project.
Ken offers some tips for folks with storage issues:
• Vegetable baskets can be a big help in storing onions, carrots and potatoes.
• Metal bread boxes can be installed in a drawer.
• Put a spice rack on the back of a cabinet door or a spice ladder in a top drawer.
• Feature open shelves in the kitchen for cookbooks.
• Microwave or toaster ovens can be placed behind a retractable door or tucked up in an island.
• Put a knife block in a drawer.
• Place a pull-out towel rod for dish towels in a cabinet next to the sink.
• If the refrigerator is 36 or 42 inches, consider getting Fridge Drawers. They can be used for beverages or for food prep products, as in salad and vegetables.
True North Cabinets: 203-972-3921; 203-909-6619,fax; truenorthcabinets.com.
