The Farmer Kitchen

We recently completed a lovely kitchen located in Drexel Hill. It was the finishing touch to a larger home renovation headed by Buzz Sichel of Sichel Construction and designed by Philip Ivory Architects.

The 100 year old, Tudor-style, stone home begged for a kitchen with a classic design. The warmth that the house exuded and the happy family inside it required a functional and fun space.

The main kitchen area consisted of white cabinets with a Shaker style door and foot. The green glass bin pulls and cast iron farm sink spoke of a bygone era. The family chose an old drafting table for the island, the perfect compliment. We added a spice drawer and bread drawer insert, as well as a smooth functioning, pullout shelf system to maximize usability in the corner cabinet.

An integral part of the vision was the floor to ceiling hutch, which separates the dining room and kitchen. The marble hutch counter was set low at 30" off the floor to make it easier to knead dough for bread and other baked treats. I can attest to the baking prowess of the lady of the house and I’ve been told that it has spurred more help from the kids since the counter is closer tokid height (a happy, albeit unanticipated result).

The highlights for me were definitely the hutch and butler's pantry - essentially another small kitchen. We utilized wonderful, old growth redwood, salvaged from the old Schmidt's Brewery, formerly located in Northern Liberties. This redwood holds somewhat of a mythical status among woodworkers of the city. The salvaged wood made its way into the hands of many and is coveted by those still sitting on their personal stashes. We used all of ours in this project, but I'm glad to say that it couldn'thave gone to a nicer family.

Check out the slideshow for more pictures!

sweet hinge action

I recently finished this built in and vanity for a bathroom. It was my first time using the BLUM Aventos door system. It was relatively easy to install the hardware and once everything was lined up it worked perfectly.
The cabinets were walnut with cherry panels. The top panels in particular had a great dark streak through them that sort of flowed from one to the other. Now, if I could just get my bathroom done....

Reclaiming History One Piece at a Time

I built this bookcase completely from reclaimed wood. The body and shelves of the cabinet are broad leaf pine that came from floor joists. The redwood panels came out of the old Schmidt's brewery where they were use as treads for catwalks. Notice the center backboards, they were book matched to show off the holes that were drilled to run the electric wires throughout the house.

Why use reclaimed wood?

• We only have so much new wood available-the more it's used the less there is


• You're rescuing wood otherwise destined for the landfill


• Reclaimed wood is old growth wood with tight grain and beautiful color


• It can be book matched for really interesting grain effect


• It has blemishes, yes, but that adds to the sense of history (which we too often forget)

When I use new hardwoods, it's always FSC certified. Check out the Adam Rung Woodworks web site for more reclaimed pieces among many others.