The Personalized Design experience is one of the things that makes Cabinet World stand out from other home improvement companies – not just in the Pittsburgh area, but in the whole industry. This experience involves a personal visit from one of our professional designers who will talk with you about your project in the comfort of your home. This visit represents a unique opportunity for homeowners and designers to collaborate on a kitchen or bathroom remodel, and it benefits everyone involved.
As you talk with one of our professional designers, both of you will gain insight into the best approach for your kitchen or bathroom remodel. Our designers learn from you about your goals and hopes for a given space, and you are able to ask whatever questions you have about the remodeling process. This is how the Personalized Design experience helps everyone stay on the same page, work together, and turn your dream kitchen or bathroom into a reality.
We’re so excited about the ways our Personalized Design experience can help you, in fact, that we spent some time explaining this unique service during the 2021 Pittsburgh Kitchen and Bath Show.
This live, virtual event was fun to present alongside Pittsburgh’s own Bath Fitter, and it was informative for our listeners, as well. We explored different aspects of cabinetry and home improvement, and you can watch full segments of the show on our Facebook page. But first, keep reading for a review of our segment about the Personalized Design experience. In this blog post, we’ll take another look at why this one-of-a-kind service deserved a spotlight during the 2021 Pittsburgh Kitchen and Bath Show.
What Personalized Design Provides
“Personalized Design is what we do that sets us apart from everyone else,” explained Pam Pechalk, a team member who spoke during the 2021 Pittsburgh Kitchen and Bath Show. Pam continued, giving more details about how a home visit from a professional, Cabinet World designer can really benefit the homeowner:
We design a kitchen with you in mind, with you and not for you. We start off our first appointment in your home. We look at how you entertain, how you function in your kitchen; what works for you, what doesn’t work for you. And we go from there… helping get the perfect kitchen for you. We don’t just come in and take measurements, and then just give you a cookie cutter kitchen. Your kitchen is specifically designed with you in mind.
Meeting with the homeowner helps our designers learn what sort of kitchen or bathroom will work best for the homeowner. Factors such as the layout, lighting, wiring, and more all come to play here. For example, if you use more shelf-stable ingredients while preparing meals than refrigerated items, that could influence the proper arrangement of appliances and cabinets in your kitchen.
Whatever the case, taking part in the Personalized Design experience means that a kitchen or bathroom remodel completed with Cabinet World will be tailored to you. You, as the homeowner, will have a direct say in the changes made to your home. Whereas others in the industry control the design process during remodeling projects, we at Cabinet World put the customer’s vision first.
Eliminating the Design Bias
When working with other companies in the home improvement industry, homeowners often find that designers are tempted to let their own tastes affect their work. We at Cabinet World resist that temptation, and always remove our design bias before helping you create your new kitchen or bathroom.
We also resist the temptation to give you an easy solution: a “cookie-cutter” kitchen or bathroom, taken from industry standards rather than your vision and creative inspiration.
At Cabinet World, we understand that this is your home, not ours, and we believe that it should reflect your individual tastes and needs. This also means that each kitchen or bathroom designed with Cabinet World will be unique.
“I can honestly say as long as I have been doing this, no two kitchens have ever been the same,” Pam emphasized, “I’ve never reused a design. They’re all different.”
The Perfect Design Fit
Because the Personalized Design experience allows for a totally unique kitchen or bathroom, our team can tailor these spaces to you. Whatever you need – both in terms of room functionality and aesthetics – we can help you achieve. Your vision is important to us, and we’ll work with you to make it a reality.
One of the ways we are able to tailor spaces to the homeowner is by learning how the homeowner uses it. This provides the insight we need to help you design a kitchen or bathroom that perfectly suits your daily activities. Pam shared a few factors that our professional designers consider:
The first thing we typically do is just sit down at the kitchen table and talk. Tell me about your family – who lives here, who uses the kitchen? How many people cook in the kitchen at the same time? Do you entertain? Do you need an entertaining space? Or do you need a place for your family to have dinner together every night? Those are all the things that are really important in pulling the design together.
Sam Lucci, another speaker during the show, added that “we listen to you and determine what you want, versus telling you how we feel as though you should have it.”
Finding the Heart of Your Project
It’s also important to learn about the heart behind your dream kitchen or bathroom. What is your motivation for remodeling? Knowing what a homeowner hopes for their next project helps our designers see your vision, so that they, in turn, can help you make it a reality. Cabinet World team member Jenna Crawford described this from a designer’s perspective:
During our discovery process, it’s very important to ask somebody, “Why is that important to you? What matters to you?” … And once that emotion starts to come out, then [designers] kind of realize: this is important to you… That’s how I tailor the style. I find out what’s important and where the emotion is.
Understanding the heart behind your dream kitchen is a key part of the Personalized Design experience. It provides an important foundation for the rest of the remodeling project, so that we stay aligned to your vision during the whole process.
In addition to finding the emotion – or motivation – behind a project, we’re also ready to hear any design ideas that you have. We always welcome the creativity of our customers, but even if you don’t have a honed vision for the project yet, – don’t worry. Our professional designers are ready to help you find inspiration and make sure that your next kitchen or bathroom remodel is a perfect fit.
