Serendipity: Larry's Kitchen
ser·en·dip·i·ty
/ˌserənˈdipədē/
noun
The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
Navy Blue with Gold Beaded Insets and Hardware
FAITH: TRUSTING THE PROCESS
Have you ever experienced the peculiar alignment of circumstances that force you to stop and ponder those deeper questions about life? For example, is this life really just the culmination of random events, or is there some force or alignment of purposes that lead us along a path toward wholeness or greater awakening? Perhaps we’ll never know for sure - but something tells me that faith (Trusting the process) is an essential part of our human experience.
I’ve always lived by the spirit of the moment - walking by faith from one experience to the next in hopeful expectation to learn something new; something God (The Universe for my Agnostic Readers) wants to show me. Led by this faith, with love and gratitude, it seems something serendipitous is happening around me all the time!
ANOTHER CHANCE ENCOUNTER? HMM…
I would like to share one such remarkable encounter which led me to one of our most beautiful kitchen remodels ever! Back in January of 2020, I stopped by Carriage House Antiques in Greensboro to deliver some lamps. This was where I first met Larry Richardson. He helped me carry the two huge, antique angel lamps into the back of the store to be reworked by Hyalyn Lamps. When we walked outside to my van to grab the second angel, Larry saw my lettered van and said, “Hey! I was going to call you tomorrow!”
I had never been to Carriage House Antiques, but was intrigued to visit because so many of my customers frequent the store. Larry was one of the first people I met there - and he was also the first one to offer help unloading the antique angels. I later found that Larry doesn’t even really work there! He has close friends who do - and he’s just the type of person who likes to help! Larry Richardson is owner of the Greensboro go-to for all occasions floral - Plants & Answers and The Big Greenhouse, located on Spring Garden Street in Greensboro.
Larry Richardson: Doing something beautiful for Christmas. Photo Credit: Seasons Magazine
Now, what inspired that chance encounter with Larry? How is it that I was on his call list and we just happen to cross paths? Perhaps it’s just another fortuitous moment in a long line of spirit led occasions in which I often find myself. However, this special occasion - guided by angels as it were - seemed to us, a divine appointment to create one of the most beautiful kitchens we’ve ever done!
Larry continued, “I have a special project for you!” Well, lemme just tell ya - if I got a nickel for every time I’ve heard that phrase, I’d be in blissful retirement at age 43. So, when the unassuming, Larry made that familiar statement to me from the heavy end of a giant, plaster angel, I offered him the auto-reply of an astonished “oh really?”
While gratitude abounds for every project we receive, I’m not entirely sure this one would’ve happened as it did, if Larry and I hadn’t met on that fateful day. You see, Larry doesn’t strike me as someone who forces things to happen. Among the many hats a business owner must wear, Larry is perhaps chiefly, a botanist. He understands seedtime and harvest; he knows how to wait for the proper season. Larry chooses to be fully present in every moment; not to rush progress but let things happen as they might, in their own, perfect timing.
That perfect timing had indeed come and our chance encounter proved to us both that the season was right to work together on this kitchen remodel that he’d been planning for many many years! Our next meeting would take place in his beautiful, historic home. Built in the early 1900s, Larry’s home is one of the first to be planted in Greensboro’s Historic, Sunset Hills Community.
Larry’s Historic, Spanish Style Home: 2100 W. Market Street
OUR FIRST MEETING
His Spanish styled home, with a welcoming, covered driveway, terracotta tile roof and lavish formal landscapes made a remarkable first impression. When I arrived, Larry’s kitchen remodel had already begun, with master craftsman, Scott Porter leading the project. The cabinetry was a two toned mix of navy blue and white with beaded inset, originally fabricated as a promotional setting for Rachel Ray productions. Larry acquired the cabinets through a local photography studio, endeavoring to make the orphan kitchen a forever home in his historic, W. Market Street residence.
Astounded by the many layers of happenstance, backstory and craftsmanship built into this kitchen remodel, I had no choice but to slow down and learn more about this remarkable and special soul who is Larry Richardson. After taking time to review the project, making notes and discussing design ideas, Larry and I walked his property outdoors and perused the living landscape. Having spent the early years of my working career at New Garden Landscaping and Nursery, Larry and I had as much to discuss outdoors as we did inside.
