A Newsletter from Southwest Kitchen & Bath

Hi everyone, Bob Elkins here.

After 22 years in the kitchen and bath design and remodeling business, I frequently get asked common questions about the process.

In partnership with Tucson Lifestyle, our monthly newsletter “Kitchen Connections” will be sent to the A-List with tips, information and timely values for your project.

I trust you will enjoy it and become more aware of how to make the most of your experience when improving, up-grading and renewing your home.

Q: What is the best way to properly plan my project?

Begin with a concept. Collect inspirational photos, magazine pictures, color swatches and material ideas. Your budget and time frame goals should be established up front as well. A good designer will help you put together a budget if you don’t have one and can even show you ways to make the most modest budget go the farthest with their skills and connections . But you must create a budget and stick to it!

If you were building a house, you would use an architect. In the remodeling business, we need to create a kitchen or bath floor plan, elevations and dimensions. Then we need to plan the space out according to how you will USE it.

Plan an In Home Consultation with your kitchen designer. Tell them how you like to work in the kitchen. Where is your prep area? Do the kids hang out and do homework while you are cooking? Do you entertain a lot? Aesthetically we can make your kitchen beautiful. But what you will remember is how much more functional it is if it is laid out with good space planning from the start!

The next step is to the visit to the showroom to see samples of countertops, door-styles, stains, handles-knobs and more! Take a virtual tour of your new space before its even built. Most CAD programs now have this cool feature that will take you right into the kitchen, open doors, pull out trays, open appliances and show you different pallets of color, texture and style, all with a click of the mouse. Take advantage of this! It’s like trying on your kitchen before you buy it!

The holidays are coming (yes, there is relief in sight from the heat!) and the kids are back in school! . This is always a great time to start thinking of how your home will serve your family and guests for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Or maybe you are just returning to Tucson from a cool summer somewhere else and you want to get started on your project now that you’re going to be settled in for the winter. Give us a call and lets meet to discuss some ideas on how we can help you get going in the right direction.

We can still get it done before the holidays, just give us a call! Visit our website for more ideas or to see a gallery of “before and after” pictures that may inspire you for your kitchen!

Thanks for joining me today and stay tuned for our September edition of Kitchen Connections where we will talk about creating a realistic budget for your project.

Thanks!

- Bob

7780 N. Oracle Rd # 150
Tucson, AZ 85704
Phone: (520) 531-9187
Fax: (520) 531-8598
Email: info@southwestkitchen.com
www.southwestkitchen.com