This article is another in an occasional series on kitchen trends.
Don Hendrick profile. 9F
earle@wvgazette.com
If you think your life is hectic, consider this: In the past 18 months, Charleston lawyer Lu Ann Cyrus has had a baby, built a new house and moved four times.
She and her husband, Dwayne Cyrus, also a lawyer, and their sons moved into their new home near Pinch two weeks before Christmas. And on Dec. 24, they were able to test the functionality of their kitchen design when they were hosts to about two-dozen family members for a holiday brunch.
"I wanted the kitchen to be functional - pretty, but practical. Every decision made was based on what was user-friendly," Lu Ann said.
"Being a lawyer, I am a detail person. I had high expectations."
She worked closely with Don Hedrick, who made the cabinets and other kitchen pieces.
"Donnie told me, 'I don't want you to say "I like the kitchen." 'I want you to say, "I love this kitchen,"'" Lu Ann recalled.
Hedrick says that to all his potential customers. If they love his work, he reasons, they will refer him to others.
That's what Lu Ann Cyrus is doing.
She had remodeled a kitchen before, but had never started from scratch. "I'd been planning this kitchen for well over two years."
She didn't seek the services of a professional kitchen designer because she knew what she wanted. She researched on the Internet, as a member of GreatImpressions.com - "for decorating addicts to trade ideas" - and consulted the kitchen forum on gardenweb.com.
"Mainly, I looked at magazines," she said, cutting out photographs of what she liked and keeping them in a notebook that she carried with her when she shopped for estimates.
She and Dwayne had budgets for appliances, cabinets and countertops.
Two estimates from large box stores came in higher than they budgeted for cabinets: One ranged from $18,000 to $25,000; the other that included bathroom vanities was $30,000.
"We were pretty disappointed," Lu Ann recalled.
All turned out well, though, when Hedrick was referred to them by a satisfied customer.
"I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have customized cabinets," Lu Ann said. Although Hedrick wasn't cheap, his prices were still well below the other estimates.
She showed him photographs of what she wanted, such as the arched paneled stove hood, and he re-created it. He made her a 5-foot-high cupboard with deep, pull-out shelves when the walk-in pantry turned out smaller than she expected.
The addition of the cupboard left no room for the planned built- in desk. So Hedrick suggested it be moved to a nearby spot. And behind the desk, he made a butler's pantry.
Lu Ann demonstrated how the vertical moldings below the range top pull out to reveal spice racks. On either side of the molding are small compartments, perfect for holding cookie sheets. She wanted an appliance garage in the corner of the counter, but worried a swinging door would take up too much counter space. Hedrick solved the problem by making a small door that lifts up and slides back - like a garage door.
"To design a kitchen with a cabinetmaker made it like being a kid in candy store," Lu Ann said.
On certain features, Lu Ann had definite ideas. She wanted a U- shaped design with an island with bar stools in the middle. From experience, though, she knew she had to have enough room on both sides of the island for easy movement. That meant adding about 2 1/ 2 feet in depth and 3 feet in length to the original floor plan.
She wanted the refrigerator at the end of the U, so guests and children could get beverages and ice without invading the cooking area of the kitchen.
"I think it is really important, whether it's a remodel or new construction, to really think through how it will function."
Lu Ann recommends others do what she did during construction when she was deciding where to put appliances and cabinets. "I actually walked through making a pot of coffee, grilled cheese and tomato soup and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because those are what we seem to make most often."
As a result, she said, "I ended up putting the coffee pot right next to the fridge, with the coffee mugs in the cabinet above, so everything was in one spot - and out of the cooking zone."
Likewise, the children's plastic cups were put in the bottom cabinets of the island within their reach. Out of their reach is the on-off switch for the powerful, bone-crushing disposal in the island.
She wanted a 6-foot window in the kitchen, but had to compromise on a 48-inch over-the-sink window, from where she'll be able to watch the children in the back yard. And although she has one glass- front cabinet, she would have liked more for their appearance. She's learned from experience, though, how hard it is to keep the interior neat.
For the floor, they went with wide-plank oak that is distressed. "When the boys ding it up, it will add to the charm," she said.
Lu Ann and Dwayne have two sons, Jonathan, 6, and Jacob, 6 months. Dwayne has two sons who visit frequently, Philip, 13, and Shane, 12, of Bluefield.
It was Jacob's birth that resulted, in a roundabout way, in two of the four moves.
Lu Ann, 38, and Dwayne, 43, were living in Sissonville when they bought a lot on Cottonwood Road. Always practical, they sold their house and moved into a townhouse in Pinch to be near the construction site.
By the time they were ready to break ground, she said, the price of materials had skyrocketed, largely because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
So they bought a house in South Hills. When they learned a fourth child was coming, they needed more bedrooms so they decided to build on the lot they still owned. They sold the South Hills house, but the new house wasn't yet finished.
"We prayed about it," Lu Ann said. As it turned out, a couple at their church was moving and selling their house in Dunbar. They offered it to the Cyruses, who were able to live there for three months before last month's fourth move. "It was such a blessing," said Lu Ann.
Gale Hershberger, the contractor, broke ground on the four- bedroom house in May. Lu Ann estimated it took Hedrick a month to build the cabinets and he supervised their installation.
She pulled out the kitchen drawers to show their depth and how they glide back into place. She pointed out that decorative beadwork siding is made up of individual strips of wood.
"I had always assumed that local box stores had the cheapest if not necessarily the highest-quality cabinets. These are made of solid wood, and with four boys, I wanted durable cabinets," she said.
"This is a dream come true. It really is."
To contact staff writer Rosalie Earle, use e-mail or call 348- 5115.
(c) 2008 Sunday Gazette - Mail; Charleston, W.V.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.