Dan Doyle on Designing an Industrial Kitchen

Dan Doyle discusses how he designed a sturdy, industrial kitchen in St. Helena, California.

By Christine Pittel

Christine Pittel: You're tough! I see raw steel, rough wood, open shelves...

Dan Doyle: I like open shelves. I did one sketch with standard upper cabinets, but it looked too tame. My wife said we'd be dusting glasses all the time. I said, 'Just trust me. It will be great.'

What's the inspiration?

I was going for an industrial look. Those shelves were salvaged from an old mill. They're thick and heavy, and then you have the weight of the dishes and glassware on top. I needed something substantial to support them and went to this great steel fabricator who made the brackets. I drew up the hood, and they made that, too.

Very solid and simple. Everything has a certain heft. Those legs on the island look like railroad ties.

You're close. They're about the same size, but they're actually timbers from an Ohio barn. I needed a big chunk of wood to hold those old swing stools.

So clever. When you don't need them, they're out of the way.

And it's easy to clean up all the crumbs on the floor when the kids are done eating. I found them on 1stdibs.com. They came out of an old schoolhouse, and there was still century-old gum stuck to the bottom of them when they arrived. I don't like linear seating on an island, so I had them turn the corner. When people sort of face each other, conversation is more comfortable.

That's a big island. Why not put a sink or a cooktop on it?

I prefer to position a sink at a window, to pick up the view. And I don't typically put a cooktop on an island because I don't want to deal with hanging a hood. Downdrafts, in my opinion, aren't that effective. And it's nice to just have a big open workspace.

Was the kitchen always this big?

No. I reengineered the roof of the house to take it up from 8 to 13 feet at the peak, and also took down a wall between the kitchen and the living room. Those old beams are just decorative, to add some interest to the ceiling.

What's on the walls?

It's brick, sliced into a thin piece and covered with a milky glaze. But the surface is pitted, so you get quite a bit of texture. It was a way of getting the industrial look of brick without the brick being in your face.

Why did you choose a darker grout?

To pop the pattern a bit more. It's a putty color, and I used the same shade on the cabinets. I told my cabinetmakers to beat up the wood a bit so it looks like it's been around the block. I didn't want a high-gloss finish next to everything else. The drawer fronts on the island are also made of old wood. And then I put a slab of good old Carrara marble on top. Honed, not polished. It does etch when you leave citrus and stuff on it, but I think it just adds to the patina.

Who's the cook in the family?

Me, mostly, but that's just because my hours are more flexible. It has nothing to do with aptitude, although I do enjoy baking cookies with my daughter.

Any treats in here for the cook?

Well, that faucet is an amazing tool. It has the commercial look I wanted, but it's not three feet tall, like some of them are. And the spray is so powerful, it can clean just about anything. The wine refrigerator is also great — we're in Napa County, after all, and you've got to have plenty of wine storage! But as I look around, I think the real treat in this kitchen is its uniqueness. Those antique lights are not something you see every day. They've even got a little knob, where it looks like you once poured in the kerosene. I like great old details like that. All of the handmade elements add a lot of character.