Author: catewest

If you own a house in a historic district, it turns out that implementing any kind of renovation project is tricky business. Mark and Caroline Shaffrey knew this when, in 1997, they decided to buy their 1902 Colonial in Downtown Charlottesville. And it meant waiting to make any changes to the space until they were absolutely ready to accept the chaos it would bring. “We’re at full capacity, with four kids, and an ever growing amount of dogs,” Caroline said. “The kitchen renovation ended up taking six months or so, and that was about all we could handle.”

They decided to redo the kitchen about three years ago. Their four kids, whose ages range from 11 to 22, are all in various stages of growing up. Caroline realized how important a functional kitchen was: “We absolutely live in this room. It’s the only modern room in the entire house, in fact. The oversized windows and enormous island make it so that everyone has space to spread out, do homework, and entertain friends.” And dinners are a favorite time considering the busy schedules the family keeps, especially Mark, who is a doctor in the neurology department at UVA. An avid cook, Caroline ended up creating a chef’s dream kitchen, appointing it in a way that fits her cuisine of choice: bistro French.

It was genuinely a group effort. Caroline rattled off a laundry list of people she brought in to transform the space, but the headline acts were architect Ellen Atlaw and builder Tony Wilson of Ovation. Each was determined to update the dark, slightly old-fashioned room using contemporary materials and state-of-the-art appliances. That said, the space still feels warm and timeless, mainly due to the original heart pine cabinetry that the Board of Architectural Review encouraged the couple to keep.

“I would say it was a strong suggestion,” Caroline said. “So we had them taken out, refinished outside the house, and then reinstalled.” Stained a honey tone, the cabinets complement the backsplash, countertops, and massive island, all of which is made of a gorgeous Jerusalem limestone which Caroline actually had an easy time picking out.

“I knew I wanted a material that was going to be subtle enough to blend in with the rest of the room and that would go well with my custom copper sink.” The sink is a showstopper and was an absolute must for Caroline: a single, deep farm style tub made entirely of hammered copper. The appliances include a major Wolf range, Bosch dishwasher, and Sub-Zero refrigerator which, unlike the rest of the appliances, is not stainless but has antique white panels. “I wanted to break up all the wood in the space—there’s so much of it! So having an antique white fridge with a pretty, polished bronzed handle helped lighten up the room.”

In terms of décor, Caroline collaborated with local interior designer Kathy Davies to help further the bistro theme. “We used a wide variety of resources to give her new kitchen a warm, comfortable, livable feel for an active family,” said Davies, who even helped pick the paint colors, including the Navajo White used on a brick archway that leads into the space. The back wall of the kitchen is covered in a natural linen and raffia-textured wallpaper from Hines, in order to “add a little more texture and balance out the walls of the addition, and to play with the existing tones so as not to overwhelm the space,” Davies explained.

The cornices, which are made of a Donghia fabric with a raffia top-stitching, and a clear beaded detail trim by Samuel & Sons, are another detail worth mentioning. When the space was completed, the windows on the banquette were not evenly placed in the corner, so they had to design the cornices to cover up this discrepancy and create visual symmetry, despite the 6-8″ difference from side right to side left. “There were all sorts of changes that had to be made and mistakes that were made,” Caroline said. “But honestly, at a certain point, I just said enough. It’s beautiful in its imperfections.”

She’s had fun accessorizing the space with her favorite things. She describes her taste as “eclectic,” and has a penchant for hunting things down at local auction houses and antique stores. Some found treasures include blue Italian glass canisters that line the back wall, French decanters, and bisque wares. A grouping of dried hydrangea, which will be replaced by freshly picked ones this summer, spill out of an oversized vase behind the sink in the corner. Caroline is looking forward to the inevitable increase in people as her children come home from school and as the warm weather makes their house more inviting. “We’re so close to the Downtown Mall that in the summer our house—and really our kitchen —becomes a stop before the night activities ensue. Wouldn’t have it any other way!”

