Creative, ‘Homey’ Designs Mark Family
Dealership
by Daina Darzin
CHESTER, NJ – Designer Lois Perry Kirk of Kitchens Unique Inc. by
Lois is an NKBA award-winner whose work has appeared in national
magazines – and whose husband and both daughters work in her “very
family-oriented” business. It’s this combination of “homey” and
“high-end” that’s reflected in her designs, which bring an
unfitted, down-to-earth warmth to high-end, luxury kitchen and bath
installations.
Originally a furniture designer, Kirk was taking time off and
working out of her home, only designing a few kitchens a year – and
her competition objected. “Other kitchen dealers were very upset
with that whole situation, that she was buying direct and didn’t
have a showroom, [so] she was pushed into opening a showroom,”
explains treasurer Wendy Gizzi, who is also Kirk’s daughter. Kirk
opened a tiny office in 1981 – and, ironically enough, was soon
eclipsing the very competition that forced her to expand her
operation.
Stepping up tile
The tile design division began, inadvertently, when Kitchens Unique
designers got tired of driving into New York with clients to look
at tile samples, and decided to start making their own. Gizzi
explains that designers at Kitchens Unique by Lois work with
several different artists on tile design, and keep current by going
to seminars and seeking out new tile looks from different parts of
the world. “We paint on stone, use matte finishes, apply more
texture and mix different things: tile with stone, some gloss
[with] some matte,” she notes.
In addition to its tile division, the dealer stresses innovative
designs which have subsequently become major trends. “Fourteen
years ago, she started doing two-tone kitchen [cabinets]. Back
then, it wasn’t the norm. The first cabinets she ordered that way,
the cabinet manufacturer thought the order was a mistake,” Gizzi
recalls with a laugh. That particular kitchen became a national
award winner, and Kirk “started developing more furniture-quality
kitchens, incorporating legs and [multiple] door styles,” says
Gizzi. “She’s always been a pioneer, [and] she’s always been into
textures and multiple finishes, heights, depths, bringing a lot of
warmth to a room.
“When you look in your living room, you don’t see all one color,
one texture; you see a lot of [different looks],” Gizzi continues.
The idea of a kitchen is to blend with the rest of the home, not
where “you have friends sitting in the family room, [and] they see
the linoleum floor and cabinets the same height [and think], ‘That
must be the kitchen.'”
Similarly, in bathrooms, Gizzi believes, “You really want that
warmth in there, natural stones, texture; [you don’t want]
everything sleek and hard.”
Current kitchen projects feature range hoods that seem more like
fireplace mantles and brick backsplashes, to bring more of a hearth
feeling to the kitchen cooking area, Gizzi notes. Unfitted,
free-standing pieces, such as islands with legs that resemble an
old-time farm kitchen table, are also a part of the equation.
“We’re going back to the way things used to be, when people
gathered around that fireplace, and had the big farmer’s table in
the middle of the kitchen,” Gizzi explains. “We have three kitchen
designers [now] and a tile designer working with our clients, so I
think everyone’s needs are pretty much met.”
Home office design
In recent years, Kitchens Unique has also expanded to home offices
and libraries. “Everyone is going home to work now,” says Gizzi.
“People usually work better in their own environment. We’re finding
that everybody lives a little differently, so they really need a
custom [design] around them instead of putting up basic home center
cabinetry. We try to create an environment where people walking
into that room feel like they’re in business.”
Lighting that maximizes a computer area and executive
office-quality furniture are important components of this, Gizzi
elaborates. “They’re used to being around a nice environment, so
why not at home? They can have beautiful cherry paneling, and a
rolling ladder [against a bookcase] with all their books on it, a
beautiful desk, a warm environment, someplace they want to
be.”
First incorporated in 1981, Kitchens Unique does full installation
as well as design, with some consistent, long-term relationships
with contractors for plumbing and the like. “Word of mouth was our
biggest asset,” Gizzi says about the company’s growth. Kitchens
Unique doesn’t advertise in the Yellow Pages or
newspapers, preferring upscale, Architectural Digest-type
magazines.
The firm’s only two complaints? “We’re looking for good employees,
[which] is hard,” says Gizzi, who jokes that having all the
principals be family members can also have its disadvantages. “It’s
hard to keep [work] away from us during down time,” she
explains.
“On holidays, the conversation around the table is all
business.”
At a Glance
KITCHENS UNIQUE INC. BY LOIS
Principals: Lois Perry Kirk, ASID, president;
Chuck Kirk, v.p.; Robin K. Holzapfel, treasurer; Wendy K. Gizzi,
secretary
Showrooms: one, 3,000 sq. ft.
Hours of operation: Mon. – Fri., 10-5; Sat., 10 –
4; eves. by appointment
Employees: Nine
Major product lines: Heritage, Viking, Sub-Zero,
DACOR
Design Software: CADKIT
Specialties: Design-focused, award-winning
high-end kitchens, bathrooms, home office and libraries;
custom-made tile
Business philosophy: “We’re focused on a person’s
wants, needs and lifestyle. That’s the important thing.”