Remodeling your kitchen?

Here is an article I came across and thought it was good advice for people remodeling their kitchen. When we remodel a kitchen, which typically takes 4 weeks, we do all we can to set people up for continued use of some kind of kitchen, for we know what it is like to live without the "heart" of your home, especially for families:
http://kitchens.com/planning/surviving-a-remodel/temporary-kitchen.aspx

Setting Up a Temporary Kitchen

When good-enough is as good as it gets

It might be a shell of your actual kitchen, but a temporary kitchen is a must during a remodel.

If you frequently prepare meals in your kitchen, a kitchen remodel will pose you with many culinary conundrums. It will be imperative for you to set up a temporary kitchen, which may not provide you the ability to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for 30 guests, but will at least help you cook an edible meal instead of eating out every day of the week. Here are a few tips for setting up your temporary kitchen:

• Keep essential items handy: microwave meals and non-perishables like soup; condiments; cereal; microwave-safe dishes and utensils; dishcloths; dishwasher soap; paper plates and cups; coffee; coffee pot and sugar/creamer; paper towels; napkins; and garbage bags.

• You’ll be without water in the kitchen for a time, so plan to do the dishes in another sink or the bathtub. Or stock up on disposable plates and cups, paper towels and a disinfectant cleanser.

• Move your old refrigerator or a small mini-fridge to a convenient space close to a water source. Add a table with a microwave above and a trash can below.

Obviously, small appliances such as microwaves, toasters or toaster ovens, hot plates, and small electric grills will be immensely helpful in preparing home-cooked meals. Just remember, the area where you set up your temporary kitchen might not be able to support multiple appliances running at the same time, not to mention any other electronic items typically used in that room. You might need to have only one thing plugged in at a time to prevent blown fuses.

Master Bath Designs

I've recently been designing master bathrooms. Two in the same week and they happen to be within a stones throw of each other. They have different needs, sets of constraints and client wants which is evidenced in the unique designs.

Master Bathroom A

Master Bathroom B

34 Years Ago Today...

2 young men, with a small but solid foundation of carpentry skills and entrepreneurial spirits...

 decided to leave their current employer and go out on their own.

There skills and spirit have paid off and here is the current company...

which employees a total of 3 brothers, 1 brother-in-law, 5 sons and 2 others that are close enough to being family. Thanks Dick & Joe and may we continue to add to the solid foundation you built in the generations to come.

A Little Press

We were interviewed by Angie's List a couple weeks back and it just ran in last Saturday's Home & Garden section in the Cincinnati Enquirer. It gives some good insight into how our industry has evolved with these recent economic times.

Modern Bathroom

It is always a pleasure working with creative people on a project to push the envelope of design and develop fresh ideas. This project is a perfect example. The client also works in the design industry so she came to us with most of the bathroom designed, model in hand, materials listed out and ready to go. From there we built products she couldn't find, designed & built her cabinetry and massaged the design in order to allow her theoretical ideas come to practical life.

 it was easy to fit more modern fixtures into this clean lined, contemporary home

 Our custom cabinetry

 We maintained the existing redwood on the walls and added new

 The client had trouble finding mirrors she wanted, so we used her existing redwood scraps from the demolition of the bathroom and built these one-of-a-kind chrome mounted, swivel mirrors

 View from the tub deck back to the shower/commode area

 Custom cabinetry

 Custom niche

Shower features linear drain, granite seat with stainless steel tubing for support, which matches her cabinet legs & mirror supports

New Angie's List Report

A great way to start off the week: a gleaming report on Angie's List. Not sure if you use or have heard of Angie's List, but it is a online community where the customer pays to have a membership. With that membership comes an expansive list of service providers, "from plumbers to roofers", who other community members have used and have reviewed. The businesses listed on Angie's List, i.e. Meyer Brothers and Sons, have no control over what reviews people post, so it provides a real, honest reflection of client's experiences with the businesses they use. Below is the unsolicited review followed by some pictures of the items the client highlighted:

Overall	A
Price	A
Quality	A
Responsiveness	A
Punctuality	A
Professionalism	A

Categories: 

Architects & Building Design
Cabinet Making
Carpentry - Woodworking
Electrical
Remodeling - General
Remodeling - Kitchen & Bathroom

Services Performed: 

Yes

* More Weight is given to a report where work has been completed.