Coffee tables. We all have them. But many of us don’t exactly know what to do with them. Or at least, how to make them functional and artfully styled. What kinds of things belong on a coffee table? How should they be arranged? Matters of scale, practicality, and sentiment all come into question when attempting any type of tablescape. We called in the experts to shed some light on the topic. Here’s how three local interior designers approach their personal coffee tables.

Kenny Ball of Kenny Ball Antiques and Kenny Ball Design (293-1361)

“The round coffee table is James Mont by Kittinger. It is a beloved vintage piece. On it, I always have things that reflect our interests: dogs, design, and family. Usually a live plant and some candles. Frequently, the items arranged on the table will change and I actually use the books all the time for our design business. The square coffee table is taller than the normal 18″. It is vintage mid-century modern, rosewood. We use it for dining and paper work.”

Victoria Pouncey of Victoria Pouncey Design (981-2737)

“One of the most important aspects of my design work is the blending of antiques with modern and contemporary pieces. My formal living room has a lucite coffee table in front of a 19th century settee. On the table, I have a wooden model of a horse, because I have a 7-year-old daughter who is horse obsessed, and some of my favorite books. I use the books to bring in pops of color since the walls and furniture are all in shades of gray. Right now, the books are Rajasthan, Walton Ford: Pancha Tantra, and Mark Rothko. Some fresh flowers, and the table is set!”

Jan Roden of Jan Roden Design (244-2800)

“I’ve artfully arranged personal treasures, natural curiosities, and anything that can fit on it. In my world, the more the better. I can’t help but fill up any surface with trinkets. What’s fun is that my granddaughter will come in and reearange all the things that I leave out on the coffee table and it turns into a fun activity.

“It’s important when you’re arranging a coffee table—or any kind of table—to put things at different levels. That means that you might use stands or acrylic risers so that there’s visual interest.”

Do you respect wood? Michael Keith does. A master of old-world craftsmanship, Keith is a furniture maker and restorer of the highest mark. Passionate about the details and intent on preserving the original integrity of antiques, his is an art based upon labored hours in his workshop/studio.

Your first exposure to old-world craftsmanship occurred when you were a young boy and your mom got you a summer job. Exactly how did this happen and what did you learn that summer that got you hooked on the trade?
My grandfather collected antiques and so did my mum. During one summer holiday, my younger brother broke an arm chair and I helped carry it into the local restorer’s. That’s when my mum asked whether it could be repaired, and also if there was a summer job available for her son. To my surprise, she was referring to me. As any British apprentice will know, the first thing I learned that summer was how to make a strong cup of tea in a mug, known in the trade as a “mug o’ splosh.” I learned an appreciation for the physical work of restoration and also the detail to it; the skill level and the attention to detail as well as appreciating the actual pieces for the workmanship that went into creating them.

What is your favorite era in furniture and why? What kinds of pieces do you surround yourself with at home?
I don’t have a specific favorite era. I would say I have an overall appreciation of wood, craftsmanship, and the design element in furniture. When I first started working I was taken with some fancy, exotic rosewood pieces, including a Chippendale library breakfront bookcase, which filled the entire restoration shop that I apprenticed in, and a Regency breakfast table with lion paw feet that my grandfather had; amazing veneer and great carving. Then I moved onto more country-style oak pieces with a little mahogany cross banding for decorative detail and contrast. At home today, we have that rosewood breakfast table of my grandfather’s, and my mum’s French elm armoire, mixed in with a few tables I designed and built.

Your motto sites a “painstaking attention to detail” when restoring old pieces or recreating historically accurate replicates. Would you call yourself a perfectionist? How does this play itself out within your process?
Yeah, I suppose so. What I have learned over the years is that all the small details worked into a piece, if done well, take time and thought and although they are not often seen, you do pick up on them. I know this from restoring pieces. You get to see what works and what doesn’t work. You get to see it evolve. One of the pieces I worked on was a secretary that had been veneered and book-matched in flame mahogany so it had a very distinctive grain pattern that had been applied to the whole piece; like wallpapering even the switch plates on a wall. So to match the missing and broken pieces takes painstaking patience and attention to detail. You need to be somewhat of a perfectionist to get that right otherwise you see the repair from two miles away. With pieces like that I like to use historically accurate materials, too. It’s another detail that really makes a difference in the overall value and integrity of the piece.

