A Chat With Jeremy Corkern

Mid-century renovation by Bates Corkern Studio.  Interior design by Betsy Brown.  It was a treat to tour this amazing project with Jeremy earlier this month!

One of the best parts of working in the design world is meeting the wonderful, creative individuals who influence the industry.  Architect Jeremy Corkern of Bates Corkern Studio in Birmingham, Alabama is one of the first talents I met in the business, and one of the nicest, too.  It had been a few years since I had seen Jeremy (although it is easy to follow Bates Corkern Studio's projects in House Beautiful, Veranda, and many other magazines) so during a recent trip to Birmingham, it was great fun to chat with Jeremy about architecture, his inspirations, his favorite houses, and his recent work.

Slab Marble - Coldstone minus the Ice Cream



The carved marble wall panels bring the eye up and add architectural oomph (bathroom by Mary Spalding as featured in Veranda, June 2009). 

Marble can instantly elevate a kitchen or bathroom from ordinary to luxurious.  There are countless ways to cut and install marble, but my favorite is to keep it in the slab form.  Slab marble shows off the irregular lines and natural beauty of the stone.  Slabs can add scale and drama to a large room or make a smaller space seem bigger with less interruption from grout lines.  Be careful when installing slabs on bathroom floors and buy some pretty mats so you don't slip!