Monday through Friday 9 - 5   Saturday by appointment

Recently Studio Mehler had the privilege to work with the talented interior designer Val Fiscalini on a complete home renovation in Petaluma, California. As dramatic as the transformation is in some of the rooms there was very little actual modification of the actual rooms. Walls weren’t moved though some were added. The structure of the home basically was left intact. Ken Burghardt, of Studio Mehler, worked with Val to provide casework and cabinetry in many areas of the home as needed. Val Fiscalini www.valfiscalini.com

The existing space was a generic, builder’s kitchen with a raised area for the breakfast area. The basic configuration of the kitchen remained the same though the esthetics changed dramatically. All of the matrerials were updated and the shape of the center island was changed and outfitted with glass doors and proper storage. Limestone floors and backsplash worked perfectly with the different counter surfaces selected by the designer. Val had the terrific idea of enclosing a section of the awkwardly shaped breakfast room to create a wine room. The area was closed off with French doors and was outfitted with racks and storage tailored to the client’s needs. An integral refrigeration unit was added to keep the room at the proper temperature all year long.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Kitchen showing all 3 areas After

New Wine Cellar             After

This was perhaps the most dramatic change in the house. You should notice that the windows on the left and the French door opening on the right are in their original position. The fireplace and two small windows were removed to create a dramatic built in wall. All walls were covered with either bookshelves or paneling, matching casework was provided for the window and door and beams were added to the ceiling. Val kept the ceiling painted, not paneled, which made the room seem taller than it actually was. Her choice of wood to match the kitchen and wine room makes this entire area of the house elegant yet very comfortable and very inviting. This is truly a remarkable change to this house.

Before

After

Lighted Bookshelves in Family Room After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Val Fiscalini Designs Petaluma, CA Office 707-763-4300 Fax 707-766-9985 ValFiscaliniDesigns@yahoo.com www.valfiscalini.com

Studio Mehler’s manager, Ron Sasina, is a terrific cook. We’ve asked him to share some of his favorite recipes with slight twists of his own.

Lina Fat owns and manages the Fat Family restaurants in northern and southern California. We were lucky enough to remodel Lina’s personal kitchen and this recipe is from her “Lina Fat Cookbook”.

This wonderful dish where East meets West has repeatedly been a favorite of many guests invited for dinner to my house. But if you are accustomed to robust and spicy cuisines, you’ll need to increase the portions of curry and dry mustard suggested in the recipe. Simply adjust to your taste while the coconut-curry sauce simmers. Also, I highly recommend shopping for a quality curry blend from a store specializing in Indian products.

I also use a generous portion of fire-roasted, red bell peppers packed in water and olive oil. In contrast to fresh green and red peppers, the fire-roasting provides a subtle, warm and distinct flavor to the lasagna. When all the filling ingredients are combined and cooking, I drizzle a generous amount of marsala over the almost-cooked mixture, sauté for several minutes and stir often so the marsala blends throughout the mixture. Finally, if you need to save time use no boil lasagna noodles available in most grocery stores.