At first, I was very hesitant to work with a kitchen designer - I think I was afraid to hand over the keys to someone else. Ellen Brotzman was a lifesaver. When I first contacted her, I got so nervous it was over a year before I contacted her again, but she was always the consummate professional. She worked with me with the floorplan constraints I have and came up with a really novel and effective use of my space. We went back and forth on the design, and since I am a busy professional in Raleigh and she is in Cary, we were able to effectively work out the details with emailing back and forth. I bought custom cherry cabinetry from Ellen, so there was no additional design services fee. She was willing to work with any contractor, but I ended up taking one of her referrals and I could not have been more pleased. Ellen even checked on the progress during an extended vacation I took during the construction - and she caught a construction problem early so we were able to resolve it over the phone instead of coming home to a disappointmnent
The result - a truly ""wow"" kitchen. Somehow within the confines of my less-than-spacious first floor footprint, I now have a bigger house. My kitchenaid mixer now pops out of its own cabinet. I have a very deep cabinet alongside the fridge that holds a ton. I have a ""baking area"" and a ""serving area"", even a ""drinks area""! Almost a year later (yes, I am bad about getting to writing up reviews), I am still awed by how beautiful and functional my kitchen is. I have had people actually tell me this is the most beautiful kitchen cabinetry they have seen before!
I would heartily recommend Ellen Brotzman and her kitchen redesign services. I felt she led me toward good choices, but she also kept ""my style"" in mind and helped me select not only cabinets but also tiles, a sink, etc. that worked together. She got as excited as I did when we found ""just the right sink"" on a bargain sale! My fears of having someone else ""take over"" the project were unfounded - Ellen applied her talents and made an effective partner with me in designing a kitchen I would love, and I am thrilled with the result! I am told also that her services and the cabinets were at a bargain price compared to the same quality elsewhere!
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