Fine Dining

[Paper Boy]

Source: REMODELING Magazine
Publication date: January 1, 2008

By Nina Patel

As part of this kitchen remodel, project planner and designer Adrienne Morgan of Mosby Building Arts, in Kirkwood, Mo., designed a dining table with a lighted pedestal to provide the clients with a place to entertain and to display their collection of Lalique glass.

The remodel included upgrading the kitchen cabinets from white Thermofoil to cherry while keeping the granite countertops. Though the home owners had a table in the adjacent dining area, guests rarely used it for fear of damaging the wood, so the clients wanted a built-in table topped with durable granite.

Morgan designed the table's custom base with storage accessible from two sides. To stabilize the heavy unit, the base is attached to blocking attached to the floor joists. A deep overhang provides knee space for seating, and a steel plate provides support for the tabletop overhang.

The clients did not have additional pieces of the granite used in the kitchen, so they chose a contrasting piece for the table. To provide an integrated look, Morgan used a piece of granite removed from a built-in desk, which matches the kitchen granite, for the table's display pedestal.

The homeowners wanted lighting but were concerned about access to bulbs and the lights' heat damaging the art glass. Morgan's solution was to use fiber optic lighting in the pedestal and other display areas in the kitchen. “It's good to use different kinds of lighting — it adds dimension to the project,” she says.

Photo: Toby Weiss
Designer Adrienne Morgan used three types of glass for the pedestal: frosted on the surface, a clear top, and reeded glass on the sides. The pedestal's stainless steel columns were made off-site, but were designed to be adjustable for level field installation.


Photo: Toby Weiss
Adrienne Morgan of Mosby Building Arts worked with electrician Tom Streib of Streib Electric on the fiber optic lighting for the table. She says fiber optic lighting does not generate a lot of heat, so it can be used without fear of damaging delicate artwork. For a consistent look, the three spotlights in the middle of the table all had to have the same length of fiber tubing. "If they are not cut to the same length, the intensity of the light changes," Morgan says.
The table is part of a larger kitchen remodel that also included two other art-centered details. One is a box that holds several Lalique panels. "We made a steel box for the panels and used lighting on the back," Morgan says. Another is a lighted shelf unit in the kitchen providing display space for other glass pieces.


Photo: Toby Weiss
One end of the pedestal has a removable cover that hides an electrical outlet. The owner often prefers to plug in his laptop at the table and work there, rather than in his upstairs office.


Photo: Toby Weiss
This photo shows the fiber optic tubing as it was being installed in the box.