Wendy Laursen
43
faux finish
A kitchen design insider, Kevin Briggs of
Markraft Cabinets minted his own idiom when
he and his wife, Susan, moved from Boston to
St. James Plantation and into their new house
in 2018.
With homebuilder Barker and Canady
Custom Homes, Kevin and Susan nuanced many
of the design details. The kitchen especially was
a match for Kevin’s personal culinary style. As a
former chef, gourmet fare and fine wine are his
passions.
“Everything had to be just right for me,” he says.
He was a prep school chef in Boston,
worked at the Four Seasons in New York, and
managed several hotel restaurants before sell-ing
Eurostyle German-made cabinets. He also
designed several high-end appliance showroom
displays.
In his own home, he set a sleek, contemporary
tone without going stark white by following
the national trends he’s seen showcased at the
Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas.
That includes the uber commercial-quality
Bianco spray faucet.
All of his UltraCraft wall cabinets are bifold
and lift, he explains, allowing less obstruction.
When all are opened at once, access to storage
from one cabinet to another without restrictions
is conducted with grace and ease. The brushed
nickel, closed-end bar pulls add another stream-lined
touch.
“The trend is really for people to have a cleaner,
simpler line of cabinet. Everyone finally tired of
the Old World scrolled and corbeled elements
and realized that style requires a lot of taking
care of,” he says.
Decor is the driving force, but so is the
efficient use of space and the functionality of
basic tools.
“Appliances are very important not only for
me as a kitchen designer, but for the entire
kitchen industry,” Kevin says.
Markraft kitchen designer Kevin Briggs warms
his stark white and grayscale melamine accents
with walnut wood barstools and walnut stained
flooring that reverberate throughout the open
living and dining rooms in the St. James Planta-tion
home he shares with his wife, Susan.
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