Did you see the Cottage Living house in New Orleans? I did… and the one thing I was dying to know more about was that pantry door. So, tonight I’m surfing the web, looking at plumbing (which I obsess over) and what!? The story behind the door!? On Kohler‘s website… a free-for-the-taking video- easy to embed and share with my friends! Too good to be true!? No! Please watch the video… it’s great! I’d love to see more of the carpenter’s home too!
Matt Thompson’s (the carpenter’s) house is actually featured in that same issue!
Thank you for sharing this! I was absolutely in love with that New Orleans idea house and the pantry door was definitely part of the appeal. And the porch and the back patio and the shotgun style….
loved that pantry and his passion for his work showed!
He’s a cool guy… I think you’d be good friends with him. If it were you.. I bet you’d have Chance go rent some snorkel gear and a big crane and get those other 12 doors out.
I’m sure the water damage just added more character. Is the idea house still going on? Wouldn’t that be a fun road trip!?
We’re rehabbing which means I get to decorate!!! Any advice on magazines (I already make a day out of reading Cottage Living!) to read, or design resources to check out? I love your style.
My twin sister there (Darby) knows me well… when watching the video for the first time I thought “I bet those doors looked even better after they were water logged”. I guess the “funk” that would have been in the water might be a little too gross for a pantry door… but yes, sister, I probably would have pulled out my snorkel.
Peace kids.
As a person who pulled off the curb a 300 pound sink (with help of course!) I would love to see more of this house.
SO COOL! I wish my pantry looked that great!
and I’m obsessed with that house! I didn’t see it, but I saw most of the stuff after it was disassembled, and it was beautiful!
i’ve been to matt thompson’s house; my rental car broke down in front of it last year. he came out and pushed the car to the sidewalk and fixed it (!), bending over the motor with a rag, just like in the movies.
when we (my sister and i)went into the house to use the bathroom, i nearly sat down on the floor and cried. the house was shocking. it is more surprising in person than on film. EVERYTHING is handmade by him, the lamps, tables, chairs, mirrors, even the copper counters. it all sat in a refined, very tall space, quiet and naturally lit with 24 windows (i counted). it had a beautiful simplicity, and a sweet melancholy, too. you can see the whole house in a glance, nothing is hidden (except the bathrooms). the whole place was strangely put together, but thoughtful, too, especially in its color. my sister simply said, ‘what is this place? it is so weird and beautiful.’
matt came in and had a coke with us. he told us he has been in the cabinet trade in n.o. for 20 years. the building took him 4 years and he did all the carpentry and cabinet work himself. the building was a former neighborhood movie theatre, called ‘happyland.’ he has a huge cabinet shop in the back that is almost as beautiful as the house. looking at him, i noticed that he had sawdust in his hair and a thin film of it over his hands and face. ‘fairie dust,’ he said.
darby is right; he is a cool guy. he is also a good example of an artisan, working in a commercial trade, far outside the mainstream design world, but unknowingly working as a designer. that would make a good article. those types — largely isolated — are doing some of the most interesting stuff.
when we left two hours later, i took a picture of the house. it was the best thing in a great place (n.o.) matt stood on the stoop to watch us pull out. my sister looked at him in the mirror and said,’now, that is a prom date.’i agreed.