Making the Grade

To paraphrase an old saying, when it comes to what upscale consumers want in their kitchens and baths, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that bling.” According to kitchen and bath designers interviewed by KBDN, that “bling” not only means high style and but high-tech, as well.

While items such as glass backsplashes, custom hoods and stone sinks are still required viewing for many clients, there are a host of high-ticket items pumping up today’s kitchen and bath designs – and boosting profits for kitchen and bath firms.

According to Gail Drury, CKD, CBD and president of Glen Ellyn, IL-based Drury Design, that may mean home automation technology, a second dishwasher in the kitchen or a television screen that doubles as a mirror in the master bath.

The important thing is that you make the most out of the client’s design, and make the most for your firm, Drury notes.

“Most of these products are installed as a result of us suggesting them,” she says. “If you present it correctly and approach it the right way, then it comes across as [the client’s] idea and it is an easy upsell. If you present it incorrectly, then it isn’t going to fly.”

Darius Baker, CR, CKBR, CEO of D&J Kitchens & Baths in Sacramento, CA agrees, adding that the shift in consumer purchasing practices has been seismic, particularly in Southern California. “Three years ago, people wanted to fix up their kitchen so they could sell their house.

Today, people are using their equity and creating their dream homes, so many times we don’t even have a chance to upsell them,” he explains. “The bottom line is we are shooting for gross profit and net profit targets, and it doesn’t really matter if it is a Formica countertop or a granite top – as long as we get our 10% net profit at the end of the job.”

Product Push

So, what are some of the key items being specified in the kitchen? That depends on whom you ask.

Drury explains: “We are doing a lot of [specialty] appliances and second dishwashers, for instance.”

“Two dishwashers are becoming more prominent in larger kitchens,” agrees Tom Trzcinski, CMKBD of Pittsburgh, PA-based Kitchen & Bath Concepts of Pittsburgh.

Baker adds he is receiving upgrade calls for dish drawers to create “quasi-Kosher” kitchens for the strong Jewish community in his area. “They may tell me that they want the second dishwasher, but we may talk them into the dish drawers depending on the amount of space we have to work with in the kitchen,” he explains. “We have TVs coming out of the backsplashes. The flat-screen technology allows us to place technology where you wouldn’t normally be able to put it.”

Trzcinski cites cabinet lifts as allowing kitchen and bath designers to achieve clients’ dreams. “The technological advances with lifts have enabled us to do more than we’ve been able to do in the past.”

Drury adds: “There are also computers now that allow the user to monitor the whole house with cameras installed in different rooms. So, if a client is out of town, he or she can go on the Internet and see what’s going on at home.”

In fact, many kitchens now feature a command center.

“In the kitchen, the goal is about creating a center planning area [with technology],” says Trzcinski. “There is a mix of consumers who don’t want to see their computer, and those who do,” which determines how that area is designed.

“There are also companies that are wiring homes for remote interactivity,” says Alan Abrams, CMKBD, president/founder of Cleveland, OH-based Cabinet En-Counters, Inc. “You can have your lights turn on and off at a certain time or even control your oven from your cell phone or laptop.”

Drury concludes that she is also seeing a big call for stereo systems throughout various areas of the kitchen, as well as message centers for bills and mail.

Master Sweet

The options for upgrading the master bath are equally unlimited, Drury points out.