Toronto-based
Greentea Design
has a special place in my heart: not only do they design, build and
sell some of the most beautiful kitchen cabinetry available anywhere -
in beautiful Japanese-influenced styles that are a perfect match for
any Mission or Craftsman home - but they also carry a range of both
antique and contemporary reclaimed-wood furniture, some in historic
Craftsman and Japanese designs and others in more contemporary shapes.
And the prices, even including the (very professional and speedy)
shipping from Canada are surprisingly low, making them competitive with
any of the larger semi-custom cabinet makers out there, even while
using better materials and sturdier building techniques.
While
many of their signature pieces - step tansu and other room-defining
wood furniture items - are gorgeous, it's that line of
kitchen cabinets
that I keep coming back to. Sold as custom kitchen sets or as
individual stock pieces, the grain of the wood, beautiful (and
exclusive to Greentea) hand-forged hardware and trim detail is both
Asian and Craftsman at the same time, with enough character to be
beautiful and enough attention to design to be eminently useful. Their
Loft Kitchen
custom design, above, is a combination of the various Mizuya cabinets,
including an island and a full range of wall cabinets and accessories;
other past custom kitchens have included the simplified
Asian Bistro, minimalist
Zen Modern, and
Chalet Chic, which was tailored for a more open, airy space. Of course,
each piece is available by itself
as well - all the islands, hutches, wall and base cabinets and pantries
you could possibly need are available piecemeal should you wish to
design your own kitchen, amd all can be installed in a fixed position
or left free-standing (for a movable island, for example). The custom
design services offered are impressive - Greentea's staff of furniture
and room designers are more than happy to assist with your own custom
project or do the work for you; their staff worked extensively with Kim
Johnson, owner of a 100-year-old home in Ottawa, on her
recent remodel, and the results were very impressive; Kim blogged the entire process on her website,
Design to Inspire.
I'm
very happy to have a piece of theirs up in my own modern Craftsman
kitchen, and I hope to have a few photographs of it soon; a smaller
version of the Dana cabinet (pictured above; mine is a similar to what
sits above the glass cabinets on the right and left of this unit)
completes the rear wall of that recently-remodeled room in my 1925
Mission Revival bungalow in Sacramento, California, and it's a perfect
complement for the bamboo floors, stone countertops and glass tile
backsplash that round out the project. Some day, I'd like to own one of
their step tansus,
which I have always maintained are the perfect bridge between an
austere Asian design style and the earthy workmanship of the Craftsman
aesthetic. And they're running a special "Stepping Into Summer"
promotion right now, with 20% discounts on these unique pieces,
including the Elm Burl step tansu, shown below.
Owner
Dale Storer has worked hard to make sure that Greentea's products
complement a wide range of architectural styles, though, and much of
their more contemporary designs would look at home whether in a
traditional Japanese home, a Craftsman bungalow, or a modern high-tech
apartment. The Lattice TV Stand,
pictured below, hides components behind a latticed sliding door that
still allows remote controls to function, and is just as good a match
for an urban loft as it is for a 90-year-old brown-shingle Craftsman
bungalow. Every one of these pieces is made from reclaimed wood, and
all come in a variety of finishes with different types of hardware
available as well. Mike Ramsey writes that the reclaimed wood usually
comes from "aging rural structures
that are being taken down to make way for Asia's rapidly expanding
urban centers. The Maru tables are the best example since they're
turned into tables directly from being reclaimed. The original supports
are cut into legs who have correspondingly sized holes cut in the base
of the slabs of floor."
Their antiques
stock, some of which is on hand at their Toronto showroom, is also
worth checking out; I'm partial to the large selection of all sorts of
Japanese tansu, but they also carry plenty of Chinese and Korean pieces as well.
I'm not so used to giving such praise to a business - as regular
readers know, I'm pretty stingy with compliments and generous with
criticism, which is certainly a fault. However, after dealing with this
company myself and going gaga over their website, I just wanted to make
sure you were all as familiar with them as I've become. After seeing so
many (primarily) Japanese antiques blend so well with the large
shingled Craftsman homes of California, but noticing the absence of
same elsewhere in the country, I thought perhaps most people didn't
realize that the two styles matched so well.
If you're in or near Toronto, definitely check out the Greentea showroom; otherwise, spend a few minutes browsing their website, or call them at 1.866.426.7286 to talk with someone about your kitchen design or furniture needs.
I've made a small Flickr album for photos of their work; I'll soon add a good shot of the Dana cabinet in my own kitchen; those of you who already have Greentea cabinets, please do send me your photos, and I'll add them as well!
.
addresses issues of craft and work that will be important and thought-provoking to anyone interested in the philosophies behind the Arts & Crafts movement, and I look forward to getting my copy as soon as my local bookshop has it in stock.
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