The Kingsley Local Brewing Co. is up and running! This project was my introduction to interior design. From the floor to the ceiling, very surface inside this shoe box has been “affected”. Some of the decisions here were informed by a trip I took to Washington D.C. with two designer friends. I got schooled. I realized there how little I knew about the art and craft of Interior Design.
Kingsley, MI is a small town in NW Michigan just south of Traverse City. 150 years ago, Kingsley was a lumber town connected to the rail line for exporting heavy timber. In 1880 Kingsley was home to 7 saw mills and 3 churches. Our building was the old post office. Kingsley is about 5 miles from Mayfield, which is home of the Adam’s Fly Festival which is a big deal in the universe of fly fishing. We decided to mix lumberjack “culture” and fly fishing “lore” into the theming of interior motifs without reaching the Cracker Barrel Limit.
The size of this room could not change. The west-facing windows and that column could not be changed… We decided to keep as many surfaces as possible, white. The red wall follows the Workshop Brewing Co.’s look. The live-edge bar top is made of large slabs from a local maple. The floor and the “service wall” are both knotty pine. The bar face we stained black and decided Not to use under bar lighting which is a popular move made in bars across the land. The underside of the bar is home to coat hooks and phone chargers – duh!
The acoustics are not yet perfect and are most affected by the glass wall of the brewery. The KLB has been open for about 3 months. Most visitors tend to huddle toward the middle of the room or sit at the bar. That dropped soffit will probably get wrapped with some dampening material since its above where most people gather to talk.
We are now focusing on the beer garden, so stay tuned for some exterior perspectives. Also, I owe you a note on wall art and event programming and will post as this location comes to life.
Leave a Reply