This Art Deco kitchen remodel in Orinda was developed in collaboration with an architect and an interior designer. The designer chose the rich cobalt and gold fabric for the kitchen banquette; the architect worked with her on translating that design language into the pantry door and transom. The result was a unified program: pantry door, transom, and three cabinet door panels, all in a cohesive Art Deco vocabulary.

The geometric precision that Art Deco demands required a non-standard approach to soldering. Before each joint was soldered, the surrounding lead lines were taped off so the solder deposits could be shaped precisely — crisp and angular, echoing the design language rather than pooling freely as solder normally does.

The pantry door presented a structural challenge. A large panel with a converging linear design has points of structural vulnerability where the lead lines meet, and a door that opens and closes hundreds of times a year has to hold. A custom steel brace bar system was designed to follow the exact lines of the fan motif, with each intersection notched and welded into a solid grill. The kitchen has an interior light panel; when it's on, the brace bar system disappears entirely into the design.