Dear Ken,
We had a very nice Thanksgiving in our new kitchen. We really like the kitchen. Everything works. We have amenities we didn’t even know existed. You said it would be finished in time for Thanksgiving and it was. Our friends and relatives scoffed and told us, “Kitchen remodels never finish on time” but they were all wrong. We credit your experience and the careful planning you put into the project. Almost everything went smoothly — and when it didn’t you were right there to get things straightened out.
We interviewed several kitchen designers before we chose you. We were shown display kitchens and books full of a hundred contradictory ideas. We talked to people who were charging us a fee and we talked to people who came out for free. We talked to people who knew exactly what was best for us and we talked to people who were quick to explain how they could do anything we wanted — and then change the plan whenever a new idea popped up. Our kitchen was measured, remeasured and measured again. We looked at stock cabinetry and we were referred to cabinet makers.
“What do you want?” wasn’t the right question for us. We didn’t really know what we wanted and we didn’t know all that was available. We knew we wanted a better functioning, better looking kitchen and we knew where the trouble spots were in the existing kitchen. It seemed as if we had a hundred paths and no clear way of determining which way to go. Then you walked in and said, “Imagine an empty room.” Your focus was on what we were trying to accomplish and that was the right way for us. For each idea or question that we introduced, you had us start with what we wanted to accomplish, then consider the different ways to reach that objective. We found this approach congenial, and it left us comfortable with each outcome.
We quickly discovered that you have an outstanding reputation in the community. You connected us with an excellent contractor who knew that you could be counted on to have the correct cabinets delivered to our home, ready for installation, on the promised day, so he did not need to allot extra time to allow for late, missing or wrong cabinets. He was therefore comfortable scheduling the project within our eight-week window — and it was in fact completed in plenty of time. The appliance dealer through whom we purchased all our appliances (at very competitive prices) also praised your reliability.