Having an in-house mill shop is not a universal luxury for interior design firms. But, for JKL Design Group, it is. Instead of contracting out custom furniture pieces or decor elements to carpenters and craftspeople all over the nation, JKL Owner/Interior Designer Kurt Lucas decided to keep it local and in the family. For years, Lucas had been collaborating with furniture maker Mark Nodeen of 390 Design on work for his clients’ upscale residences, restaurants, storefronts, hotels and clubhouses. Absorbing the 390 Design brand and woodshop seemed like an ideal next step. Whatever Lucas’ clients need, Nodeen and his crew can now make. “When I first started making furniture, it was my dream to one day collaborate with JKL Design Group and Kurt Lucas—he has really been the ultimate inspiration for me for years,” Nodeen says. “He bought one of the first pieces of furniture I ever made for his house [a dresser], and that’s how we got to know each other. Collaborating with him and his team of designers is really a dream for me. It allows me to expand my creativity and always challenges me to be a better woodworker.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYATT KOSTYGAN
For 25 years, Lucas has been growing his capacity to provide all-inclusive design services. His firm handles commercial, multifamily, residential and hospitality projects—from remodels to new construction —and the principal designers on staff are certified by the American Society of Interior Designers and the Council for Interior Design Qualification. Skilled JKL designers use Revit, AutoCAD, 3-D renderings and MEP coordination to create one-of-a-kind concepts for clients, and the mill shop helps masterfully execute those visions. Lucas first launched JKL in 1997 and now has 30 employees, including 10 on-staff interior designers. The firm has a 20,000-square-foot facility in Sarasota with a showroom, an on-site drapery workroom and even a warehouse to store all furnishings and accessories before they are delivered to clients.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYATT KOSTYGAN
“JKL is really concerned about controlling the quality of the projects we do. We are all-inclusive and we have our own mill shop in-house because we want everything to be ‘JKL perfect,’” Lucas says. “Our work is timeless. We like to design with just one thing in the background, and that’s good taste. I tell my designers to create outside the box, to be edgy, and smart and clever.” Lucas supports talented local artists rather than continually sourcing pieces for the firm from other parts of the country—a move that puts more gas in the tank of the regional economy. “I moved here 29 years ago with $300 in my pocket and now we have one of the best design firms on the west coast of Florida. Sarasota is my home now, so it’s important for me to take care of my town,” says Lucas, who is originally from Oklahoma. “I want to support the local talent, because there is so much of it.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYATT KOSTYGAN
Some of JKL Design Group’s projects, for which the mill shop has handled numerous custom wood elements, include Esplanade Golf & Country Club in Naples, the Legacy Naples Apartments, and The Vue and BLVD Sarasota residences. The latter is a 49-unit building with luxury condominiums, located on the southeast corner of Boulevard of the Arts and North Tamiami Trail in Downtown Sarasota (not far from the Rosemary District, the Quay and the Bayfront). BLVD Sarasota has recently been a main point of attention for JKL. For the condos, the mill-shop team has created a modern waterfall live-edge slab and walnut desk, a set of five-foot-by-five-foot cypress outdoor tables for the patio at the penthouse and a walnut wood wall in multiple layers with a natural dull rub finish.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYATT KOSTYGAN
On the restaurant front, the team has handled such locales as DaRuMa Japanese Steak House and Sushi Lounge in Sarasota and Fort Myers, Café Venice Restaurant & Bar in Downtown Venice, Dry Dock Waterfront Grill on Longboat Key, Brick’s Smoked Meat in Downtown Sarasota, and Summer House Steak and Seafood Restaurant on Siesta Key. For personal residences, the JKL mill-shop crew has made a 40-foot solid walnut closet with endless shoe storage and houndstooth-wrapped leather drawers; an aqua blue epoxy table with walnut trim, a white oak interior and a tapered white oak table base; a side table made of ambrosia maple and purple heart; and solid walnut cabinets with an Australian beefwood and epoxy swivel waterfall desktop.
Concepts for bars, benches, consoles, dining tables, decorative walls and shelves are regularly being worked into the woodshop, which is fully stocked with rows of lumber and state-of-the-art equipment like high-end power sanders and saws. It is where Nodeen spends hours poring over JKL blueprints, building jigs and mapping out protocols. JKL clients seek a distinct look in their pieces rather than uniformity. They want furnishings and designs that cannot be picked off of big-box-store shelves or that have been mass-produced. The mill shop is always ready to give clients something that will spark conversations and turn heads.
“There’s a certain standard of perfection JKL strives for, and that always pushes me to be my best. Clients come to the firm because they want flawlessness, and we want to give them the finest possible level of craftsmanship,” Nodeen says. “When we are working on a penthouse or a high-end restaurant, nothing less than perfect is acceptable. It keeps me on my toes, and I love the challenge. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the client’s eyes light up when we finally reveal the final product. It makes me love what I do.” SRQ
