dappled green

translating : taking direction from a client

When approached by a client to re-do a very outdated fireplace surround in an otherwise updated SOMA loft, he expressed that he wanted it to make a statement in the room.  He wanted it to really express his style and we looked at images of furniture he was thinking of for the space.

crate and barrel paloma sideboard

This was the sideboard he was most drawn to and we both thought: what if we could use all of the basic design of the sideboard and apply it to the fireplace instead?  The client was excited about the notion and before I had even drawn up the plans and figured out how we could build it, he started attacking the existing finishes on the fireplace surround.  Out with the old...

I asked the client what about the sideboard was grabbing him and he expressed that it was the linearity and the slightly rustic and varied nature of the wood. Keeping that in mind, I designed the fireplace using vertical grain mahogany veneer plywood backing with horizontal running solid mahogany strips face nailed to the front with a scribed soffit above to frame the space and allow for any slope in the ceiling.   Tom Oakes did an amazing job figuring out how to build it in components we could get through the front door and assemble on site.  (As a side note, people often discount the brainpower involved in getting build pieces into the space.  Sadly, it is not that rare of an experience to realize that the thing you designed doesn't fit through the front door.) 

After the panels went in, the Walker Zanger tile hearth and surround came next.  I chose a grout that had the same amount of color variation from the tile color as the wood strips had with the panels behind them.  Once completed, the overall effect is that of a cohesive variation and a monumental scale in the room.  Now he has his showpiece living room.