East Cobb Kitchen Renovation - Featured Project 3/09

David and Elise Kohl and their three children had been living in their East Cobb house for 15 years when the kitchen started to feel cramped. “We all like to cook and there are usually at least two of us in the kitchen at a time, trying to work,” says David. “The kitchen was too small and we were always in each other's way.” Traffic flow on either side of the walled-off room was terrible, too.

The Kohls consulted three remodeling firms about their kitchen dilemma. One of the firms wanted to charge them for a design and estimate and refused to provide references unless they paid the fee. The second remodeler visited their home to do a design, but, after the Kohls told the remodeler what they had in mind, he simply gave them a quote based on that design. It was an easy decision to choose John Rogers Renovation, Inc.

 
“John was the only one who listened to our needs, took in our ideas of what we thought we would like to do, walked around our kitchen, and discussed potential options with us,” David recalls. “He made several visits and stayed in contact with us for several months. He reworked the estimate and design a couple of times and never asked for a cent or pressured us to make a decision.”  

The design/build remodeler created more space for the kitchen by removing the structural wall between the existing kitchen and dining room. He also converted a closet-style pantry into a baking center and split the existing laundry room in two, which made room for a smaller laundry room and a walk-in pantry.

After John designed the space, Chris Vore from County Line Cabinet met with the Kohls and gave them ideas about how to best use the space for the cabinet layout. The homeowners were as impressed with Chris as they were with Kim Lowenthal, John Rogers Renovation’s selections and color specialist, who helped them pick out stain and paint colors, plumbing fixtures, tile, and other items for the new kitchen. They also enjoyed getting to know electrician Robert Askew. “All of the workers that John allowed into our home were extremely courteous and understood that they were working in our home, not just a construction site,” says David.
 
John and project managers Marshal Bakker and Jeremy Kubat kept the Kohls informed about the project every step of the way. “John let me know upfront that, after demolition, the task of removing the wall might potentially prove to be more difficult and costly than anticipated, but in the end it turned out just as he had planned,” says David.

The Kohls lived in their house during the 2 ½-month renovation project and even that was easier than they’d thought it would be. One thing that helped was the kitchen area in the full basement; the family was still able to cook meals while the kitchen upstairs was undergoing a transformation.

The new, much more spacious and useful kitchen is a large room that runs from the front to the back of the house. The Kohls flat-out love it. “We find ourselves eating out much less often now because we enjoy cooking so much more,” David observes. “Since our children are homeschooled, the whole family is home a lot and the kitchen is a great hangout area now.”