In June of this year, after finally deciding that YES we were going to bite the bullet and do a full-blown kitchen renovation, we were left with one burning little question — now what?
Sure, we’d looked around at a few local kitchen showroom places over the years. We’d seen the displays in Ikea and Home Depot. We knew we wanted a new kitchen. We also knew that we wanted someone we could trust to guide us through the experience. So, instead of spending our weekends searching for a kitchen contractor we felt comfortable with, I decided to ask a trusted friend if she could recommend anyone. After all, this friend had lived in Durham Region for as long as I had and because of the nature of her job, she comes in contact with people from all walks of life. A client of hers for almost 25 years, I knew we shared many of the same goals, dreams and standards. I had no doubt that a recommendation from her would lead me in the right direction.
So who, you ask, is this person whose opinion I trusted so completely?
My hairdresser, Angie, of course.
When I asked Angie if she knew of anyone we could trust with our kitchen, she answered without hesitation “Neil Samson at Monarch Kitchens.”
A week or so later, we were in the Monarch Kitchen & Bath Centre showroom and Neil Samson was encouraging us to DREAM BIG, because after all, he told us, “dreaming is free.” And by sharing our dreams with Neil that day, we were able to work with him to create a design for a kitchen that served our needs and met our budget.
So how exactly do you go from visualizing your dream kitchen to actually planning the event? Well, for us, it went something like this:
- Have a friend, colleague family member recommend a local contractor.
- Meet and discuss what kind of renovation you’re looking for. (Do you just want the countertops replaced and the cabinets re-finished, or do want the entire room gutted?) Discuss budget, time lines, expectations.
- Have the contractor come to your home to examine the space. Discuss possible options (tearing down walls, relocating appliances etc.) If you want them to proceed, they will need to measure the affected rooms so they can prepare several design configurations.
- Meet with the contractor once again to examine the possible designs.