A kitchen with that certain something
"The kitchen is the heart of every home". Nowhere else is this truer than in France, the homeland of the art of cookery. Giving culinary delights an appropriate setting is part of the mission of Menuiserie & Agencement Gérard from La Bresse in the Vosges region of Eastern France. Founded in 1987 by Daniel Gérard, this family business specialises in high-quality interior finishing for private customers and the catering trade, and has always set the bar high when it comes to choice of materials, design and production. Today, the company is run by the two sons of the founder: Romain, who has a degree in Interior Design and a wealth of experience as a carpenter, electrician and plumber, is responsible for customer service and also manages installation. Arnaud, who studied Wood Technology, is the project manager and takes care of production, where he has made huge progress in terms of digitalisation. As a designer, their sister Océane provides creative input in the planning of their interior design concepts.
Contemporary materials
The signature style of the three siblings is very apparent, both in the joinery hall, which is equipped with all the latest technology, and in the unusual projects that are planned and produced there. For example, the twenty-strong Gérard team realised an unusual redesign for a rustic chalet in the style of a country house. The new design for the kitchen provides quite a contrast with its modern, clear lines and unusual materials. The starting point for the design came from some ceramic slabs by Dekton Laurent which the owners had chosen for the worktops, the rear walls and the fronts of the kitchen island. The cloudy dark grey colour of this special ceramic material, interspersed with light-coloured lines that give the effect of lightning bolts, is continued on the dark grey kitchen fronts, which are given added horizontal structure by their copper-coloured handles. The plinths are also copper-coloured and bring a feeling of lightness to the kitchen furniture through the use of indirect lighting. For an elegant look and to ensure a high degree of durability, the plinths and handles were first coated with the coloured furniture paint Pigmopur and then with ADLER Brilliant-Metallic, in both cases using the colour "Kupfer", and were then given a finishing coat of the clear varnish Pigmotop. As with all their other paints, varnishes, stains and oils, the company purchases these products through ADLER's French paint trading partner LH-Color. "The unique quality of the products, together with the outstanding service and competent advice that we get from the experts at LH-Color, forms a sound basis for this important partnership," as the two managing directors explain.
Wood with character
Elements of reclaimed oak on the kitchen island and above the work surface give the kitchen design that certain something. Historical oak beams were made into veneer, and the cracks and nail holes filled with black ADLER Poly-Feinspachtel. The veneer was then applied to black core-coloured MDF boards and given vertical grooves to create an attractive shadow gap effect. The wood was then finished and protected with ADLER's PUR-Strong furniture varnish in gloss level G10, which gives it an elegant matt sheen. The wooden elements create a connection between the contemporary use of materials in the kitchen and the cosy chalet atmosphere.
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