THE THING SANDRA and Howard Mandell knew when they moved from their north-suburban home to a Near North highrise was the kitchen in their new condominium wouldn`t work. Stylistically and in terms of suiting their lifestyles, it simply wouldn`t mesh.
The Mandells wanted an eat-in space furnished with comfortable lounge chairs that would allow their family, which includes a pair of college-age teens, to sit around and talk or watch TV when they wanted to.
”There was no architectural detail in their apartment,” interior designer Carol Wolk says, ”so the Mandells didn`t want an ordinary white kitchen.” What Wolk and architect Marvin Herman proposed was to enlarge the space, borrowing from an adjacent bedroom. Then they suggested warming it with birds-eye maple cabinetry, whose honey tones recall the mood of Biedermeier furnishings-an ageless look that is so appealing today.
”Since the rest of the apartment is furnished traditionally, we decided this room should be contemporary,” Wolk says. The cabinetry is clean, with concealed hinges and flush doors, unembellished on the uppers, with black pulls on the base drawers-a detail that`s punctuated by black granite counters, backsplashes and floors. The impact of the pulls is that of a jewelry adornment, and their strategic placement makes a design statement of their own.
”I always wanted an island,” Sandra says-”and a desk.” She got both. The desk is part of a custom-built cabinet that also provides storage and display for a growing teapot collection. An additional floor-to-ceiling pantry on the wall, which houses a pair of ovens, features pullout trays behind the doors.
A table with a black metal cone base and 54-inch top constructed, for effect, of shattered glass was teamed with six leather tub chairs that the family finds ideally suited to their use. A bank of east-facing windows, shaded when necessary by 2-inch wooden Venetian blinds, are a bonus, enhanced by task and ambient lighting. ”It`s a dream kitchen,” Sandra says.
