Designer Connection January 2022

Designer Connection - January 2022

Welcome to the premiere edition of BKBG’s Designer Connection, written exclusively to benefit members of the BKBG Designer Alliance. Each month, Connection will profile a member of the Alliance, offer product and trend updates and share professional development opportunities. Most importantly, Connection is another tool to bring the BKBG design community together, to share best and successful practices and to enable you to build your network of peers who face the same challenges and opportunities that you must address daily. We welcome your comments, input and suggestions for improvement. Post your comments on the Design Alliance TEAMS platform or send them to BKBG Director of Membership and Engagement Jennifer Swenson.

BKBG Designer Alliance and MasterBrand Partner to Offer 2020 Professional Development Opportunities

BKBG’s Designer Alliance is partnering with MasterBrand to help BKBG showroom designers improve their 2020 design skills through a series of webinars. The first is a basic course that will be held Wednesday, January 26, at 1pm offering the following 2020 learning objectives:

Understanding Drop Menus and Icons
Using your Mouse with 20/20
Drawing Walls
Editing Walls
Wall Properties
Placing Openings & Obstacles
Global Styles Validation (GSV)
Placing Cabinets
Adding Cabinet Modifications
Placing Appliances
Trick - Centering Appliances
Placing Plumbing Fixtures (Sink)
Adding Countertop & Trim

This program will be led by Mark Johnson a corporate trainer for MasterBrand Cabinets. Mark’s passion is to relate product to trends, and to get hands-on with 2020 design and even installation. Over the years, Mark has had the pleasure of conducting training in every Canadian Province and also in every American State.

Attendance at this free training session is limited to the first 40 designers who register. To enroll, email Jennifer Swenson.

BKBG and MasterBrand have planned intermediate (February 23) and advanced (March 30) 20/20 training session to follow the January 26 basic course. Watch for details on the Designer Alliance Teams page and future issues of the Connection.

Designer Spotlight: Juliet Braly, Classic Cabinetry, Chattanooga, TN

The Connection Spotlight will provide a profile every month of a BKBG Designer Alliance Member to share their stories, talents and career accomplishments. If you would like to be profiled for an upcoming issue of Connection, contact Jennifer Swenson.

Juliet Braly is a kitchen designer with Classic Cabinetry in Chattanooga, TN who has been designing kitchens and baths for more than 20 years. She was not born in the south, but she moved there following her graduation from college with a degree in fashion merchandising. “That’s really a fancy name for retail management,” Juliet states. Her career began at a family-owned regional department store. She quickly discovered that retail was not her calling. Instead, she returned to school while working full time to study interior design. That led to a position with a kitchen and bath showroom which has continued to the present day with Classic Cabinetry.

“I am a space planner at heart,” Juliet says. “I like to organize things. In my world, form always follows function.” She derives a great deal of professional satisfaction creating spaces that are not only beautiful, but also maximize the best use of that space. A secret to her success, as a self-proclaimed introvert who likes people, is her ability to listen. It’s a skill whose value she learned at an early age. Her parents built a custom-home, but her mom did not like the kitchen. “She griped about the lack of drawers and claimed that the kitchen designer did not listen to what she wanted.” That memory has had a profound effect on her approach to clients. “I ask every client ‘do you believe that you have been heard’ and then pause and let them fill the space. If they have not felt that they have been heard, they will let you know.”

Juliet has learned to cope with supply chain challenges by being completely transparent and setting realistic expectations at the initial client meeting. She also has learned when communicating timeframes to avoid saying 16 weeks or four months before cabinets can be delivered. Instead, she relates the month, e.g. the cabinets will arrive in September, because many clients don’t equate 16 weeks to a specific month.

Juliet’s favorite cabinet line is Medallion. She beams that lead times are consistent, replacement parts are readily available and communication is excellent. While not a full custom line, Juliet has learned how to create designs that meet all of her client requirements from a line that does not necessarily have everything. To Juliet, Medallion is a high-quality brand with a long history of performance that she can count on.

Juliet’s favorite clients are bachelors. “They are putty in my hands,” she says smiling. “Bachelors don't have long lists or a thousand pictures from Pinterest. They tell you what they like and let you do your thing.”

When Juliet is not designing spaces that are beautiful and functionally super-efficient, she spends time working in her garden, taking care of her house plants and relaxing with her husband and two cats who are “a lot of fun.”

What Is BKBG?

The Bath & Kitchen Business Group is a trusted growth partner to more than 150 independent, best-in-class kitchen and bath showrooms and design build firms that trust BKBG to grow their business and make it more profitable and easier to operate through:

Market analysis, showroom optimization, marketing platforms and proven SEO improvement strategies that grow top line revenue.

A heralded roundtable program that identifies metrics and benchmarks for profit margin, overhead and all drivers of business operations that affect bottom-line performance.

A nationwide network of best-in-class operators to solve common problems and serve as a sounding board for new ideas and untested strategies.

Unparalleled continuing education, business improvement and professional development opportunities.

A Designer Alliance that provides professional development, networking, continuing education and recognition and reward programs to more than 400 K&B designers across the United States.

Visit www.buybkbg to take advantage of the numerous benefits offered by BKBG not only to help grow your business, but also make it easier to operate.

Nellie's Narrative – 2022 Design Trends

Nellie's Narrative will be a regular feature of Connection, offering design tips, trend updates and news that makes it easier to sell and design new kitchens. Nellie Ondrovick has nearly two decades of kitchen design experience. Her firm Nellie Christine Design – a BKBG Affinity Partner –offers showroom space planning and design, freelance design and design review services.

Click here for Nellie's 2022 Design Trend deck.

A Great Design Tool From Daltile

Wow! Is the word that most comes to mind after flipping through Daltile’s Look Book 2021. It’s an easy button to help designers select the most popular and appropriate tile solutions for different motifs ranging from contemporary and modern farmhouse to transitional and traditional designs. The Look Book segments products based on the material and image that include:

Marble look
Stone look
Wood look
Wall tiles
Concrete look
Natural stone
Mosaics

It’s a great resource to save time and exceed your clients’ expectations. Click here to download a copy.

Richelieu’s Vario Power Track System

If you are going to KBIS, plan to visit Richelieu, W2185, to see the Vario Power Track System. Vario is an under-shelf LED linear light system that hides all of the wires and only requires installers to make a groove on a single side of a cabinet to accommodate the track. Shelves can be positioned easily along the track, as often as needed with no need to rewire. Made from aluminum in white and black finishes, the Vario combines elegant design and convenient, flexible functionality to create a practical lighting solution for cabinets of all sizes.

Make Sure You Connect With BKBG Preferred Partners at KBIS and IBS

If you are going to the Kitchen & Bath Industry/IBS Show, February 8-10, 2022 in Orlando, make sure that you connect with the following BKBG Preferred Partners that are exhibiting. They include: