True Rustic Old World Home Design Doesn't Come from a Catalogue

True Rustic Old World Home Design Doesn't Come from a Catalogue

Handworked detail of true old-world craftsmanship along with custom woodworking and design is the key to an authentic look.

(PRWEB) May 30, 2007 -- In today's cookie-cutter world of laminate flooring and polyurethane molding, achieving an authentic old-world style, such as Tuscan or Mediterranean, can be difficult. Tuscan style, with its full arches, tiles, textured walls, and rough-hewn wood floors and surfaces makes a bold and artistic, yet extremely comforting and welcoming statement. Although the look can be approximated with modern building techniques and mass-produced flooring, cabinetry, and woodworking, the key word is approximated.

I did a project not long ago where they had a very old, beautiful armoire in the family room which was connected to the kitchen space

Crucial to creating a whole-house feel with a look such as Tuscan, says leading San Francisco Bay Area kitchen designer Kimberly Larzelere, is working with a company that delivers complementing one-of-a-kind home design details which can only be achieved by woodworking artisans skilled in custom woodworking and design. "All the different surfaces--the countertop materials, the flooring materials, the textures on the walls, the hood element, the tiles, the hand hewn beams--it's all of those elements that complete the old-world character of the space. These need to integrate with the architectural features like the arched openings and high ceilings, ironwork and lighting fixtures."

When possible, Larzelere also appreciates dealing with a single resource for the individual elements in a home, because they can provide a cohesive look throughout. "I deal with one specific company whose finishes and home design techniques, which many other companies cannot achieve, flow throughout all the different elements and tie them together," she says.

"There are a lot of companies out there that mass-produce carved, detailed moulding and woodwork on a laser machine," Larzelere continues. Working with Renaissance Old World, Inc, a designer and manufacturer that utilizes European age-old hand [custom carving, planing and distressing techniques long lost from the modern world allows her to give her clients a distinctive look.

"With this company, I have the ability to create a custom carving detail that suits my client perfectly and gives them a one-of-a-kind look at about the same cost as high-end mass produced items." The company even provides clay carvings for approval from the designer and client prior to production.

Sometimes homeowners want to base their interior home design on an existing piece of furniture. "I did a project not long ago where they had a very old, beautiful armoire in the family room which was connected to the kitchen space," Larzelere says. "We created a kitchen island to compliment that piece so they were very similar in texture, color, door style, and hinges. We were able to recreate all those different elements in the island so it also had that very old-world feel."

Along with a unique, old world look, functionality is also high on Larzelere's list. She suggests working with a company that specializes in precise duplication of antiques that are also equipped with state-of-the-art accessories and are extremely functional. High-tech elements such as automatic self-closing drawer slides, pull-out shelves, and high-gloss interior finishes that require no shelf paper are hidden away and combine the best of the modern world home design with the old world appearance.

Cliff Hammond
Renaissance Old World, Inc.
http://www.carving.com