David Marcus Elite Design & Construction, Inc. - A 2006 Dream Kitchen Winner

[Philadelphia Magazine - July 2006] "This was my first kitchen," says Carol Stuart-Buttle, an ergonomics consultant in Philadelphia. "I wanted something cozy, but also open and airy and organic." This kitchen, with its Fiesta ware-green walls, wood cabinets and floor, and flowing plan, is everything she hoped for.

"She brought a lot to the table," says Marc Pinard, the project's architect and principal of Pinard Architects in Philadelphia, "a lot of design ideas, especially in terms of colors." The green of the walls comes from a 1950s Fiesta ware plate in Stuart-Butte's collection. When Pinard suggested pairing the color with warm red countertops, she was on the fence: "I'm thinking, 'Will I feel like I'm eating off the floor?' But it really did the trick of making the green work."

Stuart-Buttle also realized a longtime dream: to commission a lamp from Warren Muller, co-owner of Old City lighting studio Bahdeebahdu. Muller made the lamp from her possessions, including some of her mother's kitchen tools, such as a cherry pitter, and some of her grandmother's knives.

Opening up the back wall to connect the kitchen to the garden was a key part of the remodel, says Pinard. Contractor Marc Kaman, president of David Marcus Elite Design & Construction in Feasterville, helped get the most out of every inch in the small space. "He had a tremendous artistic sense, a sense of balance," says Stuart-Buttle. "He worked superbly well with the architect. It was a very good match. They cared as much as I care." [Read the testimonial]