Lowell Kitchen Comes Together With Warmth

Jeri Dunn, senior vice president and chief information officer at Tyson Foods Inc., found the off-gold color for her kitchen walls on a drink coaster at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. She and husband Nasser Farshchian found everything else at Kitchen Distributors Inc. in Fayetteville.

Dunn said the couple’s goal was to create a kitchen where they could have fun cooking together. Dunn is famous in her family for stir-fried spicy beef and asparagus, and Nasser is the house master of salads and side dishes.

But Andi Stephens, a kitchen planning consultant at Kitchen Distributors Inc., said in addition to “fun,” the 450-SF creation came with another quality — romance.

“It’s really warm and cozy in there,” Stephens said. “It feels like you’re surrounded by furniture instead of a kitchen appliances. The wood finish is really warm, and although the kitchen is fairly grand, the paint and large window relaxes it a lot.”

The couple moved into their new Lowell home in mid-November, just in time to fully appreciate the afternoon Autumn sun through their 10- by 14-foot kitchen window. The design is country French — due largely to the heavy-door style, decorative hand carvings of grapes and woven baskets by Enkeboll of Carson, Calif., and maple cabinetry with glaze-aged sandstone stain.

Every appliance is fully integrated into the woodwork by Wood Mode Fine Custom Cabinetry of Kreamer, Pa., except for the stove. That appliance is a Five-Star brand with six burners, two ovens and a griddle. Two pull-out pantry units frame the stove.

The kitchen alone cost about $90,000, including about $18,000 in appliances and $12,000 for desert sand-colored granite counter tops that look like melted caramel.

Two Sub Zero freezers and a refrigerator are also hidden by cabinets, as well as the ice maker and humidity drawer. The galley section holds a sink and another integrated refrigeration unit, and the dish washer is raised for easy use.

Ceaser’s Painting & Remodeling of Lowell did the faux-finish walls that look like a cross between honey and gold.

“It’s just the most fun kitchen I’ve ever seen,” Dunn said. “There’s also a lot of natural light and under-counter lighting that makes it special. And when our backyard is finally finished, we’ll be able to see our guests out on the backyard deck around the pool from the kitchen.”

Stephens said she met with the couple, toured the house and drew up plans for Wood Mode. It took about 12 weeks for the hand-crafted cabinetry to be delivered to the 5,400-SF home.

Farshchian, vice president for corporate development at software leader Bristlecone, noted that the home also has computerized lighting systems and a home theater.

Kitchen Distributors carries factory-built kitchen models and does custom jobs.

Another company that does high-end custom pantry and laundry-room designs is Closets by Design in Springdale. Its owner, Gary Patterson, said he also prefers a collaborative approach with customers that can result in optimum space usage.

Closets by Design jobs can run from $100 more than $1,500, depending what the customer wants, Patterson said.