Designed for Life - the Pat Buhl Interview
A1DesignBuild just wrapped a patio and kitchen remodel for Pat Buhl. So we went over to her place, snapped a few pics, and asked her to tell us what she loves about Whatcom County and what she was looking for in a successful remodel.
She also delves into what ‘Customer Service’ really means. Read on.
A1DesignBuild (A1DB): Hi Pat. Tell us what brought you to Bellingham.
Pat: I’ve been living here since 1970. My husband got an interview for a job at Western and and two days later we were packing. I moved out sight unseen, from Manitowoc, Wisconsin. I knew nothing about Bellingham. Not a thing. And so we drove up and when we came around I-5 where you hit Lake Samish, I knew I had died and gone to heaven. I dreamed of being in a place that was green like this, and I knew I was home. Even though I grew up in Indiana, I knew I never wanted to go back.
A1DB: What do you love most about Whatcom County?
Pat: The beauty of it. All the things to do outdoors, even though I'm not a mountain climber or anything like that. Just simple things like going for a walk at Whatcom Falls Park, that sort of thing. Being able to go to the San Juans. Everything. It was a really good place to raise kids too, especially 45 years ago. I mean, they would go off with the neighborhood kids to the pond and I had no idea where the pond was. (Laughter) We probably would never let kids do that today.
We lived on the south side for a while, and when they were a little bit older, they rode their bikes everywhere and they went crabbing and brought the crabs home, cooked them on my stove. It’s just a really good place to raise kids.
A1DB: How long have you lived in this house?
Pat: Since 1990. And when we moved in it was dated, is the kindest way to say it. My least favorite color in the world is orange. And everywhere we looked it was orange, bright orange countertops, and carpet, orange color all over the house. It was just ugly.
The most remodeling we could do at the time was take off all the wallpaper. There was wallpaper everywhere, and it had probably been installed by a professional because it was really hard to get off. And so I took wallpaper off and painted everywhere. That was all I could do. And then maybe 10 years later, I finally was able to do a little remodel with as little money as you can imagine . And so I got the kitchen looking better, but the bathrooms were still pretty ugly.
And then some years after that, I finally got to do the bathrooms. And that’s when I first worked with A1.
A1DB: How did you find A1DesignBuild?
Pat: I had heard of them from other people, from friends who had used them. And I knew they were becoming a co-op, and that was important to me. And so they did the bathrooms, and that was a good experience. And then eight years later they got to do the kitchen. And that's where we are today.
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Pat: I also liked the idea of one outfit handling both the design and the build because it just made so much sense to me in terms of how a big project is going to turn out. Working with the designer Sharon has just been fabulous, for example.
A1DB: Why was the design/build aspect important to you?
Pat: Well, if somebody draws up plans and they spend a good amount of time thinking about it, and then just hand it off, how is that going to work? Let’s say a small change needs to be made, who’s responsible? I appreciated the seamless communication and getting it right.
It's very much a collaboration. There are so many options to consider, which tile do you want? I would show Sharon what I want and then she'd find the best option. We sat in the office and reviewed option after option, lights, fixtures, countertops, you name it. So it was really a good partnership.
One funny story is I went over to their office to pick out cabinet colors, and I really thought I was going to choose white, because I watch enough HGTV to know that white is in. I wanted something as far away from the dark brown when I first moved in. So I thought, well, white's a nice change. That'll work.
But then they had all these other options laying out on the counter. And I just went straight to the blue. And once I got reassured by Sharon that it would look beautiful, we just went with it. But I was a little nervous (more laughter).
A1DB: And how do you feel about it today?
Pat: It makes me smile every day. I really love it. So I'm really glad we did it. And now of course colors are back in.
A1DB: Tell me a little bit about the budgeting process? Did you feel comfortable with it?
Pat: First, I just made a kitchen sink list of what I wanted done, my wishlist, and I had a certain amount of dollars that might be enough. But it wasn’t. So then we narrowed it down a little bit at that point. I went in and took things off the list, removed things I knew I could live without. And when the build started, the best part is I enjoyed everyone. They were all people I didn’t mind living with for a few months.
A1DB: And how long did it all take?
Pat: About four months. What I loved is Sharon would come over and make sure everything was being done right, that all the outlets were in the right place, that the lights were right. Super important details that you may not really appreciate while the project's in progress. But after everyone leaves and you start actually using everything, you're like, wow, okay. I'm glad that smart people thought this all through.
A1DB: What are your overall closing thoughts about your experience?
Pat: I like their customer service and their attention to detail, the quality of their work is exceptional. Look at this kitchen. I mean, there are a thousand pieces in putting just this together, and it's down to millimeters in terms of tolerance. So the quality and the communication is there, and they're just nice people as well. You can’t beat that. I'm happy as a clam.
And I still have more remodeling to do. (More laughter) I’m excited about that.