A Real Partnership: Bluebell x Fuller Interiors
It is the nature of excellent design partnership to push the boundaries of our own vision and craft, and Jennifer Fuller of Fuller Interiors is an incredible design partner. In one of our most technically ambitious projects to date, every detail of the finished space denotes a challenge that had to be solved. With Jen, we found solutions.
A Real Cook
It began with a conversation. Jen had a California-based client who wanted a kitchen that felt organic, tactile, and warm. But he was also a real cook, and his culinary interests demanded that certain considerations be made about how the space would function.
In development, every kitchen storage feature earned its place, down to a dedicated knife drawer with custom interior programming, and cookware storage exactly where the client needed it to be. This kitchen was decidedly not just a showpiece; it needed to be designed with precision and functionality at its core. The aesthetic of the kitchen certainly mattered, but so did the number of steps the client had to take between the fridge and the island counter, for example.
That attention to real-life movement led to one of the project's more interesting design pivots. The distance between the refrigerator and the island became a genuine point of discussion for us. The solution – a raised seating area made of walnut that extends the marble counter – closed that gap while adding an unexpected, sculptural depth to the kitchen's layout.
A Real Design
Every elegant design solution came with its own set of challenges.
Our effort to connect the island's stone and wood surfaces raised an issue of material difference. Wood and stone expand and contract at inconsistent rates, under different conditions. Plus, a seating top that appears to float – cantilevered off the island, wrapping the stone in a continuous frame – needs steel supports hidden entirely from view. This caliber of structural support demanded our best engineering efforts, because beyond making it work, we needed to make it disappear.
The power of good design is its ability to conceal complexity and let the beauty lead. For me, the butler's pantry was arguably the emotional high point of the whole project. A roughly six-foot glass cabinet with sliding doors encases a backlit onyx panel, with floating shelves suspended on brass supports, and a layout that was custom measured around the client's own collection of liquor bottles and glassware. This cabinet is a small space with a big purpose: to store, protect, and display a personal collection that can operate as a piece of art with the doors open or closed.
It succeeded on all counts, and Bluebell’s ingenuity was elevated by Jen’s gorgeous tile opposite the cabinetry, selected to pull every tone and shape in the room into one surface. It ties the space together and confirms its status of engineering-as-art. As Jen put it, her client was "blown away" the first time he saw it.
A Real Partnership
I can’t begin to say how great it is partnering with Jen. She describes our working relationship less like a handoff and more like co-authorship. But more than that, she really brings the fun.
She has returned the sentiment in kind, pointing to our ability to execute technically demanding installations as the thing that pushes her own design further. The aesthetic she brings to projects is incredible – the perfect blend of quality and taste. When we collaborate, she isn’t just a participant, she’s a stakeholder, and her work speaks for itself.
With this project, the result was a kitchen that reflects two points of view at once: Jen's eye for the space's soul, and Bluebell's discipline in building it just right. But neither of us could have made this kitchen alone. That's the point.
Peter Cardamone is the Founder and Creative Director of Bluebell Fine Cabinetry and Design. Bluebell partners with leading interior designers to bring ambitious, highly detailed kitchens to life. To learn more about our work, subscribe to our newsletter or contact us.
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