My husband and I are thrilled with our new kitchen! Charleene was great to work with throughout the entire renovation process. We immediately felt comfortable with Charleene during the initial meeting – she was professional yet casual, and very thorough. It was clear that Charleene had extensive experience in renovations and working with older houses (our house was built in 1930) which can be full of surprises once you “open things up”. She was optimistic about being able to reclaim the original wood floors in our kitchen, which other Contractors wrote off as a lost cause when initially meeting with us. Charleene was right, and we absolutely love the look of the refinished original wood floors. The design process was collaborative, and we were able to tweak aspects of the design to suit our taste and provide the functionality we desired. Charleene’s eye for design and function was incredibly helpful, especially when she suggested open shelving instead of cabinets along one side of the kitchen; something we had not ourselves considered but are so happy with the results. After design, the estimates provided were detailed, easy to understand, and in hindsight, spot on with the actual cost and timeline. During the demolition, Charleene and her team took special care to contain the dust yet leave us with the space needed to carry on during the messier phases of the project. Finally, as the kitchen began to materialize with the new layout, Charleene was attentive to every detail and very responsive to our questions or concerns. The “concerns” were few, since the work proceeded very smoothly. The crew that worked on the renovation were polite, respectful, and highly skilled in their trades, from the demo crew to the carpenters, electrician, plumber, counter installers, and other trade specialists. They did an awesome job reconstructing the custom woodwork that we have in the Dining Room adjacent to our Kitchen that had to be shifted during the project, all the way down the most minor detail. While using a “budget-friendly” cabinet supplier, Charleene was still able to customize to fit our specific vision for the space. As we neared completion of the project, we gave Charleene our “Hit List” of all the items we wanted to be addressed, which Charleene and her team knocked out in short order. This was a perfect finishing touch to the project. Overall we are extremely pleased with the results and the experience working with Charleene. We highly recommend Charleene’s Houses to our friends and anyone who is looking into a Kitchen renovation.
~ Julie Marchica