Awesome Master Bath by In Detail Kitchen and Bath
1 September 2010
“Find Out What It Means To Me”
I have often commented on the education I’ve received while writing these blogs for over two-and-half years now, but the other thing that I have found particularly rewarding is the cyber friendships I have been making with people I’ve not actually met! This year has been particularly exciting because I have gotten to “know” a fair number of interior designers whose work I very much respect, one of whom is the subject of today’s blog, namely Cheryl Kees Clendenon.
Cheryl owns In Detail Kitchens and Baths in Pensacola, Florida, and has been knockin’ ‘em dead for as long as she’s been there, pretty much. She has an incredibly long list of featured articles and awards won-and frankly-some awards she should have won, but didn’t. But the main thing, the whole thing, is her body of work. It’s why she’s as busy as she is during an economic turndown that has adversely impacted just about all of us. The first blog I wrote on Cheryl was entitled “Appassionata,” because, really, that’s her. Since then, we have gotten to “know” each other somewhat, and it is more apparent to me than ever that it is this passion that both fuels her design work and makes her the interior designer she is. And it’s given rise to a different sort of blog for me.
Those who succeed in transforming woodworking from a nice hobby into a successful business come in all sizes and shapes, but there are experiences common to us all. Although some of us now have large modern shops, we all started in a garage; our first professional job was badly underbid; and all of us have a horror story to tell about a designer.
The problems revolve around competency, communications, and ethics. Being a woodworker, I naturally tend to view things from that perspective, but in talking to Cheryl about the subject matter for today’s blog, the glorious walnut bathroom we see here, we got on the subject of designer-cabinetmaker relations, and it was quite an eye opener for me. What I’ve learned is that it’s kind of a dance, this thing of having a cabinetmaker who can be trusted working with an interior designer who can be trusted. I know quite a few cabinetmakers who really hate to work with interior designers because of the issues they have with them but, man, if you could just get the right one, you would have the benefit of their designs and your skills and, oh, the places you could go! The bathroom design we feature here is very much a case in point-and it’s what got me going on this subject in the first place.
When I asked Cheryl about her inspiration for the bathroom itself, she said, “In this case I wanted an elegant but organic feel. That is not easy to pull off, and it is a large bathroom that could have easily ended up feeling ‘too large.’ Visual space is good, but the Master Bath shouldn’t end up feeling like a wide open dance floor. The teak platform where the tub sits takes up some space in the bath. I cannot recall exactly my inspiration on this layout, but I know I started with the organic feel I wanted. I also liked the idea of shower and tub ‘together’ but not tied together, so the shower opens to the teak platform.”
But, obviously in order for the bathroom to work there needs to be more than just the ideas Cheryl had floating around in her head. There was also the cabinetry itself, which certainly got MY attention! It is clearly genuine walnut, not wood that has been stained to look like walnut, and the book-matched panel to the left of the sink is a sure sign of plywood that has been laid up by hand.
Speaking of her cabinetmaker, Cheryl said, “I like him because he is always willing to try something new, and he does not make ‘executive’ decisions. In the vanity shot, most people may not realize it, but we spent several days figuring out the best way to transition the vanity. Several issues were involved, and he worked and reworked it until we had it just the way we wanted it. Yes, it takes time, and time is money, but he is always willing to do it.”
And that, in turn, led me to this blog, because in getting the details of the design process I also learned quite a bit about the project realization itself. Talking to someone like Cheryl-and, please, all you interior designers out there who have paid your dues, I’m talking about you too-but talking to someone like her, I say, is very much an education. The frustration, from her end of things at times, though, is an old one, simple sexism.
The problem women face in many 
quarters is constantly having to prove themselves. She told me about an incident with an electrician who had wired the oven plug quite some distance from where she had it on her plan and then tried to bluster his way through it until she broke out a tape measure. Or the many times when she sees the “this lady don’t know nothing” look on the face of a subcontractor and knows she has a battle on her hands to get the job done. I have to admit that I have difficulty relating to that part of things, in part because of my sex, of course, but in larger part simply because misogyny, in all of its forms has always been alien to me. I know it goes on; I have never understood why. The coin of my realm is ability; people can or cannot. And when I listen to someone like her rattle off the specifics of a prospective job, it’s so obvious she knows what she’s doing that my sole response is “Yes, ma’am!”
Cheryl has a firm handle on what works and what doesn’t work, but it’s tempered with a decided knowledge; it is never just because it “feels” right. She always has a reason, and she always fights for it. When I asked her who won the inev
itable “vision battles” between client and interior designer, she said, “I work hard to understand the clients’ needs and wishes and interpret them accurately for them, not for my own ego. A Cheryl-designed space is all about the client, not all about me. And that is the way it should be in my opinion, and the reason why I think I have such varied projects represented. But, OK, I usually do win. Only because I care. And why else are they paying me for my opinion if not to listen?”
Ultimately, the person in charge has to be the interior designer, because that’s the one with the vision, really. That is not to say that cabinetmakers don’t see things, too, but in the end, what we do is largely subordinate to what the interior designers are doing. IF they have paid their dues. Some of them get no further than learning about the NKBA Kitchen & Bathroom Planning Guidelines and standard interior designer discounts; they know nothing at all about the underlying trades that make their designs possible. But for the others, and Cheryl is certainly one, let’s fire up a chorus of R-E-S-P-E-C-T. By God, they’ve earned it!
Joseph
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2 Responses to “Awesome Master Bath by In Detail Kitchen and Bath”
September 1st, 2010 at 11:03 PM
Thank you Joseph for a “wow” introduction and story on me and this bath! I really appreciate your comments and continuing support…although I think you had me when after first “meeting” in cyberspace, I mentioned my daughter ( who is a senior now!) wanted to be a writer..and you wrote her a fabulous letter on being a writer, following your dreams and words of encouragement.
It was a heartfelt gesture across the country to a perfect stranger and I could not have been more tickled by it…as well as keeping up my faith in the “human” aspect of “humanity”. As always enjoyed reading your post!:)
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:33 AM
What a wonderful post! You obviously have a lot of respect for Cheryl- and it seems like she deserves it. The bathroom is gorgeous- I love walnut cabinets & tweak platform.