Kitchen & Bath Business - October 2020 - 40

BALANCED BUDGET

Firm and Focused

A d e s i g n e r 's s m a r t s o l u t i o n s h e l p a
large project scope stay on track

A FAMILY OF FOUR - with one on the way - was
looking to update their highly dysfunctional
kitchen and five bathrooms in their new-build
home in Chicago. The kitchen was closed off to
the dining room, and the bathrooms each had
multiple levels that made them hard to use. They
hired Rebekah Zaveloff, co-founder and principal designer at KitchenLab Interiors, to create
light, bright, classic and fun spaces - which also
included a mudroom - on a budget.
"Our clients usually come to us with a big menu,
and we help them focus on what can realistically
be done,"said the designer."For this project, I had
an accurate idea of what things would cost based
on similar scopes."

TACKLING THE REVISIONS AND THE BUDGET

Zaveloff and her team took on the bathrooms by
removing the two-level vanities, steps to the tubs
and showers and multi-level floors - which Zaveloff
also described as treacherous. In the kitchen, they
opened up a wall between it and the dining room.
Because the kitchen's initial placement felt like it
was facing backward,the designer flipped the layout.

40
40-41_KBB_1020_BalancedBudget.indd 40

ABOVE An up-front expected

cost in the kitchen was having
to raise a window at the sink
that was originally not high
enough. The built-ins for the
dining room bar and hutch
might have had to be pulled
from the budget if there were
any surprises during the
demolition.
The cream kitchen features
pops of color with the navy
island and brass accents.

"A lot of kitchen design firms don't really start with the question, 'What's
the best layout of the space?' because any major construction takes a piece
out of the budget pie, so to speak," said the designer. "When we walk into a
space - and if feels like the kitchen literally needs to be flipped to the other
wall or even another room - we're not afraid to bring that up. It may require
the budget to increase, or it may mean that there need to be some concessions,
but it's important to investigate the options."
Zaveloff said her clients had a strong sense of what their budget needed
to be, and she was able to stick to it as close as possible. The wife, a working
mom, was clear and direct but was also accepting of certain compromises she
would have to make to stay on track.
"I went over some budget worksheets from similar projects with her, which
lets clients see how we arrive at certain numbers,"said the designer."We plug
in allowances for all the major categories, and we can then modify here and
there - giving them some control over the process."
Zaveloff also explained that her firm approaches projects as if they were all
design/builds. She brings in a contractor early on to get an estimate on the
necessary structural work before she starts the design process.

RIGHT The original dark slate
ﬂooring was replaced with
the same oak wood ﬂoors in
the rest of the house to make
the open space feel more
cohesive.

By CHELSIE BUTLER

/ OCTOBER 2020 / KBBONLINE.COM / The official publication of NKBA (NKBA.org) and KBIS (KBIS.com)

9/14/20 9:52 PM

http://www.KBBONLINE.COM http://www.NKBA.org http://www.KBIS.com

Kitchen & Bath Business - October 2020

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