This post was written by Brad Butman of Falmouth, MA. It is based upon his experience working with Sam Clark Design.
Starting out
My kitchen was 28 years old, cabinets were deteriorating,
and my significant other wanted a dishwasher; a kitchen remodel was in
order. My sister and cousin both had Sam
Clark Design kitchens (I admired them on family occasions) and both said ‘you
have to talk to Sam.’ At first I was worried that custom would be too expensive
and I was too far away (Cape Cod). I
visited Sam’s shop in Barre, VT a neat, no-frills shop designed for efficient
cabinet making by craftsmen who had been doing it for a long time. I talked to several designers at stock and
semi-custom showrooms but found nothing that matched the natural woods (particularly
the grain-matching) and the design of Sam Clark kitchens and cabinets. I decided to begin the design process on
Sam’s $50/hour plan. That seemed a good
deal and as the website says, one could walk away with the plan at any
time. As we got further into design
(mostly via email), I began to appreciate the opportunities and flexibility of
a custom kitchen. I especially
appreciated Sam’s philosophy of design and construction (simple, functional,
elegant, pretty, natural, green). It was
clear that a Sam Clark kitchen could be tailored to my needs and unique from
others. So I signed up for a Sam Clark
Design kitchen.
Design
My existing kitchen was functional, so I had no immediate
deadline for completion. This gave me
time to work through the design. There
are lots of choices to be made and the options are vast, often daunting. If you are sometimes slowed by choice, check
out this Ted talk by Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice.
The kitchen space was to be the same as previously, so
the basic layout was unchanged. My Dining Room/
Living Room/ Kitchen are pretty much one room, so I wanted a ‘finished’ look. We retained the existing tile floor. But there were lots of options for location
of the dishwasher, fridge, sink, trash bin, cabinet widths, drawer sizes, etc. I had lived with the current layout for 28
years and initially thought everything was in about the right place, but the
more I thought about it, things moved around. After lots of discussion, we ended up moving the fridge (not much, but
it made a very big difference in function), and gave up on some 2' deep pantries
(which were dark holes), giving more counter space. I removed the pantries to slide the fridge
around to different locations to see how it would work. I eliminated a blind corner cabinet in lieu
of drawers (no lazy susan). Despite the
new dishwasher, I wanted a recessed drainer so dishes were somewhat out of view and I
wanted the trash and dishwasher close to the sink. I designed (and eventually had built) a custom stainless steel sink with
a shallow recessed drainboard that had space underneath for a trash
drawer. I found that all sinks installed
in MA require a product approval number, so a custom sink entailed an approval
process.
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| Sink with Recessed Drainboard; Trash Drawer Beneath |
The flexibility in cabinet drawer widths and depths is a great advantage of Sam’s custom kitchen. As part of Sam’s plan, I made a list of drawer and upper contents and spent a lot of time (an inordinate amount of time) arranging and re-arranging drawer locations and matching depth and width to contents. I followed Sam’s philosophy that ‘drawers are best,’ ‘fit almost everything’ in drawers, and ‘if a drawer is designed to hold only one thing, move it’ (in retrospect, all good advice). I ended up with all 4-drawer units except one 3 drawer unit (w/ one deep drawer). I have one open cabinet (bottom for trays and top for tall stuff), which has turned out to be ample. With full depth drawers, 4-drawers to a cabinet, I have lots more storage space than in my previous kitchen, and all the space is easily accessible. I also moved some of my old cabinets to the basement which now provide additional storage. I was worried about drawer vs open cabs, but drawers are the way to go.
Some of the design features I’m pleased with:
- Storage of chips and crackers (previously spilling out of upper cabinets); now in a deep drawer.
- Storage containers (previously disorganized in a cupboard); now in a drawer, with a side slot for covers.
- Many smallish bowls and plates (previously cluttered in upper cabinets); now in a shallow drawer.
- Trays and baking pans (previously piled in lower open cabinets); now in drawers or on adjustable shelves
- Tea (previously jumbled in uppers); now organized in a drawer;
- Alcohol (previously stored in kitchen); now in a sideboard adjacent to the kitchen
- Pots and pans (previously piled in lower cabs and not very accessible); now in drawers next to stove and always in the same spot
- Custom drawer dividers for utensils and silverware
- A small slot between stove and butcher block counter for large knives (goes away in the summer when the butcher block expands a bit)
- One upper cabinet with glass doors; friendly and easy to locate china.
- Cherry cap for low wall (divides Living Room from Kitchen island)
I interviewed several custom designers, one who visited the kitchen. She said ‘this is pretty drab and needs some color’; ‘never store liquor in the kitchen’; and ‘where is your phone charging station?’ Useful advice comes from many sources, so don’t pass up an opportunity to discuss ideas or visit showrooms. Alcohol is in a Dining Room sideboard, I have red Valchromat backsplash and window sill, and some tiles under the sill. Valchromat, a colored MDF introduced by Sam and Ian was very appealing.
Sam kept the design process moving and sent me in
different directions for information. He
made suggestions and offered advice throughout the process, primarily on
function and ways to resolve various issues, what looks good, and what
works. He mostly stayed away from
opinions about color and wood choices, realizing that is personal taste, and
they are all nice. He always entertained
and discussed ideas and suggested solutions to various problems. Sam and Ian have thought a lot about
kitchens and kitchen construction and bring wisdom to the process.
A few inches may not seem like much, but can make a big
difference and are worth thinking about.
