Taken literally, a kitchen can be modest, as functional as a garage, and as eye-catching. Not so at the home of itinerant designer Michelle Nussbaumer. “I've toed the line of maximalism for the past 30 years,” says the dynamo behind his 11,000-square-foot showroom, Ceylon et Cie, in Dallas.
As Nussbaumer outfitted her newly renovated warehouse home in Dallas with her husband, Bernard, she stuck to her mantra: “Do what's not trendy, do what's responsive.''She installed the equivalent four Kitchen: The main kitchen (with walk-in porcelain pantry) and bootlegger are located on the first floor, while the second floor features a full art kitchen and cocktail bar for entertaining.
Inside Nussbaumer's 18,000-square-foot warehouse home, there's a maze of kitchens, terraces, and studio spaces.
When they're not in Dallas, the couple frequently retreats to a 16th-century plantation in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. In the main kitchen, a Mayan mural ties together the room's reddish pinks and bold blues. “I like to incorporate whatever makes me happy into my kitchen.” Nussbaumer says. Innovative Thermador appliances (a brand she's used for decades) and Hudson Valley light fixtures, both available from Ferguson's Bath, Kitchen & Lighting gallery, make the space highly functional. I am. “I like that most of the appliances are invisible; they're all behind lacquered doors,” she explains. “There's something fascinating about it.”
Nussbaumer created an ode to Parisian cooking spaces in his art studio. “It's very small, but everything you need is in it,” he says, pointing to a secret drawer in the refrigerator. The walls, IKEA cabinets, and even the range hood are wrapped in custom vinyl printed with Nussbaumer's unique ikat pattern.
Nussbaumer studied set design in college, so his theatricality is not surprising. “For me, it's fun to have moments of fantasy. A lot of designers started in theater, like Renzo Mongiardino and Tony Duquette, but this is lifelong theater. Nothing really changes.”
main kitchen
“The whole house has an Art Deco feel,” Nussbaumer says. “But we also wanted a warehouse feel.” Unpolished concrete walls and exposed steel beams were lined with shiny surfaces, bold colors, and antiques.
Artist Francisco Moreno's Mayan-inspired murals, created entirely using Benjamin Moore paints, provide an energetic complement to Hudson Valley Lighting's chandeliers. “It's really large, but it works well with everything that's going on here,” Nussbaumer says. sink and faucet: Elkei. dishwasher (with panel fronts on both sides of the sink): Thermador.
dowel gardner bar stool
thibaud eastwood smoke wallpaper
Hudson Valley Lighting Allendale
speakeasy
“The whole room has a sexy, smoky vibe,” says Nussbaumer. Literally: “If you want to smoke, you can smoke a cigar here.”
A built-in Thermador coffee maker keeps track of Nussbaumer's favorite drink orders, and an Elkei water dispenser (and sink and faucet) boosts her daily intake. pendant: corvette lighting. counter top: Burlington Design Gallery. Painting the cabinet: Benjamin Moore. Glass products: Neiman Marcus. Speed oven: Thermador.
Corbett Lighting Bloomley
benjamin moore el cajon clay paint
Thermador Coffee Machine with Home Connect
pantry
Chinese tea caddy and glass jars are used for pantry storage. Beneath the two doors is a porcelain pantry that mirrors that layout, but houses slightly fancier loot.
The design was inspired by Rosenborg Castle in Denmark. “I like to mix Grandma's dinner plates with Target salad plates,” Nussbaumer says. “Everything feels so new and fun.” countertop: Cosentino's Bergen Dekton. wallpaper: Mitchell Black.
art kitchen
Nussbaumer's own ikat prints are combined with the thibaud on the ceiling to embody the designer's trademark pattern play. Cooking for her husband here, she says, “makes us feel rejuvenated and far away again.”
Red and blue Thibault Jouy wallpaper
cocktail bar
Nussbaumer created this Art Deco piece in a room with 18-foot ceilings. “We really enjoyed surrounding it with the cracked, geometric silestone by Cosentino,” she says.
“I had kept a photo of a mural I saw in Paris, and Paul Montgomery helped me recreate it on silver Mylar wallpaper,” Nussbaumer says of the mural. The mural is reminiscent of Rudyard Kipling's 1894 Mowgli. Jungle Book. pendant: Troy lighting. counter top and surround: Cosentino's Ete Noir Silestone. Bar stool: Fabricated cotton mod shop. hardware: Mtech. Floor tiles: This is a tile shop.
Donghia Origami Occasion Table
Fabricat Vervain Summer Secret Garden
Emtek Trinity Appliance Pull
How Nussbaumer achieved the big drama
mixed floor tiles
To increase the availability of Lili Cement Tile's Lorraine and Malta two patterns for the art kitchen floor, Ms. Nussbaumer wove a simple red terracotta 5000 tile for a custom design.
Trimming statements
Plain molding — who needs that? Surrounding the main kitchen doorway with The Tile Shop's dark red Rosso Marquina transforms it into an otherworldly portal.
mural
Presiding over food and drink are Mayan gods (works by Francisco Moreno made with Benjamin Moore paints in the main kitchen). jungle bookMowgli (written by Cocktail Bar's Paul Montgomery).
patterned cabinet
Nussbaumer had an auto body shop wrap the IKEA cabinets in her art kitchen in her own red and blue ikat.
jewel-like hardware
Accent is everywhere. Check out Emtek's sparkling gold-leaf drawer pulls and the faceted octagonal handles on the porcelain pantry door.
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