How would you describe your overall design aesthetic in a few words?
I like to design furniture that showcases the raw material and the joinery. My designs are influenced by antiques, but are focused more on clean lines and functionality. In the execution of the piece, when I look back at it, I can see a simplified version of an antique. My intention is that they’ll fit in well in a home with primarily antiques, as well as in a more modern setting.

What’s your least favorite type of furniture design?
There’s a look to some pieces that I just don’t like, and it can be found in any era; a clunkyness that feels unbalanced is my least favorite quality in furniture design.

For Beth and Michael Wertheim, Charlottesville’s real estate website CAAR is an all-too-tempting destination. Since moving here in 2002, the couple has lived in four different houses, and are now on their fifth. “We actually never thought we would get into renovating or flipping houses so much. Each time we moved we thought, ‘Well this is it, this is our forever house,’ but other opportunities kept arising, and we kept moving,” said Beth, a James Madison University grad with a degree in interior design.

The Wertheims began by building a house in Keswick, but decided they really wanted to be closer to town, so they bought a Cape Cod and fixed it up, selling it a year later and moving into an old, traditional Virginian home. Their newest venture: a 1960s ranch for their family of four (the couple has two kids, Walker, 6, and Anna Brooks, 3). “I actually love the ranch layout. It’s so family friendly. The key is to open the rooms a bit to give a more open flow layout,” said Beth, who had a distinct vision for updating the old fashioned space.

The house is appointed in a traditional, intentional way; most walls are white to contrast with the almost-black stained wood floors, creating a sophisticated color palette. Antiques mingle with tailored upholstery, and everything is placed with purpose. “I don’t really like ‘frou-frou.’ I like things with clean lines.” The house doesn’t seem overly stuffed, which is due in part to the family’s consolidation over the years. “After all our moves, we’ve really honed our wares down to the necessities. And a lot of the things we have were inherited from family. The timelessness of various pieces I find appealing,” Beth said.

When it came to the kitchen, Beth’s main concern was functionality and keeping the aesthetic clean and fresh. The kitchen was original to the house, and consisted of walls of cupboards and built-ins painted a beige color. The appliances were on the older side and the room didn’t connect to the living room, it was completely closed off. “It was a nice size room, but you couldn’t tell because of the bulky storage and closed off walls.”

The main goal was to lighten up the space with contemporary appliances, a chic color palette, and innovative yet attractive storage. “I really don’t like things to be on the counter. I prefer the surfaces to be cleared of any appliances or accessories.” That meant creating a space where everything has a place, and to achieve it, they started over. “We cleared out all of the built-ins, appliances, everything. But, because the cupboards were well made, I had the crew save them, and repurposed them in our basement,” Beth explains, revealing her penchant for innovation and pragmatic decision making.

Some needs included a significant island with seating to counter glass cupboards which store china and glasswear. Plus, they wanted to open the space up so that there were two doorways into the living room. Beth remembers spending hours taping out the various areas before construction started trying to make it all work: “My main fear was that we would make an island that was too big that would make the room appear smaller.” Her fear was never realized, as the island appears perfect in size, and the kitchen area surrounding it more than spacious.

The color palette is another exercise in restraint. “I just wanted to go simple and clean, almost modern,” she said. The countertops are Carrara marble that have a subtle white, gray, and black marbled pattern. The cupboards are painted Benjamin Moore Dove White, with simple polished nickel hardware. An extra deep single stainless steel sink is centered on the kitchen island, and the stove and refrigerator are stainless, in keeping with the chrome color family.

