"Warm, open grain, plain sawn
cutting, thoughtfully chosen with characteristic grain patterns, gives each door its own fingerprint —
no two panels identical — brings unique elegance to the home. Like functional works of art."
Master Craftsman Paul Driessen
Design Brief: Create cabinetry for this new modern home build in Kohler, WI.
Ultramoderne Cabinetry: Nordic restraint. American artistry.
Custom cabinetry for newly-built home; Kohler, Wisconsin: This is custom cabinetry for clients who understand that restraint is its own kind of luxury.
This project embodies the Northern European design philosophy at its most refined: no ornamental profiles, no decorative molding, no visual noise. The door and drawer fronts are perfectly flat, relying entirely on the natural beauty of the wood itself to carry the aesthetic. The cabinet construction uses a semi-frameless approach — providing subtle structural definition while keeping the overall silhouette clean and contemporary.
The Elements:
Plain Sawn White Oak
Chosen for its warm, open grain; plain sawn cutting produces the characteristic grain patterns that give each door its own fingerprint — no two panels identical. The lumber is selected and oriented so that sequential doors and drawer fronts flow across the cabinetry in a continuous, unbroken grain pattern. This requires meticulous planning during milling and an exacting eye during installation.
The true craft of this installation lives in what isn't visible: the sequential numbering of the cabinet door and drawer panels through milling and finishing, the dry-fit staging before a single hinge is set, and the micro-adjustments made during hanging to align grain across adjacent doors and drawers. The final result — when the upper cabinets, and lower runs all read as a single continuous surface of wood, that's not an accident — it's hundreds of precise, thoughtful decisions.
Rubio Monocoat: A Flooring Finish
The finish is where this project departs from convention. Rubio Monocoat — traditionally the gold standard for hardwood floor finishing — was chosen here for cabinetry. It is a two-part, oil-based penetrating finish that saturates the wood fibers rather than sitting on the surface. The result is a tactile, matte surface that feels like wood, not lacquer.
Rubio Monocoat visibly brightens the wood's natural tone while simultaneously deepening the contrast of the grain — making every medullary ray and open pore a design element in its own right. The finish is demanding to apply: it is dense, requires precise timing between coats, and rewards only the most disciplined hand application. The complexity of the process is what makes the result exceptional.
Quartz Countertop
A thin layer of white quartz tops each counter, like icing on the cake.
Each countertop is finished with a slim profile of white or lightly marbled quartz — chosen not for dominance, but for deference. Where a thick stone slab would compete with the warmth and grain of the white oak cabinetry below, this thin quartz layer recedes. It is a considered material decision: enough surface to be practical, precise enough to be beautiful.The white quartz reads almost luminous against the Rubio Monocoat-finished oak — a cool, still plane set against the warmth and movement of the wood grain beneath.
The central idea here is the thin profile as an intentional design act — not a cost decision, not a limitation, but a choice made in service of the wood. The minimal thickness of the profile keeps the eye traveling across the cabinetry rather than stopping at the counter edge. In a design built entirely on restraint, the countertop earns its place by knowing exactly how much space to take.
The Result:
By incorporating elements of nature like wood, quartz and metal, this project demonstrates that ultra-modern style doesn't have to be cold or hard. The contradictions are present in the cabinetry. The lines are hard and precise, but the wood is textured in earthy, warm tones. The countertop is hard and smooth, but the milky quartz has an aura of cotton ball softness. The overall look is simplicity, but when you look deeper, you see a detailed wood grain and a beautiful marbling in the quartz. It epitomizes subtle sophistication, revealing more of its beauty as time goes on.