Every year the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) hosts their Contractor of the Year (CotY) Awards. And as you may know by now, we always enter a few of our own projects into the NARI CotY Awards. The past couple of years we’ve also been able to enter as a team member – meaning we weren’t the contractor, but we helped with the project. For us, that typically means we supplied and installed cabinetry. The NARI North Texas Chapter hosted the awards ceremony for the local awards on Thursday, November 11th where we got to find out who all of the winners were. Exciting! We are thrilled to announce our Local NARI CotY Awards in one of the Historical categories and as a team member for an Outdoor Living space and be included in such an elite group of remodelers to win in 2022.

Featured Image: Photo by Cannon Tubb from Tiny Red Cannon – @tinyredcannon
From Left to Right: Drew Kienzlen; Rebecca Sutton, CKBD; Mary Kathryn Reese; Katie Bacon; Chris Takacs; Zach Bartley; Roshel Holland

Residential Historical Renovation/ Restoration Under $250,000

Let’s start here: this project was an absolute dream to work on! Renovations on homes built at least 75 years prior fall into the NARI CotY Program Historical categories. Having been constructed in 1926, this home definitely met that requirement. But, the older the home, the more challenging the remodel can be. Certain items may no longer meet code requirements or have been there since original construction and simply just need to be replaced. Despite these challenges, we love an older home remodel. Why? You get to bring the house into modern times by recreating the neighborhood’s traditional roots. By looking at the before and after pics of this space, you can see where we duplicated original materials and 1920’s trends.

The Main Materials

Light and medium gray shaker-style cabinets with white tile splash lighten the space. Cambria quartz – our team member on this project – is used for its stain and scratch-resistant properties, but the marble-like coloring gave it a traditional feel. Hardwoods were brought into the kitchen and breakfast room and matched the rest of the first floor. Oil rubbed bronze hardware and fixtures accent the space. We painted the walls Sherwin Williams Torchlight – a newer yellow than their previous color.

Important Appliance Details

The homeowners wanted to splurge on a new Wolf rangetop. To save some on overall costs, they ended up reusing their double ovens and refrigerator. Existing double ovens were an old 27″ size, so we ordered a cabinet large enough to fit the newer 30″ sizes available today in case they wanted to upgrade in a few years. The oven panel area is oversized to also accommodate any changes whenever they switch out that appliance. In addition, a new fridge space fits most standard-sized freestanding 36″W units and is pulled far enough away from the wall to allow enough room for doors with larger swings to be installed.

Purposeful Changes

But really, the construction elements of this project were the biggest challenges to overcome. Originally, the builder split the kitchen into two different sections. The left hosted the sink, dishwasher, fridge, and an unused desk. The right hosted the double ovens, cooktop, and pantry storage. A short island spanned the gap. Limited countertop space and the small dining room opening were also on the “fix-it” list. By removing walls inside of the kitchen and to the breakfast room, we expanded the kitchen into a single space. This also allowed for a new, oversized, functional, and moveable island (check out those heavy-duty casters!) with plenty of space to walk by on either side. The opening to the dining room also mimics the arched openings throughout the house and doubles the traffic flow in and out of the kitchen.

Photo by Cannon Tubb from Tiny Red Cannon – @tinyredcannon
From Left to Right: Landon Carpenter (Cambria); Rebecca Sutton, CKBD (Kitchen Design Concepts)

Residential Landscape Design/ Outdoor Living over $250,000 (Team Member)

This outdoor living space was created by Capital Renovations Group. We worked as a team member on this stunning space by providing cabinetry for their outdoor living project. The other team member on this project was Active Granite. We’ll give you a little sneak peek with our colored renders of the kitchen and bar cabinets below:

Want to see the entire remodel? Head over to Capital Renovations Group’s Houzz page and check out the Fairview Outdoor Living Space project to see how it all came together! If you ask us, it’s absolutely stunning. Certainly jealous of those homeowners!

About The Space

We provided the outdoor cabinets from NatureKast – a weatherproof cabinet line – in their Cypress Resin material, Shaker door style, and Weathered Desert Tan finish color. In the kitchen, Capital Renovations Group provided their client with space for a grill, rangetop, hibachi, pizza oven, and so many other fun features! A chef’s outdoor kitchen dream! And in the bar area, an auxiliary sink and tons of wine storage. We designed cabinets to fit all of their appliances (and then some). This includes several well-placed trash bins and ample amounts of storage for everything you could possibly think of. We love working with such fabulous partners!

Photo by Cannon Tubb from Tiny Red Cannon – @tinyredcannon
From Left to Right: Richard Frost (Capital Renovations Group); Mike Mendoza (Active Granite); Mary Kathryn Reese (Kitchen Design Concepts); Paul Zuch, CR (Capital Renovations Group)

Need more inspiration? Check out our recent NKBA Awards, or revisit our 2021 and 2020 CotY winning designs. Congratulations to all of our NARI North Texas CotY Award Winners. And good luck to all of our peers entering the 2022 National competition!