For example:
- The initial counter width left of stove was 36” (least used) and 30” to the right (most used); the new layout is 32” left and 34” right and the extra 4” right is very useful and the 4” left unmissed.
- Previous cabinets had 3/4" thick face-mounted fronts; the new ones have flush fronts (a very nice look). This increased the space in the passageway by 1.5”, which now seems spacious and uncluttered. My son back from college noticed it immediately.
- Sam set in the cabinet at the entrance to kitchen by 1” and included a toe kick; although the clearance from countertop is the same, the extra 1.5” below makes the entrance seem spacious and more convenient.
- I increased the width of the cap on the ½ wall that separates Kitchen from Living Room from 8” to 12”; lots more space for stuff.
Selecting stuff (wood, counter tops, backsplash, drawer
hardware, etc.)
The selection of wood for the cabinets (ash, birch,
mahogany, pine, white oak, red oak, valchromat) was a challenge; all very
pretty. Sam provided lots of
photographs and I visited several of his kitchens. I found wood in stock kitchens not worth looking
at – there is no comparison. Sam kindly
arranged visits and all were great to see; the owners were excited to show
their kitchens, share philosophy of kitchen design, and the special features
they had incorporated. All the kitchens
had a ‘Sam Clark’ look, but all were different, tailored to the space and
personal preferences. I was partial to
cherry (which Sam had used primarily as posts and accents), and ended up with
some very pretty native cherry from a local mill in VT (the stock hand picked
by Sam). I saw some similar native
cherry in Ian’s kitchen (as well as purple Valchromat). The cherry has nice grain, some dark spots,
and looks like no other kitchen cherry (except for Ian’s!); very pleased with
this choice.
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| Cherry Cap on half wall dividing Kitchen from Living Room |
I learned to use Sketchup (a free Google 3D drawing program). I used this to try out different color combinations and layouts. This was tedious and a huge time sink, and in retrospect, Sam’s drawings are sufficient. But I found Sketchup helpful to see in perspective, and to try different fridge locations, woods, and granites. I found myself thinking about layout all the time.
I selected the metabox drawer hardware instead of
dovetail drawers. Initially this was
because they are a bit less expensive. I
find the drawers light (not as much wood in the drawer) and the thinner
hardware makes for a bit wider drawers.
I like the European flavor.
I visited several Sam kitchens in the Boston area and in
VT. I went to granite and kitchen
showrooms many times. There are many
different types of kitchens and products to choose from. Each visit gave me ideas to think
about.
I opted for a counter-top container for composting
(rather than a drawer), getting a 9”x3”x4” stainless steel steam table unit,
same as incorporated in some of Sam’s drawers.
Building
Once the plans were set and wood selected, there wasn’t
much to do from afar. Sam and Ian sent
pictures of cabinets and finishing as building progressed. I waited for the last minute on some
decisions, which didn’t seem to phase them. Sam told me when they had to know certain things (drawer sizes, wood,
etc.). We made some changes as building
went along; even adjusting some drawer
depths. I spent the building time
looking at granite, selecting drawer pulls, lining up contractors for cab
removal, electric, and plumbing, thinking about backsplash material.
Installation
Cape Cod is a trek from Barre, VT. Early in the process we agreed that Sam and
Ian would deliver cabinets and set the bases in 2-3 days. I would arrange for plumber, granite,
electric, painting, and a finish carpenter to do the uppers, toe kicks, wood
counters, cap, etc. I removed the
cabinets on a Friday. Over the next week, I fixed some of the floor tile,
roughed-in plumbing, installed rough electric, painted walls (much easier
before installation), and picked up the sink. This preparation allowed Sam and Ian to focus on installation, and
fortunately there were no surprises.
Sam arrived on a Sunday to set up his tools (it was
summer, so they could be outside on the deck), survey the situation, and begin
leveling bases. That was more work than
I anticipated, and in retrospect worth the effort. Ian arrived Monday night with a truck full of
cabinets, which we unloaded Tuesday morning. As a boat owner, I was immediately taken and impressed with the urethane
finish (no dust, very smooth). Sam and Ian
worked all day Tuesday and a half-day Wednesday installing the bases. The finish carpenter checked in Wednesday
for instructions, and installed uppers, caps, baseboard, butcher block on
Thursday and Friday. Granite counters
were installed Wednesday afternoon. I
used the kitchen on Friday, two weeks after I removed the cabinets.
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| Cabinets made from native local (VT) Cherry. |
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| Base Cabinet with adjustable shelves (the only one in the kitchen) and trash drawer under drainer. Cabinet with glass front above. |
Eighteen months after installation
- The cabinets are beautiful to look at, beautifully and cleverly engineered and built, and functional.
- The time spent planning drawer size and content was well spent; most things remain stored where planned and the kitchen accommodates everything. I’d do a few things differently, but not many.
- One of the most impressive aspects of the installation is how level, square, and solid the cabinets are. They fit perfectly thanks to Sam’s leveling efforts (and other things I expect I don’t appreciate).
- I like the Metalbox hardware look and function.
- Cost was reasonable and the kitchen well-worth the expense
- We’ve since done another kitchen in Nantucket with Sam, with equally great results.
My Dad had a note on his fridge: ‘have nothing in your
house that isn’t useful or beautiful.’ The Sam Cark Design kitchen is both. I am fortunate to have shared the design, build, and installation
process with Sam, Ian, and Todd.
