By Kathleen McCormick

	Kitchen designer Maciek Trzos utilized William Ohs’s Tuscany-style cabinetry to integrate all of the functional elements into a cohesive and classic design—elements the man and the firm have become known for. Designer Wm Ohs Showrooms 115 Madison Denver, CO 80206 www.WmOhs.com

Thoughtful, soft-spoken, with the energy of a man half his age, Bill Ohs explains how a stainless-steel handle fits flawlessly with the lines of a new cabinet door he has designed. For more than 30 years, 67-year-old Ohs’s Denver-based atelier has been renowned for designing elegant classic kitchens that combine traditional styles with convenience and luxury (think warming drawers concealed in an island that looks like a piece of Italian country furniture). A William Ohs kitchen, distinctive for the look and feel of kitchen components as fine furniture, typically costs between $80,000 and $220,000.

“From the beginning, we specialized in old-world finishes and hand-glazing” in custom cabinetry, Ohs notes. “We mix a colorant into the varnish, which is transparent but leaves colored varnish in the crevices. We then overcoat with conversion varnish, which is very durable. If we make mistakes in finishes, we have to start over. It’s too labor-intensive to remove the many layers.”

Describing himself as “very right-brained,” Ohs came to his life’s work in a nonlinear way. He arrived in Denver in 1961 to attend seminary, left to teach Inuit children in the Canadian arctic, then returned to earn a masters degree in mental health counseling. In 1972, to support a young family, Ohs began making custom cabinetry in a three-car garage. As design director and CEO for Wm Ohs Inc., and Wm Ohs Showrooms, he presides over companies that earned more than $8 million last year, with 110 employees and 25 product showrooms across the U.S., including such cities as Denver and Vail, Colorado; Jackson, Wyoming; and Las Vegas.

Ohs’s office-studio reflects his inspirations from design and nature: Well-organized shelves hold photographs, books on art and architecture, and a collection of stones and weathered woods. Manila folders contain hundreds of detailed pen-and-ink drawings for what he calls his “products.” His drawings are scanned into a computer and then drafted into specifications for his woodworkers and custom-finishers. His designers assist architects and kitchen designers in composing the perfect custom kitchen for each client, which often means an individual eclectic mix from his dozen or so styles.

Ohs’s travels have inspired designs for pieces such as an 80-inch-wide corbelled limestone hood with pillars flanking a range that suggests an 18th-century Tuscan hearth. His furniture finishes and glazings have been described like cappuccino: “rich and creamy, sophisticated and subtle.” In fact, one of his favorite pastimes is sipping cappuccino at outdoor cafés in Italy and the south of France. “I always have a pad of paper and make notes and sketches,” he says. “I just like to see things, the shape of things.”