Materials That Tell a Story

We talk about various materials choices a lot. There are some materials we are drawn to, and others we resist using, at least at first. Some we like, and some we don't like so much. There are several categories, or criteria, used to judge what materials are good for a kitchen project, or maybe for any building project:

Here's a few I see a lot:

·       innovative

·       in style

·       impervious to damage – stays new looking

·       expensive, on the idea that more expensive is better

·       green, non-toxic, low VOC

Though we're on board with the green category, we often lean in another direction.

·       local material, local source

·       natural materials

·       you can tell what the material is by looking at it

·       functional, not just for show

·       repairable

·       affordable

Jim in the kitchen with retro Formica counter

Close-up of the Formica counter

But it's hard to make rules for these things. These photo shows a kitchen, not quite done, where the counters are made of Formica, in a completely retro pattern, I think from the fifties. It even has that shiny metal edging. This was our customer, David Demnitz's idea. This stuff isn't particularly natural, or green, or repairable, and it certainly isn't local. But I really like it. I'm really glad David chose it. (That's Jim in the picture, not David).

Countertop with warm green tones

Here's another example. It's that material often referred to as quartz, but it really ground up quartz, mixed with polymers and pigments. It's sold in all sorts of patterns and colors. This particular one is a nice, sort of slatey, understated pattern, in a warm greenish color. Not a natural material by any means, but really lovely. As well as rugged and resistant to damage. I'd have been likely to select a soapstone or maybe slate materials, but I'm really glad our customer here, Carole Colsell, picked this.

So I'm revising, or expanding, my categories a little.

I do continue to like natural, local, materials, but also I like materials – and for that matter details – which tell a story. That's what's great about David's Formica. Twenty years from now, I'll be able to think about the person who picked it and what might have led to that choice, what they might have been thinking about at the time.

Wood drawer fronts with a story to tell

Wood is perhaps the material that does this best. The picture shows some bird's-eye and curly maple used as drawer fronts. I think Ian saved this group of boards out of a larger project – boards that had both light sapwood and dark heartwood, in these very elegant figured boards. Todd put them together very thoughtfully into the drawer fronts. Very lovely, but they also tell quite a complex story, that anyone later will be able to see. Obviously, somebody, (really two people here), went to a lot of trouble to make this; it wasn't just thrown together, it was thought about. A Vermonter could probably deduce that it was relatively local wood: southern birds-eye has a very different look. You could also know that somebody at a sawmill, or out in the woods, was on the lookout for this beautiful stuff and knew how to identify it in the rough log or board, and took very good care of it. There is a very good chance that over the years many people will look at this cabinet, remark on it, and maybe talked about it over a glass of wine, and ask what causes bird's-eye – which currently isn't really known for sure.

Patinable. I like materials that can take a bit of abuse with grace. With months and years of use, they don't look shabby or beat up exactly, but get a bit of patina. A lot of materials now popular are nearly impervious to the marks of work and life. You can't scratch them or stain them. That quartz stuff is like that, and so is a lot of granite. I prefer slate or soapstone precisely because it shows the abuse a little, without lessening its functionality. A soapstone counter fifty years old may have some dings in it, but put some oil on it, and it will look great. It shows that many people have used it and worked at it.

For me those people, even if I don't know who they are, are present with me a little bit when I use the counter or am near it. It's not just a counter but a tablet that records some history.

Of course, not all our clients are that happy when their new counter gets it's first dose of patina; A black ring or a knife scratch might to them look like a black ring or a knife scratch. Fortunately, many of these “patinable” materials are also reparable. Defects can be scraped or sanded out.

A wood counter may get some scratches, food stains, and maybe black marks from the carbon steel knife. When it gets annoying, you can scrub, scrape, or sand the surface, re-oil, and start again. It won't be new looking, but will look better, while a bit of the story stays behind on the surface.

Other materials, like many plastic laminates, are tough, but when they break down, or look shabby, there is nothing to be done, short of replacing them.