For many years, Martin Vecchio Photography has been KSI Kitchen & Bath’s professional photographer of choice when it comes to capturing our designers’ amazing work- so we were honored and delighted when Martin came to us for help in designing his new kitchen with Dura Supreme Cabinetry! After photographing so many Dura Supreme cabinet projects over the years, Martin had a pretty good idea what cabinetry he wanted for his kitchen and what company he wanted to design his dream kitchen.
Martin and his family bought a retired firehouse in Detroit, Michigan to realize his dream of creating a live/work studio. He wanted to retain the firehouse’s charm and character while incorporating his modern and creative style (I mean, he is a photographer!). Martin planned to handle all of his own installations; he had already spent a great deal of time renovating the firehouse into living quarters and restoring its original details such as wainscoting, flooring, and trim.
A Kitchen Vision Brought to Life
When it came time to design the new kitchen, Martin had a specific aesthetic in mind. He reached out to our team, at KSI Kitchen and Bath, to help bring his vision to life. We explored his design ideas and inspiration, ultimately selecting Dura Supreme Bria full-access cabinetry to achieve a modern look with maximum functionality. It didn’t take long until we arrived at an exciting combination of Dura Supreme’s “Graphite” and “Pearl” paints on Dura’s Reese door style.
Dura Supreme’s Reese door style in “Graphite” paint.
Photography by Martin
Mixing the Old with the New
In contrast to the contemporary cabinetry, reclaimed materials played a part in the design as well. Martin repurposed wood that he had torn out elsewhere in the remodel for use in the innovative bridge feature in front of the window and the floating shelves on both sides of the range!
The Challenge of a 2nd Story Kitchen Remodel
The kitchen is on the second floor and is accessed only by a narrow stairwell. This provided a unique physical challenge for our delivery team, who had to carry each cabinet up by hand. Other aspects of getting the materials in place were even more challenging – Martin had to rent a forklift to carefully raise his soapstone countertops up to a second-story window from the outside!
A New Kitchen with Award-Winning Results!
Photographing architecture for a living certainly gives Martin a unique perspective in understanding function and beauty in the kitchen. In a delightful affirmation of his vision, his kitchen went on to win a pair of national awards: the 2022 Best Kitchen $75,000 – $150,000 Gold Award from Kitchen & Bath Design News as well as the Gold Award for Kitchen, $75K-$125K in the Remodeling Category at the 2022 NAHB Best in American Living Awards! It also recently won the 2023 Detroit Design Awards for best Loft/Condo.
“For us, the best part about our Dura Supreme cabinets is all about durability. From the box construction, to slide hardware and hinges, down to the finish.” explained Martin. “We have two small kids who like to explore, climb up drawers, slam doors, hang off of things, play hide and seek and smear dirty hands all over cabinet doors and kick with their feet under the island. It’s essential that our investment can handle these sorts of abuses. We’re about a year and a half in, and the cabinets are still looking and performing as new.”
Kitchen Design: Tori Olijar of KSI Kitchen & Bath, Michigan. Learn more at: ksikitchens.com
Photography: Martin Vecchio of Martin Vecchio Photography, Detroit, Michigan. Learn more at: www.martinvecchio.photography.
Cabinetry: Dura Supreme Cabinetry’s Reese door style in a combination of the “Graphite” and “Pearl” paint finishes.