Work Completed Date: 

April 09, 2012

Last Modified Date: 

June 05, 2012

Hire Again: 

Yes

Approximate Cost: 

$75,000.00

Description Of Work: 

To begin with their architect came out and sat down with us for about two hours discussing what we wanted. Sent us by email an estimate and preliminary design. We decided to move forward. He came back out and went through everything in great detail. He measured and checked walls to see exactly how to open up our space. Gave us starting date and were their on time every day. We gutted our kitchen. They tore out tile in our living room and den. We had all new natural cherry hardwood floors. Enlarged doorway from kitchen to dining room. Crown molding in kitchen. New LED recess lighting, new pendant lights and LED strip lighting. Beautiful functional custom cabinetry with pull out drawers, hidden spice racks, lazy susan organizer and cookie sheet organizers. They moved our not so old dishwasher and range to basement and hooked them up. We needed cabinet to go in where they took two out. They even came up with a reasonable option for that. Also made cabinet for liquor and glasses in our dining room. Did granite counter tops and tle backsplash. We were told the project would take six to eight weeks. It took 5 weeks. They kept us informed of schedule at all times. They cleaned up the mess every night.

Member Comments: 

It went GREAT! They were very respectful of our house. We were kept informed of schedule. They cleaned up every night. Showed up when they said they would and worked full days. It was suppose to take 6 to 8 weeks but only took 5 weeks.My new kitchen is awesome. They also kept me informed of pricing. I was below budget with tile, granite and faucets. We did not include appliances in their estimate but they told us to try Pâté Appliance. They gave us a nice package deal. If you are looking for a honest, hard working, good design builder, I would highly recommend Meyer Brothers and Sons. The price included design, total kitchen remodel, powder room updates with custom cabinetry and vessel sink, custom cabinetry in dining room and hardwood floors throughout our first floor except for family room, moving old appliances to basement and making cabinet for basement.

Latest Kitchen Design & Photos

Custom designed, hand-built kitchens are one of our favorite things to do at Meyer Brothers & Sons for a variety of reasons. From a design standpoint, it is fun, yes fun to take our knowledge & expertise in kitchen design - from aesthetics to functionality - and merge that with the clients unique needs & ideas. Often times I hear from clients something along these lines: "I found this picture in a magazine and really like the hood design but nothing else... my neighbor has a cherry kitchen I love but the stain is too dark and the cabinets lack functional storage...I was watching HGTV and I decided I want to go with this kind backsplash tile & granite..." From there the design path begins and unfolds through the creative design process demonstrated in 3-dimensional drawings. Through a series of adjustments, improvements & appliance specification integration the final design comes to life. Once it is finalized, the rest of the crew takes over to convert the theoretical drawings to the built reality; resulting in a truly unique, one-of-a-kind, locally built kitchen that is more of a work of art than another functional room in your house.

 the before

 the design

 the after

__________________________________________________________

 We removed the walled pantry and created this cabinet pantry only 10" deep to allow room for the island w/ seating

 Bar hutch in dining room adjacent to kitchen

 A walnut wine holder as a small gift from us to our client

 Island featuring turned "urn" columns which are replicated on either side of the stove: notice how the top follows the column profile

 Wood hood with with insert & half columns on the pull-out spice racks

 Custom wood hood with Corinthian style carved corbels, side spice storage & carved vineyard onlay located on breastboard which is replicated on wood bridge over sink

 The material palette: 2 1/4" oak floor with a natural finish, cherry cabinets featuring roped molding with a natural finish, stainless appliances, granite tops & olive green glass tile back splash

One example of a 2-stage crownmolding