Meet Ateliers Jacob, the Heritage Company Crafting Millwork at Kemble Cottage

For readers who may be discovering Ateliers Jacob for the first time, how would you describe the company and what makes your approach distinct?

Ateliers Jacob is a second-generation Canadian company specializing in custom cabinetry, refined millwork, and bespoke design, with five locations across Canada, plus our Georgetown showroom in Cady’s Alley, which is celebrating its one-year anniversary this summer.

At its core, our philosophy is simple: wellbeing begins with thoughtful design. For us, it’s not just creating cabinetry; it’s creating spaces that feel lived in, layered, and lasting. We want to design spaces that genuinely reflect the people who inhabit them and make their lives easier.

What sets us apart is the depth of collaboration behind every project. Our craftspeople and designers work extremely closely with each client through a highly developed process that allows for a level of customization, quality, and personal detail that simply isn’t possible in a conventional setting. Every project we take on is truly one of a kind, because every client is.

What initially excited you about collaborating with me on my home?

Author’s note: We have no fun at all.

What immediately excited us was the boldness and whimsy in your vision. There’s a creative energy to your design approach that feels both distinctive and personal, and that set the tone for everything that followed.

What made it especially meaningful was the sense of true partnership from the very beginning. You brought strong instincts and a genuine openness to exploration, which is exactly the kind of collaboration we find most rewarding. There was a shared curiosity and a mutual desire to create something thoughtful and lasting. That made this project a natural fit for Ateliers Jacob, and it has resulted in a collaboration process that feels iterative and genuinely exciting at every stage.

What are some of the guiding ideas or priorities behind the kitchen cabinetry in Kemble Cottage?

The creative force behind the kitchen cabinetry at Kemble Cottage comes from a sense of continuity with the home’s history. The intention is to create something that feels as though it has always been there, quietly settled into the architecture rather than dropped in, with subtle nods to the charm and details of an English cottage.

Because of the property’s vast natural landscape, the design draws from its immediate surroundings, emphasizing the relationship between interior and exterior. There is also a gentle sense of play throughout, with small details that reveal themselves in everyday use, whether through a unique cabinet profile or unexpected niche, that adds a sense of discovery and surprise.

One thing we talk about often at my firm is balancing beauty and livability. How does Ateliers Jacob approach that balance in its work?

For us, beauty and livability are never separate goals to reconcile—they are inherently the same thing. A space can be visually refined, but if it doesn’t support the people who live in it, it will never feel complete.

Our process always begins with understanding how a space will be used: the individual rituals and routines that shape the client’s life at home. From there, we layer in materiality, proportion, and detail to complement the functional needs of the kitchen and express the client’s aesthetic taste. Our goal is always a room that holds up practically and creatively over time.

How do you think kitchens have evolved in the last several years in terms of how people want to live and entertain?

The biggest shift is that people are no longer separating entertaining spaces from everyday-use spaces. The kitchen has had to become more fluid by necessity. It’s a working space, a gathering space, a living space, and it’s in motion throughout the day.

That has pushed kitchen design not just stylistically, but also in terms of flexibility, endurance, and intelligence. Our favorite kitchens today feel just as right with one person making coffee in the morning as they do with a full house moving through them at once. That’s a harder balance to strike than it sounds, and it’s one we think about constantly.

What do you hope people feel when they walk into a space created with Ateliers Jacob cabinetry?

Ease, above all. An immediate sense that the space was made for them. We want our design details to portray a quiet confidence and the feeling that nothing is forced or overworked, but that every detail has been considered. When it hits that mark, the design becomes the backdrop and the life being lived inside it is enhanced.

We also want our spaces to feel grounded and restorative. We want them to let people slow down, move through their routines with fewer obstacles, and feel genuinely at home in the deepest sense of the word.

To get the full Ateliers Jacob experience, visit their beautiful Georgetown showroom, or explore more work on their website. Stay tuned as we finalize the design and move into installation (AJ’s DC location both creates AND installs their own cabinetry—a huge bonus)!