Blog/News

2019 was a spectacular year for Nip Tuck Remodeling. From new offices to new team members, from big awards to big travel adventures, it was a fabulous year!

FEBRUARY

Allison and April attended the 2019 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS19). It was filled with inspiration for this year’s remodeling season.

APRIL

As a member of Remodelers Advantage Inc., we meet with our amazing peer group twice per year. This year, Nip Tuck was honored to have 10 remodeling companies from around the country come to our hometown and focus all their attention on our company! What an honor and experience to host these amazing folks!

Abbie Sladick of Abbie Joan Fine Living stayed in Seattle after our peer group meeting to visit the poppy fields with April.

MAY

The Remodeling Excellence (REX) and Trades Remodeling Excellence (T-REX) Awards were presented by the Remodelers Council of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, the oldest Remodelers Council in the nation, on May 4th at the Seattle Design Center. The Nip Tuck Team was well-represented; April serves as Vice-Chair of the Remodelers Council and was co-Emcee with Chair Ron Palmer of Palmer Residential, LLC. Nip Tuck Remodeling Receives Remodeling Excellence Award for Kitchen $50,000-$100,000 and First Place in Remodeling in Excellence in the $100,000-$150,000 category.

JUNE

April had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. with the Building Industry Association of Washington along with nearly 700 other builders from across the nation to discuss issues facing the home building industry. I received a $1500 scholarship from NAHB to attend. The NAHB Remodelers Leadership Scholarship opens doors to educational opportunities for remodeler’s council leaders by enabling them to attend the NAHB Spring Leadership meetings. We were mentored by national leadership and learned more about the industry and being a strong advocate.

JULY

Hitting a schedule every time in construction is possible if you pay proper attention to planning and have a purposeful attitude. April joined Tim and Steve on The Tim Faller Show to talk about the best practices and the common pitfalls to avoid when creating and managing an on-time project that ends with delighted clients.

AUGUST

Our team came together to design a beautiful space and in October, Nip Tuck Remodeling opened their new offices!

SEPTEMBER

April attended the Remodeler’s Summit in Orlando to network with other industry experts and spoke at the event.

OCTOBER

For the second year in a row, Nip Tuck Remodel has a home on the tour. Visitors had a chance to meet the whole Nip Tuck team and see our featured Woodinville home.

DECEMBER

Our team went on a retreat to McMenamins where we sat around the fire and talked about 2020 goals and played some great pool.

And finally, just before the holiidays, our designer Allison Scott (in the purple dress) won the costume contest at NKBAs disco party.

It was a fabulous year! Here’s to an even better 2020!

A Few of Our Favorite Things (It’s Ok to Sing this One!)

Jumping to help when a homeowner calls us,

Making rooms useful by knocking down walls,

Giving out smiles like they’re diamond rings –

These are a few of oiur favorite things!

 

Improving homes that are old and outdated,

Making homeowners feel proud of their spaces,

Delivering joy like we have angel wings –

These are a few of my favorite things!

 

When the snow flies –

When the roads slow –

When we’re feeling stressed –

We simply remember our favorite things,

And then we just feel so blessed!

Thank you for making 2019 such a fabulous year for Nip Tuck Remodeling. We wish you a very happy holiday season and a bright and wonderful 2020!

Thanksgiving Recipes to Delight Your Guests

Everyone has fun holiday traditions that make their seasons special. Some of the people on our staff gather with their families and share what they are most thankful for before they sit down to eat. Others share one thing that they love about another person at the table. Another shares a favorite memory of something they did with one of the other guests.

One of our favorite traditions has become sharing some of our favorite recipes with our readers. While we’ve shared April’s Apple-Walnut Stuffing recipe and our Pumpkin Bar recipe in the past, we thought it would be fun to include them here again along with a new favorite – Pumpkin Pie Cake – in a downloadable PDF that you can keep.

Download Nip Tuck Remodeling’s 2019 Thanksgiving Recipes Here

Recipes to share – we’d love to keep adding to this, so please share your recipes, too!

We could do everything right with a kitchen or bath remodel down to the last hinge, but we still would not end up with a happy homeowner if we didn’t consider continuity. Imagine your own kitchen, dining room, and living room. Whether those three rooms are separate or more of an open space, the rooms connect in a number of ways. Shared walls and moldings, shared carpet or flooring, millwork, paint colors: They all matter, and they all provide continuity.

