Bell Cabinetry & Design Holiday Tour

You know what goes realllllly well with custom cabinetry? HOLIDAY DECOR!!

This is our first holiday season in the new Bell Cabinetry & Design Buckhead Showroom and I'm slightly embarrassed to tell you I've been pumped to deck these halls since some of the designs were just ideas swirling around inside my head! One hood in particular was literally destined to sport a wreath. Luckily the showroom was also slotted to be the location of two holiday parties, which made getting the space holiday ready necessary not just fun. 

The Monday after Thanksgiving I enlisted the help/guidance of my mom, the Holiday Decor Whisperer, and fellow designer Addie Sandidge  and we got busy decking the halls! The showroom has 5 kitchens, 2 baths, a pantry, a closet and a mudroom, each with it's own style. The goal was for individual vignettes to feel cheerful and festive in a unique way while maintaining a cohesive feel for the showroom as a whole. No easy fete, but we were up for the challenge and ended up being pleased with the end results! Let me show you around.....

Here's a view of our front entry, note the Santa hat on our logo.

The first vignette as you enter the showroom showcases our Heritage Collection.

This display is classic, elegance so we wanted the décor to reflect this vibe. A beautiful magnolia wreath plus mercury glass Christmas trees and balls did the trick.

Next up is our Studio display AKA the kitchen with the hood made to play back drop to a wreath. 

And a boxwood wreath at that. Oooooh the charm. 

This kitchen is fresh, clean and happy with open shelving, a farm sink and a subway tile backsplash. We let the wreath on the hood be the "wow" and then just added hints of cheer here and there with pops of red and more boxwood clippings scattered about. 

Our back Milano Collection Kitchen sits right off the conference room with floor to ceiling steel windows and door. 

We kept the decor on the kitchen itself minimal and focused our attention on adding wreaths in a grid pattern to the conference room window wall! We loved the impactful, yet understated effect. 

Lastly, one of my favorite little spots in the showroom is our mudroom. 

A few mini Christmas trees, a festive scarf and tiny lumberjack kissing a red nutcracker make this spot cozy and bright!

Well, there you have it, a little peak at the holiday scene currently happening over at our new showroom. Each day we light our Fir & Firewood candle (best smell ever!!), turn on the Christmas Tree lights (we have 3, not pictured!!) and some days we even crank up the holiday tunes making this the hap hap happiest 3,000 square feet on the block!

All photos are my own. 

Bell Cabinetry & Design's New Showroom Sneak Peek

Holy radio silence my people, I'm sorry for the drought over here in blog land but I have been busy with a capital B. Last spring I mentioned that I was heading up the opening of Bell Cabinetry & Design's Buckhead showroom. Since that time I have been working with my team to bring our 3000 square foot space to life.

Over the past few weeks we really stepped on the gas and focused on getting this space finished! Last week we stripped the paper covering off the windows and had a photo shoot with Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle Magazine for their August issue! You will get the chance to see some full shots of the showroom then, but in the meantime I thought I would give you a little sneak peek of the finished product.

Cabinetry can be technical, overwhelming and scary to some but we wanted to create a space that showcases our various cabinetry construction offerings in a way that is relatable and inspiring.

The opportunity to be creative and focus on the custom capabilities of Bell Cabinetry was really fun. Anyone can design a cabinet, but it's fun to think outside of the generic cabinet box and focus on details and elements that truly make a space unique and personal. 

Inspiration was pulled from anywhere and everywhere and it was like Christmas Morning time and time again as all of the little details began to come to life before our eyes. From hardware placement to cabinetry colors, no element or selection was left to chance. 

The Design Studio:

...where all of the magic will happen. 

Our cabinetry is always made even more beautiful thanks to it's surroundings and in this showroom we are excited to have worked with and showcase some of the best in town. Sub-Zero Wolf Appliances, Countertops from Neolith & Construction Resources, Tile from Renaissance Tile & Bath and plumbing from PDI. 

To say this process has been long is an understatement.  It has been  A LOT y'all. From finding the perfect studio location and space planning every square inch to designing, sourcing and styling the various vignettes the journey been equal parts exhausting and exhilarating.

Every last detail has been considered, re-considered, analyzed and talked through no short of 1000 times. There is literally a why behind all the things, big or small. And while I'm a believer that it is that level of heart and consideration that makes any space, home or room go from good to great, the process of getting there on any type of time-line or budget is not easy. The seemingly simple act of pouring your heart and soul into anything can be emotionally and creatively draining, but once you wade through the challenges the end results are so sweet and rewarding. We are located in ADAC West, so come say hi and let's design some cabinetry!

All photos are my own. 

Designing Cabinets for Animals

Designing cabinetry for humans is cool and all, but designing cabinetry for animals.... THAT is just down right satisfying and rewarding. Last summer/fall fellow Bell Kitchen & Bath Studios designer Keri Perry and I were in the thick of working on designs for a huge remodeling project, when we found ourselves with some unique clientele to consider...two dogs and a cat.

