hen Hudson resident and interior designer Mary Jack of Mary Jack Design was redoing her kitchen in 2015, her home was always busy with the activities of her then-15-, 17- and 20-year-old children, so she focused her redesign on creating a sense of calm.
“That was a jumping-off point — finding some serenity in the kitchen,” Jack says.
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Photo by Alexandra Sobczak
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Photo by Alexandra Sobczak
She achieved that through a tranquil white-and-blue color palette and a vaulted ceiling with a skylight. It’s all part of a balanced design that incorporates both curvilinear and rectilinear lines, such as curved accents on the rectangular cabinets and a curved custom stainless-steel range hood above a custom water-jet mosaic marble backsplash that features curving leaves within a rectangular frame.
“I like keeping the feel- ing light and airy,” says Jack, whose home was featured in the June Hudson Home and Garden Tour. “I find that when I combine curvilinear form and rectilinear form, I achieve a sense of balance in a room, so it doesn’t feel too harsh, nor does it feel too soft.”
Jack describes some other ingredients of her artful design.
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Photo by Alexandra Sobczak
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Photo by Alexandra Sobczak
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Photo by Alexandra Sobczak
CHINA COLLECTION: In her home, Jack incorporates meaningful art and family heirlooms. One of the most stunning displays is on the custom cherry-topped sideboard — her collection of china she inherited from her mother, grandmothers and great-grandmothers, which is also set on the nearby round dining table that’s complete with antique Regency mahogany upholstered dining chairs from England that belonged to Jack’s grandmother. The plates, platters, bowls, a tea set and more are primarily Allerton’s blue willow and flow blue English transferware. “I wanted to feature this beautiful collection,” Jack says.
CABINETRY: Jack collaborated with Deanna Carleton of Kitchen Design Group to completely transform the cabinetry. She had the previously dark maple cabinets painted white and added crown molding. “That was important to me, architecturally, to bring the scale of the room down while still enjoying the vault,” Jack says. “I put in this crown molding, and that helps to give the cabinetry an end point.” She also chose to have some cabinets with glass doors, some with solid white doors and some open, to create differences in depth.
HARDWARE: Against the white cabinetry, polished nickel hardware stands out, matching the faucet in the sink, which sits within the white quartzite countertop. “It shows this beautiful, polished nickel and then echoed that finish in this beautiful faucet by Waterstone,” Jack says. “I feel like hardware is the jewelry in the kitchen.” The same faucet is also across the room in the hammered stainless-steel bar sink on the built-in quartzite-topped sideboard, which features a paneled mini fridge below it and a display of family heirloom glassware and barware on the glass- fronted shelves above it.
FIREPLACE: Formerly exposed brick from the ceiling to the hearth, the white fireplace now features a custom mantel- piece, wallboard, crown molding and black-honed granite, and you can see through it to the living room. The family often uses it during cooler months. Atop the mantel sits more blue-and-white English transferware vases, planters and a serving dish, and above it hangs a print of Claude Monet’s “Marine (Sea Study).” “I saw the image ... I felt like I was entering into the ocean,” says Jack. “I love the brushstrokes and all the colors. ... I find those colors really easy to live with.”