What Is Continuity?

Continuity is the way in which the home flows from one room to another – the way it feels as if the entire home was planned to look the way it does. Without considering continuity, you may end up with a perfect room that sticks out like a sore thumb. Picture how it would feel to walk into your home and have a spectacularly redesigned kitchen that you can’t wait to show off, but all of the new work stops right at the kitchen boundary and doesn’t carry through to the dining room or living room. It might be jarring. It might feel disjointed.

Creating Flow

To avoid that disjointed feeling, part of our planning process is to consider the flow of your home. How does one room connect to the next? Are there shared walls that will need to be painted the same color? Are we changing out things, such as outlet covers, that need to match throughout the home? If we’re changing out carpet in the dining room, does that carry into the living room, too?

No Matter Your Why for Remodeling, Continuity Should Be Part of the How

One of the biggest reasons that homeowners decide to remodel is because the designs of their homes no longer function the way they need them to. Your home may be outdated and embarrassing for you to host parties in. It may have always been less than what you wanted, and while you can finally afford the home of your dreams, you love your neighborhood and want to create your perfect space right where you are. You may want to combine a couple of rooms into a grand master suite now that your kids have all grown and moved on. Whatever the reason you decide to remodel, continuity is such an important part of the planning process. Envisioning not just your dream kitchen but how that kitchen connects to every other room it touches is important.

And remember: No matter what you’re trying to accomplish with your home remodeling project, one of the factors you should consider in every room is storage. The more practical storage we can build into your project, the less cluttered your home will feel. Learn more about our process for helping you complete your project. Contact us. We’d like to hear what you’re thinking.

To hit your schedule every time: Is it too good to be true? Hitting a schedule is critical for remodeling companies. For one thing, if we promise a client that we’ll be finished with their project on time, then that’s an important promise to keep. For another, the next client scheduled is expecting us to start their project on time, and if we’re delayed on the previous project, we’ll disappoint both customers.

100% On-Time Record

We hit schedules every time. As a design-build company specializing in whole-house interiors with an emphasis on kitchens and baths, we regularly run four to five projects at a time throughout the year. One of the reasons that clients hire us (the first time – and then again and again) is because we promise to be ON TIME, ON BUDGET, ON PURPOSE.

So how do we do it? That was the topic of discussion during my podcast with Tim Faller. Listen to it here:

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Our Commitment to You

While we use scheduling software to help us stay on track – and every single person who works with us, from employees to suppliers to vendors, buys into our approach –  the real reason we stay on time with your project is because that’s what you deserve. It is very disruptive to have contractors in your home for weeks on end, to lose the use of a kitchen or bathroom. The least we can do is get done when we say we will. We do that by planning.

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

We spend more time than many contractors in the planning phase of your project for good reason: We know that the more we plan and help you envision what we’re going to be doing, the more concerns we can resolve up front. Hitting the schedule is more than just words on paper for us; it’s part of our identity. It’s part of our “Happiness, Guaranteed” promise. Each week, we tell you it’s going to happen a certain way, and then each week it actually happens.

Don’t take our word for it; see what this client has to say:

Tania and Mark, Redmond WA – Kitchen and Main Floor Update

“April and her team did an astounding job remodeling our sad and dated late-80s kitchen. We knew what we wanted going in, but April and her PM, David, brought design ideas to the table that we hadn’t considered, and in some cases, were just plain better.

This was a real partnership because April and David listened, brainstormed, and responded collaboratively and timely. And the schedule was a treat; we’re still in disbelief that a 14-week, completely-torn-down-to-the-studs gut remodel had a detailed project schedule that was accurate TO THE DAY. If you are looking for a design-build firm with an impeccable eye for design, relentless attention to detail, efficient and effective project management, and skilled trade subcontractors who are absolutely at the top of their game, Nip Tuck is for you.”

Last March I found the perfect property (only five miles away from home!) to house the new Nip Tuck Remodeling offices. We were desperately in need of a bigger, more-customized space, and we purchased it with the intent of completing a full renovation.

