Firm Collaborates for Success

“The key is that we’re not a dealership with only two or three lines to offer. This frees us to select what is right for our clients, so we don’t have to push something that isn’t a good fit. We select the line that fits all of our client’s criteria,” Lewis says.

Among the notable lines the pair utilizes are Crystal Cabinet Works, Plato Woodwork, Wellborn Cabinet, Dura Supreme, Merillat, Cabico, Shiloh, Koch & Co., Door Components and Eudora, plus a local cabinet company for custom designs. The company also has accounts with virtually every major brand of countertops, appliances and fixtures, Lewis adds.

“Along with her kitchen design expertise, Brigitte specializes in assisting clients with their selections of appliances, flooring, countertops, tiles, lighting, paint colors and all the necessary ‘peripherals’ that really enhance our designs,” he comments.

Project Portfolio

The firm’s location plays a key role in the direction of its designs. As a result of being situated in a Chicago suburb, the most requested design themes tend to lean toward more traditional styles.

However, Lewis notes that the company also takes on projects in downtown hi-rises, which lean more toward contemporary and modern styles, and often require more custom work.

“One particular project is a great representation of the structural modifications we are capable of. It was a tiny kitchen, so we removed a wall, opening the kitchen to the rest of the living area. We then swept the pub-height bar into the newly transitioned area,” he reports.

Another project that the firm worked on featured a custom refrigerator end panel with doors that hid a message center that replaced the previously unsightly use of magnets for personal notes and calendars.

Still another of the firm’s kitchen designs featured full-height backsplashes and enough Cambria surfacing materials that the pair has entered it into a calendar competition for best use of the product.

“In the end, it’s really very simple,” Lewis stresses. “Listen to the clients’ ideas and what they like and dislike about their current kitchen. After that, come back with a design that incorporates everything you’ve written on your pages of notes. That is what makes it work.”