If you’re looking to find a little inspiration right now, check out a few of our other blog posts. You can learn about the 10 Alternatives to White Kitchens, How to Incorporate Color in Your Kitchen, and more. During the Personalized Design experience, you can be sure that we’ll have even more to suggest about kitchen and bathroom design, for both the aesthetics and functionality of these spaces.
Design Aesthetics
As you make different aesthetic choices, for example, we can help you find the best backsplashes, color schemes, kitchen island designs, and more that fit your vision. Our designers have a wealth of relevant experience and knowledge at your disposal, so that a kitchen or bathroom remodeled with Cabinet World is sure to look sharp.
We also stay on top of the latest design trends, so that your next kitchen or bathroom can be up-to-date and positively show stopping. Whether you want your new bathroom to be “Insta-worthy” or your new kitchen to catch the eye of house-shoppers, we can help.
For a deep dive into the latest design trends that we’ve noticed, read What’s Hot in Kitchen Design, a blog post that breaks down another segment of the 2021 Pittsburgh Kitchen and Bath Show. To learn more about the Personalized Design experience, visit one of our Pittsburgh locations, give us a call for a free consultation, or contact us online.
Design Functionality
Besides the aesthetic aspects of design, we also consider functionality during the Personalized Design experience. We understand that practical concerns – such as safety and accessibility – are important to you as the homeowner. Even things as seemingly simple as the location of appliances can have a major impact on the room. Our designers can tailor these factors of functionality to you as they learn more about how you work in the area you want to remodel. Once we know what works for you and what doesn’t, we can help you figure out what sort of kitchen or bathroom would be perfect for you.
If, for example, you need more storage in your kitchen, we can adjust aspects of the room to provide you a little more space. Crawford pointed out that, sometimes, the bulkheads above kitchen cabinets represent unused space, and therefore unlocked potential.
Bulkheads are sections of a ceiling that are lower than the ceiling is elsewhere, usually in order to contain and conceal something. Most often, they cover things like plumbing, electric wiring, and/or ductwork, helping give rooms – typically kitchens – a more finished look.
While bulkheads serve both a functional and aesthetic purpose, they are not always designed to use space with maximum efficiency. So, sometimes, we can alter kitchen bulkheads to gain a few more inches of cabinet space. This could make all the difference for a homeowner who need extra storage in their kitchen.
This is just one of the many tricks we learned after nearly 50 years in the remodeling business. If you want to learn a few more tips for getting the most out of your kitchen storage, check out the blog post we wrote on that very topic, here.
Personalized Help with Logistics
We can also help you navigate the logistical side of a bathroom or kitchen remodel during the Personalized Design experience. If, for example, you have budgetary concerns, our team of professionals will give you the advice you need.
We know how important it is for home improvement projects to meet your expectations without exceeding the funds you’re willing to invest. That’s why we help our customers stick to their budget and never force them to spend more than they are willing. We’ll help you balance quality and cost and help you learn more about the price of remodeling so that the finances of your project don’t have to be a burden to you.
If you want to read more about budgeting a kitchen remodeling project, check out our blog post that explains How to budget Your Kitchen Renovation. If you have questions about the legal standards for kitchen and bathroom projects, we can also cover that during the Personalized Design experience.
The various safety codes and regulations influence many aspects of bathroom or kitchen projects but can be a challenge for those who are not familiar with them. Our experienced designers are here to help ensure that your new kitchen or bathroom will be safe and up to legal standards, while still meeting your remodeling goals. When you work with Cabinet World, you can be sure that you’ll never be getting careless work.
Your safety and ability to enjoy your home without worry are our top priorities.
You’re in Control
A big benefit of working with Cabinet World is the degree of control you can have over your remodeling project. Your part in the process starts with the Personalized Design experience, of course, but it doesn’t have to stop there.
During the 2021 Pittsburgh Kitchen and Bath Show, Pam explained that there are three main levels of homeowner involvement:
- In the first level, Cabinet World does all the heavy lifting. We look to your goals and vision for the kitchen remodel, and apply these to your home for you. Depending on the project, this might involve removing some fixtures that are currently in place, rearranging or replacing others, and putting everything in order at the end.
- The second level involves more participation, so that you might do part of the work while we do the rest. For example, the homeowner might choose to remove their old cabinetry themselves before Cabinet World arrives to install the new ones. Participating on this level takes a little extra work on the part of the homeowner, though some opt to go this route in order to save money and to have a more active hand in the process.
- Finally, in the third level, Cabinet World provides you with the cabinets you need and lets you take care of both the demolition and the installation.
Which of these three levels you select is completely up to you and can be decided during the Personalized Design experience. In any case, we’ll be ready to help you remodel your kitchen or bathroom to whatever extent you would like.
If you want to learn more about how Cabinet World can help with your next bathroom or kitchen remodel, visit us at one of our Pittsburgh locations, give us a call for a free consultation, or contact us online.
And to learn more about kitchen remodeling, be sure to check out our blog posts on cabinet styles and brands.
Plus, you don’t want to miss our next Pittsburgh Kitchen and Bath Show! So like us on Facebook for updates about upcoming events.
