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New appliance innovations have taken the lead in changes we make to kitchens today
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Randall Hall, CGR, CR, CAPS of Randall Hall Design/Build/Remodeling in Dallas, TX is a full-line residential remodeling firm that has been active in the building industry for 25 years.
Mr. Hall was named the 2004 National “Remodelor of the Year” by the National Association of Home Builders-Remodelors Council. He can be reached at 214/341-3365, or e-mail: Randall@randallhall.com
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The year 2005 will be another exciting year in the remodeling industry, most likely a continuation of what we have seen for the last four to five years. There have been and continue to be more changes in the appliance products that we install than in the previous 20 years that I have worked in this industry. I am always amazed by what appliance companies continue to come up with in terms of innovations.
New appliance innovations have taken the lead in changes we make to kitchens today. All of our kitchen remodeling now include appliances that were not commonly seen in the market five years ago. We are installing refrigerator drawers, cabinet-depth refrigerators, refrigerators with built-in televisions, commercial-style ranges, ranges that refrigerate and then cook, dishwasher drawers, refrigerators with see-though doors, and the list goes on. Everything now seems to have stainless-steel fronts, where five years ago, the appliances were black, white, or almond.
Our kitchen appliance packages have gone from $2,500 to $3,000, to $14,000 to $15,000 on the average over the last four to five years. It seems that our clients are wanting bigger and better. They no longer want to settle for a standard cooktop, but rather, now want the 48-inch commercial range with matching vent hood. After all of that, it's amazing that many of them tell us: “We don't even cook!”
However, we do get both types of customers: the ones who cook a lot and those that don't cook at all. In many of the cases where the client cooks frequently, we are finding that the male of the household may be the primary cook, and he wants a big fancy kitchen with all of the bells and whistles. Therefore, we never assume and always ask in our pre-construction planning stages: “Who will be using the kitchen the most?”
Times are changing in more ways than one, and thankfully for all of us, there will never cease to be innovative and exciting appliance product lines from which to choose.
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