Designer Snapshot: Kitchens Are Just the Beginning

February 12, 2014

By Paula M. Bodah

As the owner of Newton Kitchens & Design, Pierre Matta likes to keep on top of the latest products and trends for kitchens. He showed us some of his favorite furnishings and materials for a gorgeous kitchen in our January–February issue. Pierre’s passion goes beyond helping clients get the kitchen of their dreams, though. His true calling is his unique, custom-designed and handcrafted cabinetry and furniture.

“This desk is something that just kind of evolved in my head,” Pierre says about the piece below, which is displayed in his showroom. “I wanted to create something that would be a workspace, but also a showpiece.” The wood post was salvaged from a nineteenth-century Pennsylvania barn. The body of the desk is made of recycled white glass slabs, and the metal accents are recycled steel. “We drew out, freehand, the dripping, lava-like design of the steel, then cut it freehand with a torch,” Pierre explains. “I really like the asymmetry and the combination of materials. And since it’s all recycled, it’s a green product.”

In a completely different vein, this office/library/sitting room in a Needham, Massachusetts, home pays homage to more classical influences. The room’s ceiling and all four walls are clad in mahogany paneling. The columns that flank the fireplace were carved by hand, Pierre says. “We had a carver working for us at the time who did unbelievable work. It was mind-blowing what he could do.”

“This is my baby,” Pierre says of the arched vanity that sits in the master bathroom of a Newton, Massachusetts, home. In designing this piece, Pierre looked back at his own body of work and was inspired by a pair of curvy nightstands he had produced a dozen years earlier. “For this vanity, I took the idea of the curved nightstands and joined them with a sort of bridge.” The sleek, contemporary creation is made of quilted maple colored with a red aniline dye.

Photo by Shelly Harrison

The clients who commissioned the arched vanity also had Pierre design and build this wet bar. They wanted a piece that would look modern and exotic, and Pierre obliged, collaborating with Newtown-based interior designer Marcia Summers on this contemporary bar of macassar ebony. Glossy black granite, the large mirror at the center, and a lacquer finish on the wood create a gleaming showcase piece.