Design and Renovation Pros Share What They’re Thankful For
Great product design, new technology and collaboration make these pros grateful. What are you thankful for?
One of the wonderful traditions of Thanksgiving is taking a moment to pause and consider what you’re thankful for. This year, we asked pros to share what has them feeling appreciative. Read on to see what seven pros said, then please add your own thoughts in the Comments!
2. Technology Tools That Simplify the Design Process
Pro: Kevin Akey, architect at AZD Associates
Location: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
The Apple Pencil — it “changed everything for me,” Akey says. He uses it for dreaming up and sketching out his next projects. “I draw and design everything now on iPad, from an 18,000-square-foot house to [a] 2,000-square-foot [one], to fireplaces and stairs and everything in between,” Akey says. Creating designs and presentations this way “cut my design time in half,” he says. It also cuts costs — “no supplies, no markers or pens, no trash, no more onion skin. It’s easier to present and email and make changes.”
Pro: Kevin Akey, architect at AZD Associates
Location: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
The Apple Pencil — it “changed everything for me,” Akey says. He uses it for dreaming up and sketching out his next projects. “I draw and design everything now on iPad, from an 18,000-square-foot house to [a] 2,000-square-foot [one], to fireplaces and stairs and everything in between,” Akey says. Creating designs and presentations this way “cut my design time in half,” he says. It also cuts costs — “no supplies, no markers or pens, no trash, no more onion skin. It’s easier to present and email and make changes.”
3. The Magical Collaborative Creative Process
Pro: Raquel Steinfeld, owner of design-build firm Driftwood Design + Woodworking
Location: Waltham, Massachusetts
“We are particularly grateful this year for collaboration and shared creativity. Whether it be between members of our team or between us and our clients, we feel that bringing ideas together really can make magic happen,” Steinfeld says.
“We’re also grateful for the change of seasons, because it really forces us to pay more attention to our interiors of our homes. This is a place that we spend so much time, so it’s really important to give that space some extra care and love to make it as comfortable and functional and beautiful for us and our clients as possible.”
Pro: Raquel Steinfeld, owner of design-build firm Driftwood Design + Woodworking
Location: Waltham, Massachusetts
“We are particularly grateful this year for collaboration and shared creativity. Whether it be between members of our team or between us and our clients, we feel that bringing ideas together really can make magic happen,” Steinfeld says.
“We’re also grateful for the change of seasons, because it really forces us to pay more attention to our interiors of our homes. This is a place that we spend so much time, so it’s really important to give that space some extra care and love to make it as comfortable and functional and beautiful for us and our clients as possible.”
4. A Return to Color in the Kitchen
Pro: Sabrina Alfin, interior designer at Sabrina Alfin Interiors
Location: San Francisco
“I’m thankful for clients who recognize their limitations and who come to me for professional advice and design,” Alfin says. “I’m thankful the all-white kitchen trend is finally on the wane! Long live color!! And I’m particularly thankful for all the great contractors I’ve worked with over the years who execute my ideas so well.”
Pro: Sabrina Alfin, interior designer at Sabrina Alfin Interiors
Location: San Francisco
“I’m thankful for clients who recognize their limitations and who come to me for professional advice and design,” Alfin says. “I’m thankful the all-white kitchen trend is finally on the wane! Long live color!! And I’m particularly thankful for all the great contractors I’ve worked with over the years who execute my ideas so well.”
5. Strong Professional Relationships
Pro: Will Zeober of kitchen and bath design-build firm Ironwood Renovation
Location: Snohomish, Washington
Zeober finds it difficult — actually, pretty much impossible — to say which he’s most thankful for, his clients or his employees. He speaks poetically about how much he enjoys working with both groups.
“When I can’t be in three or four places at one time, I have the right people to represent Ironwood Renovation at any given moment. We are a small team but we are versatile, engaged and we love the process of troubleshooting complex problems as we represent the client. From the project lead to our newly added apprentice, everybody works as a team to clearly communicate everything — right down to the finest details.”
As for clients, Zeober says he doesn’t like to think of them as customers funding a project but rather as partners in the process. “When our client is engaged, we treat them as an extension of our own business,” he says. “Building a working relationship where we interact as partners is the only way I know to assure a professional relationship that stimulates and motivates our team members.”
Pro: Will Zeober of kitchen and bath design-build firm Ironwood Renovation
Location: Snohomish, Washington
Zeober finds it difficult — actually, pretty much impossible — to say which he’s most thankful for, his clients or his employees. He speaks poetically about how much he enjoys working with both groups.
“When I can’t be in three or four places at one time, I have the right people to represent Ironwood Renovation at any given moment. We are a small team but we are versatile, engaged and we love the process of troubleshooting complex problems as we represent the client. From the project lead to our newly added apprentice, everybody works as a team to clearly communicate everything — right down to the finest details.”
