All In A Day's Work

When designing the interior or exterior of a home, genius is all in the details, especially as a means of implementing the homeowners' personal style into the design scheme.

At Karved & Forged Design, Inc., the decorative elements of handcrafted stone and iron are used to impart both personal style and unique detail in such decorative elements as banisters, range hoods, columns and much more.

As owner Claudia Herrera explains, "Speaking from a designers' point of view, the most important part of any design, no matter where it takes its influence from, is continuity. If you begin a design theme at the front entrance of a residence with an element such as wrought iron latticework, gates or railings, and then continue those elements at key locations throughout home, the end result will be a cohesive theme that subtly imparts echoes of both drama and elegance into the residence."

The chosen design theme or pattern can be carried through the interior of a home via mouldings, carved arches, fireplace surrounds, mantles, corbels and banisters, to name but a few uses for carved stone or wrought iron.

But how does one settle on the all-important design theme?

"The first step for us is to visit the client's space," explains Herrera. "That way, we get a feel for both the style of the house and the personal tastes of the clients. If they will be using existing furnishings, we take them into account. We also consider the inherent architectural elements of the space and take measurements to insure that what we design will maintain the balance of the space. It's not uncommon for us to rework the dimensions of a design or to alter it a bit in order to give the client what they want. It's all in a day's work."
Whether dictated by the architectural style of the home or the influences that a client or their designer want to inject into the residence, once the design theme is chosen, the artisans at Karved & Forged can set about creating fabulous decorative details to replicate any architectural period.

Medieval influences may appear in a substantial fireplace screen; Elizabethan splendor may grace a staircase banister, while the rococo feel of a hand- carved floral bouquet may appear in an impressive fireplace over mantle.

Anything is possible at Karved & Forged Design, whose artisans custom carve stone and forge metal by hand in order to make the elements placed in your home both the finest available and, needless to say, one-of-a-kind.

This level of attention to each step of both the creative and artistic processes has earned Karved & Forged Design a well-deserved reputation. Their work can be seen in a host of private and commercial projects throughout Southwest Florida.

In addition, Karved & Forged Design regularly ships custom iron and stone pieces to clients located throughout the world, having also garnered a reputation for quality and craftsmanship via word-of-mouth and the internet, model home tours, building and design tradeshows, and the recommendations of internationally-based interior designers.

Karved & Forged Design is a family business. Herrera and her husband, Jay Frias, run the Naples branch, while her sister and brother-in-law oversee the Palm Beach operation and Herrera's mother oversees various aspects of the wholesale business for both the U.S. and Mexican markets. Still more extended family members are involved in various production aspects of the business in Mexico.

According to Frias, this enables Karved & Forged Design to be able to provide a wide range of natural stone quarried at their facilities in Mexico, such as Cancun, Ticul, Coquina and Fossil.

Clients can select from a wide range of stone products, from claddings and flooring, both standard and cut-to-size, and their staff has the combined talent and experience to provide hand-carved columns, fountains, fireplaces, mouldings, pool copings, balusters, corbels, window sills, baseboards and staircases.

Karved & Forged Design's artisans also have the talent and experience to forge and design in aluminum, stainless steel, brass, bronze or copper and their services include fabrication, consultation with project designers, shop drawings, nationwide delivery and professional installation.

By Kate Pakenham
Photography Courtesy of Karved & Forged Design, Inc.

Karved & Forged Design, Inc.
1826 Trade Center Way, Suite B
Naples, Florida 34109
Telephone 239 594-0508 or (toll free) 866-KF-DESIGN
www.karved-forged.com