His mature garden is hedged by English boxwood, splashed with varieties of water lilies, heirloom perennials and winter blooming irises. Intrigued by his pastime turned profession, I asked about the origin of his forays into the horticultural field. Larry shared with me a bit about his upbringing, raised on a self-sustained farmed, complete with gardens, cows, chickens and the like. He shared a fond memory of catching the free-range chickens for his momma by using a trap box held up by a stick tied to a string. “I’d sprinkle some corn under that box and hide around the corner, holding the pull-string to that trap. Those chickens would eventually peck their way under my little box trap. I’d yank that string and yell, MOMMA! I GOT ONE! It became clear that being raised on a farm and working in the fields gave Larry much of the gusto and tenacity necessary to build such a remarkable portfolio of business.
Our second visit allowed us solidify the color and design plan for his kitchen. We had a mixture of blue and white cabinets. Some were upper cabinets while others were lower. We toyed with the idea of doing all navy blue on lowers with white upper cabinets, but the space was uniquely vertical and needed more white than the option afforded.
Lacquering Larry’s Kitchen
I offered the idea of bringing a “river of blue” through the middle of the space, starting with the back wall, flowing through the center island and finishing at the refrigerator wall. One portion of the navy blue cabinetry came with an accent tan color on the beaded inset. Larry wanted to keep the look as close to the original color scheme as possible, so I made an effort to love the tan beaded insets on his navy blue, but the more I tried to love them, the more they began to look like unfinished wood.
Gold Leafing the backs of upper cabinets
After setting the item aside for a moment and reviewing his hardware selections, it became very clear to me that his beaded insets should match his antique gold hardware selections. He loved the design offerings and it was settled. White and Navy Blue with Antique Gold accents! So clean. So striking!
To balance the wood tones on the floors and ceilings, Larry added floating shelves to be stained to match. We also added gold leaf accents to the back walls of his upper, open cabinets.
Project Manager, Scott Porter and Larry Richardson surveying the progress.
Larry’s uniquely acquired, built and refinished kitchen was a first for me in many ways. To continue this matchless project of firsts, I decided to have the kitchen professionally photographed. I usually photograph our projects with my iPhone, but this kitchen needed something special so I commissioned the inimitable Stacey Van Berkel to photograph the space.
I had no idea how inadequate my iPhone really was. I had now idea what amazing things Stacey had in store for this project.
Stacey Van Berkel making magic with her camera
PHOTOGRAPHY SHOOT WITH STACEY VAN BERKEL
On the day of our photo shoot, Stacey and her team beat me to Larry’s house. I walked into the back door to find Larry, Stacey and her team standing in the kitchen, lights off.
I was surprised they hadn’t yet seen the kitchen in its full glory, so I immediately reached for the lights. Stacey stopped me and explained that she brought her own lights and was in the process of deciding setup and placement. The next four hours were for me, a crash course study in professional photography. Stacey and her team used words and colloquial terms of which I’d never heard nor even considered! Silk screens and flash bulbs were placed inside and outside windows! She did indeed bring her own light - enough to usurp the sun! ...and that she did; blocking out the harsh sunlight with silk screens and completely filling the space with her own, perfectly manifested light to balance and ignite every beautiful detail of Larry’s Kitchen.
During this four hour session, I learned that Stacey too, is a purveyor of beauty. She effortlessly emotes such evidence in her work - but also in her interactions with team and clientele. I will most definitely reach out to Stacey for future projects, but something tells me, next time she will have taken such flight to greater heights, far from the reach of local gems such as these.
Looking back on this project, I am astounded by the beauty, not only of the remarkable project itself, but perhaps even more so, of the beautiful people who were called together to make it all happen.
Please take a moment to click through the images from this project and feel free to share your thoughts on your loves, life, faith and any magical experiences that came to mind as you read about our kitchen remodel project for Larry Richardson.
FINAL IMAGES!
