Taste Maker - Michigan Design Center
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Taste Maker
For a restaurant owner’s home, designer
Katie Rodriguez assembled the essential ingredients
to reflect her client’s love of food and nature
By George Bulanda
Photos by Martin Vecchio
With its expansive view
of nature, the breakfast
nook provides a serene
space to start the day.
Table: RJ Thomas Ltd.,
Suites 72, 77 & 82
Lighting: City Lights
Detroit, Suite 98
Roman shades:
Decoroom, Suite 38; and
Kravet fabric, Suite 105
Bench cushion:
Decoroom, Suite 38; and
Kravet fabric, Suite 105
michigandesign.com 1
2 michigan design center @home 2020
I
n his business life, Ed Mamou has
invested in blue-chip restaurants,
including The Root in White Lake (sold
in 2018) and Mabel Gray in Hazel Park,
both in partnership with chef James Rigato.
He’s also vice-president of Royal Oak
Recycling, with locations in Royal Oak and
other municipalities.
But perhaps his greatest investment
is his own new home in Bloomfield
Hills, where the dividends pay off
in comfort and contentment. It was
built by Brandywine Construction in
Birmingham, with interior design by
Birmingham-based Katie Rodriguez
Design. To Mamou, it’s a place where
his greatest loves – food, nature, and
family – share equal weight and
accommodation. No room represents
that spirit better than the kitchen, where
Mamou, an avid chef, likes to cook and
entertain.
“I love cooking; it’s a cathartic experience
for me,” he says. “In my kitchen, the
property and surrounding trees are
nicely framed in the windows, giving it a
peaceful quality.”
That accounts for food and nature, but
what about family?
The homeowner, an avid cook, asked that
the kitchen be bright and cheery, which Katie “Ed told me he wanted the kitchen to
Rodriguez accomplished with a look that’s be bright and happy, where family and
both rustic and streamlined.
friends could gather and test recipes,”
Backsplashes: Ann Sacks, Suite 91
Rodriguez says.
Lighting: City Lights Detroit, Suite 98
michigandesign.com 34 michigan design center @home 2020
“It has a rustic quality, but the overall look is modern and streamlined.”
“Most people want neutrals in the kitchen, integrated into the cabinetry, and a and grad-school years hiking through
but we went with bright white and a huge pizza oven. That’s not to mention America’s national parks,” Mamou says.
punch of color and pattern with the tile an outdoor wood grill. “I still try to do that locally, but my social
from Ann Sacks,” she explains. “It has habits tend to distract me, so the home
a rustic quality, but the overall look is The dining room is more formal, with is a reflection of bringing back some of
modern and streamlined, with clean an arresting Phillip Jeffries landscape the nature into my daily life.”
lines.” In addition to the island with mural wallcovering. “It incorporates Ed’s
wood-and-resin stools, there’s a dining love of nature and art and is a great focal The 4,500-square-foot house is home
nook with seating. point,” Rodriguez says. to Mamou’s three young boys and his
fiancée, Amber. When designing the
The room almost mimics a restaurant For the homeowner, it strikes a fond playroom, Rodriguez, who’s a mother to
kitchen, with a double range, double note. two sons herself, wanted the space “to
oven, two dishwashers, a refrigerator be flexible as the children grew.” Many
with four additional refrigerator drawers “I spent a lot of time in my college playrooms fall prey to clichés: bright
OPPOSITE PAGE | The focal point of the dining room is an arresting ABOVE | The family of five can relax in this comfortable family room.
landscape wallcovering by Phillip Jeffries. All furniture: RJ Thomas Ltd., Suites 72, 77 & 82
Wallcovering: Tennant & Associates, Suite 61 Roman shades: Decoroom workroom, Suite 38; and Kravet fabric,
All furniture: RJ Thomas Ltd., Suites 72, 77 & 82 Suite 105
Lighting: Lighting Resource Studio, Suites 18 & 97 Drapery: Decoroom workroom and hardware, Suite 38; and Kravet
Window treatments and hardware: Decoroom workroom, Suite 38; fabric, Suite 105
and Kravet fabric, Suite 105 Window cushions: Decoroom workroom, Suite 38
michigandesign.com 5ABOVE | Katie Rodriguez designed the playroom to be flexible as the OPPOSITE PAGE | His-and-her vanities, built-in mirrors, black matte
three boys grew. plumbing fixtures, dark porcelain floors, and a steam shower (inset)
Window treatments and fabric: Decoroom workroom, Suite 38 lend sophistication to the master bath.
Window cushion and welt: Decoroom workroom, Suite 38; Tile: Cercan Tile, Suite 94
Kravet fabric, Suite 105 Lighting: City Lights Detroit, Suite 98
6 michigan design center @home 2020primary colors and juvenile accessories, counter, and tub.
which grow outmoded as the kids
mature. But Rodriguez had a different “It has a clean, symmetrical look with the
approach. large-format tiles, but the linear layout
is softened by the curves of the bathtub
“The playroom is right off the foyer, so and alabaster sconces,” she notes.
people see it almost immediately. I
didn’t want it to be messy or filled with The space is distinguished by his-and-
Mickey Mouse-like furnishings,” she hers vanities with built-in mirrors.
says. “There’s a lot of storage in the navy “With the large bathtub and steam shower,
bookcases, and the animal-print rug isn’t this room rivals any spa setting,” Mamou
really age-specific. As the boys get older, says. “This is Amber’s favorite room.”
they’ll still be able to use the room.”
Another striking area is the lower-level
Rodriguez is partial to the master bar, which has a commercial though not
bath, which has dark porcelain floors impersonal feel. “It has the look and
and black matte plumbing fixtures, vibe of a downtown Detroit hip bar,”
contrasting with the white walls, Rodriguez says. That was intentional,
michigandesign.com 78 michigan design center @home 2020
“It has the look and vibe of a downtown Detroit hip bar.”
since Mamou’s favorite watering hole
is the Apparatus Room in the Detroit
Foundation Hotel downtown.
Contemporary and vintage industrial
accents mingle freely in the home bar.
“That’s pretty tough to accomplish on a
new build, but Katie pulled it off with the
oversized drop-down Edison bulbs and
faux-copper aged mirror on the back
bar,” Mamou says.
That space, like the entire home, is
worthy of a toast to the designer.
“We still get compliments almost daily
on Katie’s design, down to the smallest
details in the home,” Mamou enthuses.
LEFT | An elegant little powder room, with
white-oak floors.
Wallcovering: Tennant & Associates, Suite 61
BELOW | A sweeping staircase lends drama to
the 4,500-square-foot home.
Lighting: Lighting Resource Studio,
Suites 18 & 97
OPPOSITE PAGE | Homeowner Ed Mamou
wanted his lower-level bar to be reminiscent of
the Apparatus Room in the Detroit Foundation
Hotel.
Tile: Cercan Tile, Suite 94
Lighting: Lighting Resource Studio,
Suites 18 & 97
michigandesign.com 9You can also read