Since that time, we have been operating as both the client and design-build firm, planning and designing the new workspace, then executing our plan. It was enlightening to be on the other side of the table, as we had to decide how we wanted the office building design to function and what kind of materials we wanted to use, and we had to consider the small details that would really bring a sense of pride to our new workspace.

The process wasn’t without challenges or surprises and doing the right thing for the house meant investing more than I initially expected.  Murphy and his friends visited my house, just as they do with homes of our clients, and we collaborated on every challenge and managed to keep the schedule on track because of the amazing group of trade professionals that participated in the build.

Partway through the process, we were honored to host the Remodelers Advantage peer group, inviting the 10 remodeling companies from around the country to come and visit our new space.  This picture gives you a glimpse into the rough-in stage of the project.

Here is a look at our new space!

It may only be September, but there are only 13 weeks until Christmas. I don’t know about you, but I love hosting big gatherings of family and friends around the holidays – but that doesn’t come without a little bit of stress in wanting to make sure my house is in perfect order and ready to receive guests. From a perfectly terrifying Halloween party to hosting the whole crowd for Christmas dinner, here are my best tips for preparing your home.

Declutter

When you will have extra people sharing your space, you can make your home feel bigger by decluttering. I’m not just talking about getting rid of the pile of junk mail on your dining room table but really going through your home – especially hallways and the kitchen space where everyone tends to gather – and really clearing out as much stuff as you can to give yourself and your guests room to linger.

Swap Out Décor

Instead of just adding holiday décor to what you already have out, replace your existing décor with holiday-themed choices. This will keep your walls, mantle, and table from being overwhelmed while still getting your home into the festive spirit.

Buy New Towels and Pillows

Even if you have perfectly fine pillows and towels, there is nothing more welcoming to a guest than a fresh pillow for their head and a brand-new towel set to use while they’re staying with you. If you have too many to store, consider donating them to a local shelter after your guests depart.

Make Dishes Ahead

Instead of spending all your time in the kitchen when you’d rather be visiting, make some dishes ahead of time that are sure crowd pleasers. A pan of lasagna will feed a crowd, but it takes a while to make. Make it now, cover it securely, and stick it in the freezer. Voila! Dinner is nothing more than popping a dish in the oven and browning some garlic bread. Any casserole dish or sauce (spaghetti, chili, stew) can be made ahead and heated up in the crock pot or oven for an easy meal that feeds plenty.

Our Favorite Recipes

The Best Thanksgiving Recipes – with Videos

Pumpkin Bar Recipe

April’s Apple Walnut Stuffing

Are you tired of your kids doing their homework at the kitchen table and having your dining room become the catch-all for every paper that comes home with them? This time of year, it seems like we start losing grasp of any kind of organization we might have brought about while the kids were home. These remodeling ideas are designed to help you give your kids their own study and storage space.

Built-In Study Space

It’s easy enough to find unused space that can be converted into a study space, whether it’s using a bookcase as a wall at the junction of two rooms or taking advantage of a small cubby under the stairs. One of our favorites is a custom bookcase with built-in desks on each side, providing two study spaces for the price of one, with plenty of storage for books and supplies.

Combined Study Room and Playroom

Homework first! Set that rule (ensuring that it’s abided by) and you can create a playroom that doubles as a study room. You may have an unused guest room or space in your basement to add a room. If you’re planning an addition to your home or a remodel of an existing space, it’s a good idea to give  your kids a place to study. Elements you can include are shelving to store books, container storage for loose school supplies, sufficient lighting, a workspace, and a reading corner.

Add a Study Cubby to Your Child’s Bedroom

One of the easiest ways to create a study space for your child is to add one to their bedroom. There are so many ways to use space well, from building an office area under a loft bed to creating a study corner. The most important consideration when adding a study space to your child’s room is to make sure to choose organization solutions that minimize clutter so that they can put away the homework and enjoy the space.

Add More Storage

Even if all you do is incorporate extra storage – hooks for coats, cubbies for backpacks, space for school supplies, and efficient use of the space under your stairs – you’ll eliminate a lot of the clutter that comes with the school year.

If adding organization to your home is part of your why for a remodel, get in touch. We can help you dream big.

Main image: Azman Architects