The Lifestyle Factor – February 2024:

You’re Not Happy: Are you not happy with what is being presented to you by your remodeling team? Or worse, you’re not happy with the way your remodeling project turned out and you can’t figure out why. Maybe your lifestyle is the problem. More specifically, maybe you and your designer were too busy chasing an […]

Plan Not to Get Ripped Off in 2024

How About We Plan Not to Get Ripped Off in 2024: It Happened Again: Nothing aggravates me more than seeing good people ripped off by a so-called professional. In the last month I have been contacted by two families looking to get their project done after the first person they hired took off with their […]

October is Fire Safety Month – 2023

Ask the Kitchen Guy – October is Fire Safety Month A kitchen fire can start fast and spread faster. According to Service-Master Restore, an average of 170,000 fires occurs in residential kitchens each year in the US. With October being Fire Prevention Month, let’s talk about certain types of kitchen fires, what to do, and […]

What Sells?

What Sells? – September 2023 In our last blog we talked about dishwashers. Hard to believe but in 2023 there are people that just don’t feel the need for one. Not surprisingly, there was quite a lot of feedback. Most but not all was pro dishwasher. The bottom line was you need a dishwasher if […]

The Dish on Dishwashers – July 2023

When meeting to discuss a kitchen remodel many clients have questioned the need for or value of a dishwasher. Here are some of the questions and statements I often hear and my replies. Question: I don’t ever use my dishwasher, it’s just the two of us or I live alone. Why should I buy a […]

Don’t Get Stuck on An Island – February 21, 2021

I want a big island, how big of an island can I have? If I had a dollar for every time a client started off our first meeting with that question, well, I wouldn’t be writing blog articles. I digress. A kitchen island can be extremely useful especially when utilizing an “Open Design Concept”. An […]

Expecting the Unexpected 7-19-2019

This year spring storms have brought an unusual amount of flooding and wind damage to much of the country. The first weeks if summer portend a rough and rocky weather-related summer and fall. With storms comes power outages. Here are some tips to help you get and stay prepared for the inevitable. Having a generator […]

Frankly Speaking 4-26-2019

Frankly Speaking (4-26-2019) We need to talk. Four words most of us never want to hear. Primarily because it portends a rather unpleasant conversation. However, if you want to manage expectations properly – Great Expectations in Residential Remodeling – 11-19-2018  – good and sometimes frank discussions are critical. The biggest mistakes made in residential remodeling […]

Surviving the Big Freeze 2019 (1-26-2019)

No time for philosophizing, opinionating or joking around. This is serious. Chicago and a large part of the Midwest will experience freezing low temperatures in the coming days not seen in several years. Here are some tips that may make getting through the next week a lot easier. These tips are in no specific order […]

Painting Old Walls & Ceilings

Hey Kitchen Guy, now that I have this gorgeous kitchen how do I make my old walls & ceilings look new again? Short answer is, it takes hard work. Long answer is below. Making old walls look good again isn’t easy. I have often been asked to make these old walls look good again. Typically, […]