From NYC to Durham

This is the project responsible for prompting me to write my recent post on designing for people remote to where I am! That exercise includes designing for both nearby projects and long distance ones.

A couple living in Manhattan hired us to design & remodel the kitchen in their newly purchased condo, 30 minutes down the road from our home base of Raleigh.

Lots of emails & phone calls later, they are happily settled in the new digs.

Before	After

Features/Materials

• Cambria Collybrooke, quartz, double stack, eased edges. The look of concrete with zero maintenance of quartz!
• Modwalls Lush glass subway tile – Wasabi
• Vigo Farmhouse stainless steel single bowl sink
• IKEA cabinets & inserts
• Custom wine rack (local fabrication)
• LED undercabinet task lights

Last but not least, the onsite project manager:

Manual for Non Hair-Loss Kitchens

After reading these two reviews from my kitchen design buddies Nick at Cupboards Online & Arne at Useful Spaces, I’m really glad I jumped on grabbing a copy of this one.

Kelly’s been one of my favorite follows on twitter for years. There is a gaggle of kitchen designers that tweet about materials, trends & good kitchen design. Whether it’s aging in place issues, reclaimed wood, or code compliance, they know their stuff inside out. Kelly is no exception & she’s got the years of experience behind her to back her up.

Her wisdom comes with a sense of humor & straightforward verbiage that sets it on the right track. Between this one & Lori Dennis’ green interior design book I reviewed a few months ago, and a bunch of container design books, my design library is looking stellar!

It shipped yesterday, can’t wait!

Local to local

L2L – in txt msg lingo – kitchen design has been our bread & butter for years. Work local, buy local, feed the local economy. By local we mean anywhere in NC.

We have clients from the coast (Bald Head Island, Wilmington, Topsail Island) to the hills (Asheville, Winston Salem) & everywhere between (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest).

Local to remote

L2R – these started popping up late in our first year. People wanting IKEA kitchen designs were contacting us from Kansas, Missouri, DC, VA, Wisconsin, Colorado & London Ontario.

They grab the measurements & photos we design & review online, help them interview contractors & boom they’re on their way. In some cases we travel to do the installation.

Remote to local (new!)

The latest twist we’re experiencing is designing & installing for people who are in the process of relocating to NC from elsewhere. R2L is born!

We recently completed a full installation for a couple coming down to Durham from NYC. We’re doing a design for some folks on the west coast who are buying a house in Asheville. Yesterday I started a design for some folks who’re moving from Nashville TN to Chapel Hill.

If you thought you had to give up your beloved IKEA kitchen, think again!

Now vs. Later

People frequently ask me about plans to put in a new kitchen.  Naturally, budget and schedule are frequently part of that conversation. They should be.

Some folks have done more homework than others, & arrive with sketches & number crunching lists. Good for them on getting their arms around the project!

Rule of Thumb Alert:

Unless the savings on something is $1,000 or more, you’re wasting time & resources & it will come back to bite you during construction.

It’s money well spent to have someone who designs for a living take a look. There are oodles of nuances involved in renovating kitchens, & many can be expensive to correct on the jobsite. And frustrating – for everyone involved.

So that $500-800 design fee you might save now will easily end up being thrice that in the long run if the project is rushed & something is overlooked on paper. (“What do you mean we have to run wires for these undercabinet lights??”)

If you want the kitchen now, compromise on things that can be added later (like a backsplash), but don’t skimp on the planning!