NKBA Professional Spotlight
Pinnacle of Design Winner
2010 NKBA Design Competition
James Howard, CKD, CBD
Glen Alspaugh Company
St. Louis, MO
James Howard, CKD, CBD took this high-rise condominium kitchen and the focused wishes of his client and crafted an open plan kitchen of almost contradictory perfection. The contradiction of this space surfaces with the environment of a welcoming farm kitchen paired with the view from a city high-rise.
Howard’s professional history stems back to his childhood and Saturdays spent in the New York cabinet shop of his Italian immigrant grandfather. The old-world charm of this contemporary design seems an inherent product of the designer’s formative years spent under the tutelage of his craftsman grandfather. After graduating from a vocational drafting program in high school and time spent as a draftsman and photographer in the military, he followed a Fine Arts major in college. A diverse career, which included positions held in architectural, engineering and industrial architecture firms, eight years teaching high school drafting, owner of a remodeling firm, and owner of an antique furniture shop and restoration business, finally landed him at Glen Alspaugh Kitchens and Baths where he has been for the past 26 years.
Howard labels the predominant style in his designs as “market-driven traditional old world style with a heavy emphasis on French-Mediterranean details.” Due to the St. Louis roots in French and Spanish culture, this is a popular styling seen in the area and one that is heavily ornamented. He describes this project as “a welcome departure from the local fare” and also says that it required a break from his own biases and toning down his designs. “The homeowner was pleasantly persistent in her quest for an open plan with simplicity of details and an aged look,” says Howard.
Beginning with the client’s existing selection of a Golden Water Onyx countertop with under lighting, Howard joined the project and began collaborating on this sprawling kitchen that offers a welcome embrace, from the moment you enter.
Some of the conveniences afforded the homeowner are a built-in coffee machine, microwave drawer, warming drawer, double ovens, double built-in refrigerator and freezer, ice maker, single touch pad programmable lighting controls, and water treatment systems.
Working with an interior designer, the color palette of red/green stained wood combination was selected early in the project, with refinements as it progressed. Beginning with a red finished hutch from the designer’s showroom as a color of interest, along with a sample of Barn Red, several colors were tried before settling on a light green, which was applied to cherry wood.
The worn-appearing green cabinetry has a comfortably broken-in feel, that of a rugged but refined farmhouse kitchen that has seen many family meals in its midst. The green finish is called “Payne Gray” and has an undercoat of “Barn Red” applied to a tongue and groove cherry wood with crackle and various aging techniques. The dark oak finish on the upper bar was also used on the refrigerator and lower bar cabinetry. This selection was made for its appropriateness to the look of an antique oak ice box.
An experienced and well-rounded designer’s willingness to bend away from a region-driven style, the “pleasant persistence” and concise ideas of a client, as well as the joint collaboration of a talented interior designer and architect, brought this high-rise space to life. With every copper, wood, stone, tin, and appliance detail, the fine pieces of an intricate puzzle were linked together into a radiant example of old-world craftsmanship—the type that began Howard’s foray into his profession many years earlier.
Headshot photo by Barlow Productions / Kitchen photos by Alise O’Brien Photography