Elephant in the Kitchen

We have all heard the expression ”The Elephant in the Living Room,” although technically the definition would preclude actually hearing anything about said elephant.  This is about the elephant in the kitchen. 

One of the benefits of having a piece of glass custom made fo fit, is that it also fits your personality and taste.  Leaded glass inserts can be almost anything you can imagine.  One time, a customer’s imagination really put me to the test.  The usual appointment runs along a predictable path.  Customer(s) describe(s) cabinet, flooring and countertop selections, spends some time sorting through design options, and picks a direction–traditional, bevels, flowers, clear textured, color palatte etc.  Within about 1/2 hour I have a sense of what they like and can help them fine-tune the details that make it personal.  60-90 minutes later we have a design goal. 

One day that comfortable scenario came to a screeching halt.  The husband and wife came as a team to select the glass to be the accent in their new kitchen.  Arriving in a modest sedan, traditionally clothed and groomed, I had no hint that there was a “wild” woman lurking inside her demure exterior.  

Presenting them with photos of hundreds of panels and sketch options, her husband started turning pages, thoughtfully scanning the choices.  She, on the other hand, flipped through the pages in less than one minute, stiffly sitting back in her chair when finished.  ”See anything that interests you?”  I asked.  A challenging glint in her eye, she looked at me and flatly said no, without elaboration.  Seeing there was some ego involved here, after taking an inward gulp, I calmly asked her “When you close your eyes, what do you envision in your cabinet?”  Without a moment’s hesitation, said as if she didn’t think it could be done to her satisfaction, she said “An elephant.”        H-m-m, an elephant.  After delicately probing her request, it became apparent that an elephant was really what she was looking for.  OK, let’s see what we can do here.

The most complicated part of the challenge was figuring out how to present an animal that is much wider than it is tall in a format that is much taller than it is wide.  Failure was not an option, as my ego now had a stake in the outcome.  To gut the line from Field of Dreams, “If you build it, she will  like it.”    In retrospect, it might have been a ploy on the customer’s part to get the most out of me she could get, and if that is true, then so be it.  It worked.  She liked the glass.

The elephant in the kitchen is one of my favorite glass-making stories.  That and the friend of my neighbor’s who came to order glass dressed in his finest, freshly showered, full of compliments and most importantly, without his girlfriend.  Trust me, I shut him down while still getting the order.  Tricky, but do-able.  He left with only glass in his door, but just think about the elephant in that kitchen.