Remodel My Kitchen

"Remodel my kitchen!" Of course, that is every remodeler's dream statement to hear from customers. Getting to hear just those three little words that mean so much makes all the hard work worthwhile for remodelers everywhere. But the honest truth is that there is more to it than just three little words.

This blanket statement is like an oath or a declaration that we trust our remodeler implicitly to do the right thing. When I just tell him to remodel my kitchen and leave out the rest of the details, it is like giving him license to do whatever he pleases. But as all good remodelers know, that amount of latitude must be met with an equal or greater reserve of fortitude. If you hear my voice when I am heading down the hall toward the kitchen, then you know I am stopping by to check up on you. Every remodel job in a home goes something like this. When I say remodel my kitchen, what I am really telling you is that anything you do is just fine, as long as it's exactly what I would have done.

Discover a Great Kitchen Idea

When I tell a remodeler to remodel my kitchen, it opens up an implicit relationship between the two of us. I have to trust him to do a good job, and in turn he has to trust me to treat him well and to pay him when he is finished. As a customer, my hope is that all the trust I have placed in him will prove prescient. One of the best ways, though, to open up a real dialogue between remodel pro and customer is to imply or express that mutual trust. Working as a team and not as adversaries can lead to much more productive work between the two. In fact, it can even lead to great ideas coming seemingly from out of nowhere.

If I tell my remodel professional to remodel my kitchen and I do not fill in the blanks, does it not suggest an acknowledgment in his professionalism and even his superior standing over me at least in this domain? Certainly it is fruitful to come out and say it, even if not in so many words. Remodel my kitchen, I say, and don't you worry about the sound of me walking right behind you. I won't be in the way. I'll be in the dining area poring over some kitchen remodeling plans I just got online.

New Sink and Countertops

Remodel my kitchen, and be sure to do a good job on those cabinets. Oh, and you know how I have that sink visualized, don't you? Right there underneath the window. I know we have talked about this before. I am just so excited. Look outside and watch the birds while I rinse off the dishes from the evening meal. This is the way it should have always been, and look, now here you are making it happen as you remodel my kitchen and turn it into something you have made in my image. Oh dear, where are we ever going to fit the stove?

Remodel my kitchen, and don't you dare miss a single detail. The flooring has to coordinate with the cabinetry. And those cupboards they need to match the refrigerator. And lest we forget, the wall tile arrived for behind the sink. It's just as we discussed, only maybe a wee bit lighter.

The Best Kitchen Remodel

This kitchen remodel work gets pretty intense sometimes. There is so much going on under the surface and both parties are equally invested in the job. The homeowner wants the wine cooler in exactly the right spot and the microwave to coordinate with the stove, if the stove will even fit when all is through. And the poor remodel professional simply wishes he could lower the intensity a little.

But as homeowners we are emotionally tied to these projects. The truth is that deep down inside, most of us who hire professionals to do the work secretly wish we were more directly involved. And as remodelers, we get the feeling sometimes that the homeowner is watching us not so much out of mistrust but out of some combination of anticipation and maybe a little bit of fear that things won't turn out.

When I say remodel my kitchen, I should mean it. And the pro working on my house ought to take it that way. The best kitchen remodeling project is the one in which both the customer and the contractor trusted one another and worked together toward a common goal. That goal, of course, is to create a one of a kind oasis for the customer's family to enjoy once the preparatory work has all been completed.