E A R LY S P R I N G 2 0 1 7
2017
THE KITCHEN ISSUE
Welcome I so love my country kitchen.
It’s the best of all worlds: for cooking and baking, for potting, arranging, even gift wrapping—it’s the right space in just the right place for all my roll-up-your-sleeves projects. The best time to be there is when there’s a crowd and, happily, that’s often. The camaraderie of cooking with family and friends, the togetherness and the laughter— to me, that’s the real flavor of a meal! It seems like we Country House lovers have that in common, our crush on the kitchen, knowing it's the heart and the hub of wonderful moments large and small. After all, spending time in a friend's kitchen can be as happy-making as spending time in my own! So I thought ... why shouldn't we spend our time this issue in several lovely Country House kitchens among many great friends? I hope you, dear reader and fellow Country House lover, find them as warm and inspirational as I do. Let's go Country House kitchen-hopping together! Love,
2
NORA MURPHY COUNTRY HOUSE.COM
NORA MURPHY Founder and Editor in Chief THE KITCHEN ISSUE 2017
3
CONTENTS NORA MURPHY COUNTRY HOUSE style early spring 2017
WELCOME 2 GRAPHIC APPEAL 8 SIMPLE BEAUTY 24 LIGHT AND AIRY 44 HEART OF MY HOME 62
Visit
NORAMURPHY COUNTRYHOUSE.COM
for more
inspiration
Follow Nora Murphy Country House on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. Please direct all inquiries to: contact@noramurphycountryhouse.com.
© 2017 Nora Murphy Country House, Inc. All rights reserved.
4
NORA MURPHY COUNTRY HOUSE.COM
2017
THE KITCHEN ISSUE
Nora Murphy Founder and Editor in Chief
Criana Web Producer
Carol Hubner Art and Features Director
Darryl Arbesman Duanne Simon Nora Murphy Contributing Photographers
Deborah Golden Copywriter/Copy Editor
Aida Kiernan Robyn Szarka Roos Styling Assistants
All design, photography, and copy on NoraMurphyCountryHouse.com is original, produced year-round at Connecticut Country House and on location.
For more Country House Style inspiration visit our website: NORAMURPHYCOUNTRYHOUSE.COM & our blog: CONNECTICUTCOUNTRYHOUSE.COM THE KITCHEN ISSUE 2017
5
6
NORA MURPHY COUNTRY HOUSE.COM
Country House
KITCHENS
Whether your kitchen's in a home from the 1700s, 1800s, 1900s, or beyond, it's never too old—or too new!—for a Country House perspective. Let's take a tour together.
THE KITCHEN ISSUE 2017
7
"We didn't do much to the kitchen," Collin confides. "It's amazing what a can of paint can do!" (To be fair, they also: replaced the appliances, sink, faucet, lighting, and cabinet hardware; removed wallpaper; and put up this gorgeous handmade tile from Klaff's.) "We wanted almost a service kitchen feeling – like the downstairs kitchen in an old house."
8
NORA MURPHY COUNTRY HOUSE.COM
Graphic Appeal Collin Robison and Trent DeBerry are Texas natives whose love of family and good food have kept them grounded and centered in their pursuit of the Country House lifestyle. These passions come to life throughout their home (the oldest part of which dates from 1790), and, naturally, in the kitchen! Collin, a talented interior designer with a gift for blending old and new, worked his magic on this wonderful old/new space. THE KITCHEN ISSUE 2017
9
The mix of French bistro chairs with a Saarinen table is so unique and so Collin.
10
NORA MURPHY COUNTRY HOUSE.COM
Left: The fireplace is original to the old home, along with its beehive oven and that little cabinet on the right. "We're not sure what it was meant for," Collin laughs, "but it's where we keep our wine." Before they moved to their Connecticut home, Collin and Trent split their time between a loft in an old factory New Rochelle (decorated in midcentury style) and an older, Victorian home in the Hudson Valley. The table came with them from loft, the chairs from their weekend home. Above: They've had the hand so long, they don't remember where it came from! The spoon, Collin shares, is "probably from the Elephant's Trunk." (A wonderful weekly flea market in New Milford, CT.) THE KITCHEN ISSUE 2017
11
12
NORA MURPHY COUNTRY HOUSE.COM
The clock, a modern take on a cuckoo clock, is Italian. "It was the one thing I really wanted for the Hudson Valley house," Collin reminisces. Trent got it for him for Christmas. The plates on the mantle (with images) were a wedding gift to Trent's grandparents made by his great-aunt in 1945; the butter molds and silver are also from his family. THE KITCHEN ISSUE 2017
13
"I'm a huge black-and-white freak, so of course I had to go for my contrast," says Collin of the striking dark grout. The tile is handmade with a wonderful surface texture; it's clear when you see it in person that this is not machine made.
14
NORA MURPHY COUNTRY HOUSE.COM
THE KITCHEN ISSUE 2017
15
The island was a happy accident: The base is an antique flower box that Collin and Trent brought with them from their Hudson Valley home. The butcher block top was in the garage of this house when they moved in! It fit, Collin oiled it, and there it is. "There's a point in every project when your to-do's are long and your funds are short. Time to get creative!" It couldn't look more like it was meant to be. 16
NORA MURPHY COUNTRY HOUSE.COM
THE KITCHEN ISSUE 2017
17
"The kitchen has pretty good storage, but things filled up quickly." Collin already had the cart, an antique from Hiden Galleries in Stamford, CT, and put it to great use for their dishes and other essentials. "I love that we can see everything and it's all so accessible. Being from the South, tea is big for us, so there's a lot of tea on the top shelf."
18
NORA MURPHY COUNTRY HOUSE.COM
THE KITCHEN ISSUE 2017
19