A patina pendant light from Shades of Light in Richmond hangs above the island, an elegant, vintage touch. While most of the room was constructed by various work crews Beth has made relationships with over the years, she did a few things herself, including laying the subway tile backsplash that runs along the wall under the shelves and above the stove. “Michael was gone one weekend, and I just decided that I could do it myself. I read all these manuals and it actually ended up not being that hard! But by choosing regular old white subway tile from Lowes that wasn’t expensive, I could afford to mess up a bit.” The job included using a wet saw in the backyard that she had borrowed from her late step father, who owned every tool imaginable.

When it comes to form versus function, Beth and Michael opt firmly for the latter. “I’m all about function, a hundred percent,” Beth said. “I want things to be aesthetically pleasing, don’t get me wrong. But I have found that a kitchen works best when everything in it has a place and isn’t extraneous.” For instance, Michael is a serious sandwich fan, and will come home most days to create a customized version. “He’s got to toast his bread, it’s a whole production. So we created that area over there for him to go crazy making his sandwiches,” she said, pointing to the toaster that is concealed behind one of the glass shelves.

Something that Beth clearly has a knack for is storage: She’s got a fully stocked kitchen, yet everything is concealed.The interior shelves that flank the stove top were custom built to hold oils and cooking necessities. Drawers pull out to reveal spice storage. And shelves built to hold bottles of wine run up the wall next to the refrigerator.

That said, this fully functional kitchen is far from cold or overly stark. Beth’s achieved a peaceful, inviting aesthetic. It’s polished yet warm, and clearly the mark of talented, naturally tasteful imagination. By keeping the walls bare save for a few porcelain plates hung vertically and a chalkboard listing the kid’s schedule, the activity of cooking meals or baking goodies (a new favorite afternoon activity for Walker and Anna Brooks) takes center stage. “Who knows? Maybe when our kids are older the kitchen will need to function in a different way. But for now, it works perfectly for them, and we all have fun together.”

Heather Halsey and Derek Sieg are equally aesthetically minded people. She’s the Charlottesville editor of The Scout Guide, and he’s a filmmaker. It’s been a whirlwind of a relationship. After a year of dating, they got engaged, although Heather claims “I knew about two weeks in that this was it!” They are getting married this spring, and have been busy setting up the perfect nest: a two bedroom cottage that sits on the property Derek inherited from his late father. While they’ll probably eventually move to “the big house,” this cottage is perfect for them at the moment.

The space is a culmination of stylish wares, all meaningful and arranged in an artful way. Antiques mingle with taxidermy and casual upholstery to create a warm, layered aesthetic that’s begging to be explored. And out back: chickens, roosters, and even sheep, all of which the couple has gotten themselves. “If you look at our bookshelf, many of them are ‘how to raise farm animal’ manuals! Derek reads them all,” Halsey said.

Our conversation revolved around their inherited pieces from family, the relics from their relationship that are strewn about, and the intentional mixing of things so that the space would feel completely “theirs.”

“That was actually one of the things that brought us together. We love collecting old, antique things with a story behind them. Nothing is matchy matchy.”—Derek

“A real goal was to create a salon gallery, which we did going up the stairs, and we painted it Robin’s Egg blue. I thought Derek was going to break his neck—he was standing on a ladder that was horizontally across the stairs. But it was worth it for the punch it adds.”—Heather

“So much of our things we also inherited from our families. The pieces from Derek’s dad are particularly amazing and meaningful.”—Heather

“I remember Christy Ford (of And George) said to me, ‘You shouldn’t ever decorate, you should collect,’ and I think that that’s really what we’ve done. Every place we’ve traveled to we have been sure to bring back a piece of art or piece.”—Heather

“I’m not sure I have a favorite color. Scratch that, I really love orange.”—Derek

“I like to buy something that that’s well crafted, high quality once, instead of buying five things that are made well over the course of 10 years and spending twice the amount of money.”—Derek

For the creative woman, the lines between work and life are often blurred. Inspiration can strike at any moment, and having a space nearby that’s conducive to realizing a vision can be crucial.