This remodel was big and much of the first floor of the home was re-designed. As we worked through designing the various areas of the home, we had one very clear goal in mind. Make it beautiful, but make it explode with functionality.  As we dug into the details and began determining where various items would be housed we quickly realized there were certain 4-legged family members who had a fair amount of gear themselves and that gear needed to be organized just like everything else. Now I don't know how many pets you know, but pets, no matter how big or small, have stuff...lots of it.

When we first met this project the cat's food dish and water dispenser were sitting on the countertop in the kitchen, so as to keep it out of the dogs' reach. The dog bowls were sitting by the end of the island and the cat's litter box was housed behind a cabinet door in the laundry room with a small hole for access. It was functional, but far from pretty.

The truth is, if you have a cat, there really is no getting around having a litter box. So it came down to improving the housing of said litter box to blend seamlessly with the pretty that was the rest of the room/house. In general, I liked the concept of the litter box being housed behind doors, because really, who wants to look at that? So, we started playing with some ideas with our engineer Richard; one thing led to another and before we knew it we had dreamed up this:

Which then turned into this....

and finally....THIS:

Photo by Barbara Brown.

The whiskers! The tail! Can you even deal with the cuteness? 

Photo by Barbara Brown.

Now, not only does the cat have a chic' home for his litter box, but the entire set-up is easily accessible for both cat and human. Even better, now the LITTER BOX cabinet is the "cool kid in school" in this Laundry Room. 

As for the animal food and gear, we designed an entire area right outside the kitchen that we called THE PET STATION. 

Photo by Barbara Brown.

The pet station includes 3 dog bowls, 2 for food and 1 for water. These bowls were custom built to fit snugly in the base of the center cabinet with granite installed atop to ensure any splishing or splashing while drinking wouldn't harm the wood. As for the cat, another bowl was designed to sit on it's own ledge, high above the dogs, so the animals could eat together without bothering each other. A pullout was installed on each side of the dog bowls to house dry food.  The small drawers above the dog bowls were designed to hold leashes, collars and other small necessities. As for the rest of the space, behind each wall cabinet is a series of adjustable shelves so anything from wet food to treats and toys can easily be stored and organized, but out of sight.

Two of the animals were gracious enough to model for us during this shoot. The cat was reluctant to show off the litter box (understandably, everyone needs some privacy) but both the dog and the cat were more than happy to show the world how nice and functional their dream space is. It's always so nice to see a satisfied customer! ;)

All cabinetry is from Bell Kitchen & Bath Studios Signature Collection. The pet station is walnut and the laundry room is maple with a painted finish.

Unless otherwise noted all photos are my own. 

About.com - April Recap

Well, my first month as the Kitchens Expert for About.com is complete and I survived!! Hallelujah! 8 articles is a lot, but I really enjoyed writing the content and then watching as a few of my articles make it to the AboutHome Home Page! I've been sharing the posts on Twitter, but have held off on posting to my personal Facebook page. 8 articles + 4 blog posts a month would make my Facebook page a little busy with "HEY LOOK WHAT I DID" content so I figured I would just post here once a month to fill you guys in on what all I've been covering over at About.com.

So, for my first month I posted on a slew of different topics starting with....

1.

How to Pick the Perfect White Paint for your Cabinetry
This was the article that made it to the Home Page on AboutHome! 

In this article I wrote about some tips and tricks for picking the best shade of white for your kitchen cabinets. The color white can be tricky, so I thought this was a topic a lot of people could relate to and hopefully use on their white kitchen endeavors! 

2.

Highs & Lows of Dish Storage

One of the biggest design trends I've been seeing lately is the idea of storing everyday dishes down low. In this article I talk about the advantages to this approach in addition to some different ways to incorporate this concept into your own kitchen. 

3.

Plants: A Cheap and Easy Way to Add Pizazz to your Kitchen

Plants are an easy and affordable way to add some personality to your space. In this article I show you various ways to pop a plant or two into your kitchen regardless of the size!

4. 

Custom vs. Semi-Custom vs. Stock Cabinetry

The world of cabinetry can be C O M P L I C A T E D. So many choices, so much to know. In this article I'm breaking down the differences between custom, semi-custom and stock cabinetry. 

5. 

How to Draw Less Attention to Outlets on Your Kitchen Island

Outlets are necessary in a kitchen, no doubt, but more often than not they are slapped right on the side of an island or peninsula with very little thought to the design they may be disrupting. This article is full of ideas that allow outlets to blend in or maybe even disappear into the kitchen. 

6.

How to Integrate the Lucite Trend into Your Kitchen

Lucite is everywhere in interior design,  and I'm all about the trend; I even used lucite hardware in my Luxury Living Show Kitchen. In this article I talk about a few ways to integrate a little lucite in your kitchen!

7. 

Why Quartz?

Quartz, is worth looking into if you are in the countertops market. I'm giving you all of the reasons why in this post!

8.

Junk Drawer Be Gone

Now here's a topic we can all relate to....the dreaded junk drawer. We all have one, so check out these tips for getting your life in order starting with a few tricks for organizing your kitchen drawers!

Well, there you have it - my life on About.com this month! Let me know if you can think of any topics you'd like to see me cover. Anything and everything kitchen is fair game. Just don't ask me to talk about actually cooking in the kitchen because that would be a very very short and sad post and there is a 600 word minimum, folks. :)