As for clients, Zeober says he doesn’t like to think of them as customers funding a project but rather as partners in the process. “When our client is engaged, we treat them as an extension of our own business,” he says. “Building a working relationship where we interact as partners is the only way I know to assure a professional relationship that stimulates and motivates our team members.”
6. Thoughtful Product Design
Pro: Simone Todoroff, general contractor at Simone’s Painting and Renovations
Location: Toronto
Thanksgiving is celebrated in October in Canada, so our Canadian friends have already enjoyed their turkey and cranberry sauce. But there’s still plenty to be thankful for a month later.
“I am thankful for thoughtful product design,” Todoroff says. “In the past I have had to install items that ‘looked good’ but were a nightmare to install, and some were quasi-impossible, in some situations, to install. More and more now, the design of products — from lights to plumbing fixtures to shelving — has taken into account the installer and provided both clearer instructions or at least a working installation system.”
More specifically, Todoroff is thankful for the new slim recessed lights. “I can’t tell you how many times I have spent hours upon hours attempting to put in pot lights in some sort of cohesive pattern but have been foiled by joists, pipes and any number of other unseen blockage [behind the drywall]. With the new lights that are a half-inch thick, they can pretty much be placed anywhere, saving hours and hours of wasted time and also permitting them to actually go where you want them.”
Todoroff also appreciates the new innovative waterproofing materials for showers and bathrooms. “[T]he industry is full of innovation and a constant attempt to make things better,” she says. “This is truly a good thing.”
Pro: Simone Todoroff, general contractor at Simone’s Painting and Renovations
Location: Toronto
Thanksgiving is celebrated in October in Canada, so our Canadian friends have already enjoyed their turkey and cranberry sauce. But there’s still plenty to be thankful for a month later.
“I am thankful for thoughtful product design,” Todoroff says. “In the past I have had to install items that ‘looked good’ but were a nightmare to install, and some were quasi-impossible, in some situations, to install. More and more now, the design of products — from lights to plumbing fixtures to shelving — has taken into account the installer and provided both clearer instructions or at least a working installation system.”
More specifically, Todoroff is thankful for the new slim recessed lights. “I can’t tell you how many times I have spent hours upon hours attempting to put in pot lights in some sort of cohesive pattern but have been foiled by joists, pipes and any number of other unseen blockage [behind the drywall]. With the new lights that are a half-inch thick, they can pretty much be placed anywhere, saving hours and hours of wasted time and also permitting them to actually go where you want them.”
Todoroff also appreciates the new innovative waterproofing materials for showers and bathrooms. “[T]he industry is full of innovation and a constant attempt to make things better,” she says. “This is truly a good thing.”
7. The Opportunity to Share
Pro: Abby Smith, interior designer at Smith & Ragsdale Interior Design
Location: Dallas
In October, Smith and fellow designer Abbey Ragsdale were invited to create a holiday tablescape for an event sponsored by the local NKBA Dallas chapter as part of National Kitchen and Bath Month. “We chose Thanksgiving and felt it was a good opportunity for us to speak from the heart,” Smith says. “Our tablescape design centered around a canned-goods arrangement, which we donated to the North Texas Food Bank after the event.”
Pro: Abby Smith, interior designer at Smith & Ragsdale Interior Design
Location: Dallas
In October, Smith and fellow designer Abbey Ragsdale were invited to create a holiday tablescape for an event sponsored by the local NKBA Dallas chapter as part of National Kitchen and Bath Month. “We chose Thanksgiving and felt it was a good opportunity for us to speak from the heart,” Smith says. “Our tablescape design centered around a canned-goods arrangement, which we donated to the North Texas Food Bank after the event.”
This photo shows the tablescape the two designers created.
“On October 20, just four days after the tablescape event, 10 tornadoes tore through North Texas. Our community was lucky. No one was killed despite the devastating damage,” Smith says.
“We have decided that we are not purchasing gifts for our clients for the holidays,” she says. “Instead, Smith & Ragsdale will be making a donation to several charities in the names of our clients to help victims of the storm. Sharing is much more fun for us, and our clients.”
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“On October 20, just four days after the tablescape event, 10 tornadoes tore through North Texas. Our community was lucky. No one was killed despite the devastating damage,” Smith says.
“We have decided that we are not purchasing gifts for our clients for the holidays,” she says. “Instead, Smith & Ragsdale will be making a donation to several charities in the names of our clients to help victims of the storm. Sharing is much more fun for us, and our clients.”
More on Houzz
Read more stories for pros
Browse millions of photos for inspiration
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program
Pro: Laurie Blumenfeld, interior designer at Laurie Blumenfeld Design
Location: Brooklyn, New York
“[M]y amazing team of contractors, makers, upholsterers, freelancers and PR team who have supported and elevated me as I celebrate five years of owning my ever-growing interior design business,” Blumenfeld says. She’s also appreciative of “ongoing travel adventures that take us all over the world and inspire my design.”