Being surrounded by objects, treasures, natural curiosities and sentimental items can provide an extra spark when you need one.

But navigating a live/work space can be tricky. Keeping your personal life separate from work requires discipline; it’s not for everyone. This month, we visited three local artistic personalities who live in spaces where creativity is alive and well, to see how they managed to strike the right balance.

Backyard studio
Every painter dreams of the perfect studio, and Abby Kasonik is no exception. Her dreamy, over-sized paintings feature layers of acrylic paint on canvas in evocative shades of blues and grays that pay homage to nature and science. After years of creating these breathtakingly large works in her basement, Kasonik realized she needed a new space to paint in. Building one on the open acres of her countryside property in Earlysville was obviously ideal.

“I had always dreamed of having a backyard studio that was mere steps away from my house, with soaring ceilings, and open space,” said Kasonik, who brought the project to local architect Bethany Puopolo and builder Bill Norton from Rockpile Construction. They came up with a simple clapboard structure with 22-foot ceilings, super-sized windows and not much else.

“At first, I didn’t think I wanted to have anything else in the space other than a floor and walls; I really wanted to keep it as bare as possible. But it was my mom, actually, who encouraged me to put in a small kitchen and loft area for a bed. She was absolutely right,” said Kasonik.

She’s attempted to nap in the sleeping loft but says that space is best suited as a guest retreat.

Being raised in and around Charlottesville in houses that her mom appointed in “hip and cool” ways, in addition to living with boyfriend Roderick Coles (owner of the eclectic Curious Orange shop), helped Kasonik cultivate unique elements to decorate the studio. “The people I surround myself with know what I’ll like. Most of the time, it’s something no one else will appreciate, like an oversized screwed-up piece of salvaged wood. Yes please!”

The aesthetic of the space is all about juxtaposition: “I love matching old, salvaged materials with new, modern elements.”

Evidence of this tactic includes a modern, stainless steel fan that hangs amidst 18th-century wooden beams salvaged from an Irish church, which she acquired from good friend Craig Jacobs, owner of Salvagewrights in Orange. Victorian iron fence encases the bed and desk in the sleeping loft, and canvas drop cloths serve as drapery panels strung across vintage lightning rods she bought for $5 apiece. Six enormous white paper globe pendants add a touch of warmth to the spotlights.

Another key atmospheric element is the abundance of enormous plants, trees, and natural curiosities that are spread throughout the space, successfully bringing the outside in. “My paintings are incredibly inspired by science and nature. I love collecting skulls, bones, plants, antlers and other things that catch my eye.” A showcase of her findings takes center stage, neatly organized across a long vintage farm table she found at Kenny Ball Antiques years ago. Her current obsession is with diatoms, a major group of algae that “have the coolest murky blue and hazy bits of color that are endlessly fascinating.”

The studio has been in existence for almost two years now, and her work schedule has adapted accordingly. “It’s a nice commute to the office. I’ll come out about 9:30 in the morning, and spend the day working there, leaving at about 5 o’clock at the end of every day. I make myself leave,” she says, despite the temptation to keep going throughout the night.

The painted white wooden floor has been left unprotected, and feels almost like a piece of art itself from the various, colorful paint splatters. There are no easels in sight; instead, Abby hangs her large canvases on the expansive wall and mixes paint on two custom-made wooden tables that can move throughout the space. “I’m making paintings now, but I went to school for sculpture, and hope to maybe revisit the medium. This space is conducive to a variety of creation and for that I’m grateful.”

“This painting was a wedding present from my husband’s uncle and aunt, who commissioned it for us. The church shown is Chapel of the Cross, the church in Chapel Hill where we were married. The church is so special to us, aside from the fact that we were married there: We actually met each other for the first time at that church, and my in-laws were also married there. Every time I look at it, I am filled with this sweet sense of nostalgia and joy, remembering how our lives first intersected.”

Abby Farson Pratt
AFP Calligraphy