Feature: The Collaborative Kitchen
09/01/2005
Designer Mikal Otten grew up in a Minneapolis household as one of 13 children, and says his favorite memories always took place in the kitchen—where Christmas dinners and evening board games reigned. “Everyone was always in the kitchen,” Otten says. “It’s the hearth of a home.” Now a kitchen designer at the Denver showroom of Wm Ohs, a manufacturer of high-end kitchen cabinetry, Otten strives to infuse a bit of his childhood’s warmth into even his most contemporary designs. The results are a perfect mix of function and luxury. Otten’s work on the kitchen in Mark Adcock and Debra Toney’s home in Denver’s upscale Hilltop neighborhood exemplifies his signature style.
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Designer Mikal Otten integrated Dornbracht faucets and Wm Ohs cabinetry in
quartersawn white oak into the kitchen of his clients’ Denver home. (Click image to enlarge.)Toney, owner of Debra Toney Residential Design & Development, and Adcock, an architect with the firm, worked with Otten to achieve a contemporary and clean space with traditional accents that complement the exterior of their 1941 Tudor home. Toney, who frequently hosts large soirees, wanted a kitchen that would also accommodate their growing family—with room to spare. “We were looking for something contemporary with a traditional heart,” she says.
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White Carrara marble countertops are artfully juxtaposed with an 8-foot-long
custom stainless steel hood. (Click image to enlarge.)The open floor plan of
the 8,000-square-foot home lends the kitchen an
airy feeling. The
360-square-foot kitchen, with its 10-foot
ceilings, flows
seamlessly
into the family room and outdoor
entertaining area, revolving around
an
enormous island topped
with white Carrara marble and fitted with a built-in
cooktop by Wolf
Range. Suspended over the mammoth 13-foot-long
countertop is a
custom 8-foot stainless steel hood made by Colorado
Custom
Stainless, which adds
some drama to the space. “We were going
for something that would make your mouth
drop,” says Otten,
who also
notes that the hood’s design was inspired by his
many
trips to Italy.
A separate butler’s pantry features
an ice maker, wine
refrigerator and
abundant storage space
that further caters to Toney’s
love of entertaining by
providing an independent staging area for
serving cocktails
and hors d’oeuvres.
“It’s really great as an
additional area,”
says Toney, who has entertained as
many as 60 guests
at one
time. The trio also refurbished the home’s transitional
mud
room.
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Otten and his clients also renovated the home’s mud room—used for gardening—with
Wm Ohs cabinetry and oak and melamine shelving. (Click image to enlarge.)Stainless steel accents highlight the kitchen’s appliances, including two large warming drawers, a custom-made wash sink with a satin nickel faucet and a gleaming Sub-Zero refrigerator and separate freezer. As a nod to the home’s historic roots, Otten used handcrafted solid wood cabinets in stained quarter-sawn white oak from the new Wm Ohs American Transitions collection, which add a touch of old-world elegance to the room. “I absolutely had to have Wm Ohs cabinetry,” says Toney. “The craftsmanship is impeccable.”
Mikal Otten at the Wm Ohs Denver showroom, 303.321.3232, www.wmohs.com
Debra Toney Residential Design
& Development, 303.399.2677, www.debratoney.com