Magnificent Kitchen Remodel Provides Space to Entertain

Our client really enjoys entertaining large groups of friends and family in her kitchen. Her children also invite friends over when they are home on college break. Her existing kitchen was sizable, but because of the family’s love of entertaining, our client desired the kitchen to be on a grander scale—even more open and free flowing. She was eager for her kitchen to have the latest high-tech appliances and an updated aesthetic.

T.W. Ellis was pleased to be selected as the remodeling firm to build this gorgeous kitchen. Construction began with the removal of two walls to increase the size of the kitchen area. Our client envisioned more countertop space so she could be actively involved in baking—one of her favorite activities—while at the same time carrying on conversations with friends seated nearby. Read the full story and see more photos on our blog and Houzz.
 

“This complex project was not without its challenges for our team,” states Victor Marchese, T.W. Ellis Project Manager. “There were several mechanical, plumbing, and electrical issues to overcome during the remodeling process. We are proud to have handled all of them successfully and everything is functioning well. Our client is very pleased with her luxurious new kitchen!”

Teaching Eco-Friendliness to Your Kids

We’d like to introduce you and your family to the Sustainability Squad who are featured in this brand new Activity Book called “The Eco-Home Adventure.” Published in 2017 by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the purpose of this book is to get your kids interested and inspired to help protect the natural resources in your home. This book teaches kids about the importance of saving electricity, conserving water, recycling, and many other Green practices.

Please feel free to click on the photo to print a copy for each of your children to read and color. Who knows…you may even learn a few new aspects of sustainability from them!

(Note: This book is not to be reproduced for sale.)

Tim Ellis, Owner and President of T.W. Ellis, has always placed high importance on Green. T.W. Ellis builds and remodels according to the National Green Building Standard. For several years now he has served as an advisor to Home Innovation Research Labs, the organization that developed the National Green Building Standard. He guided the efforts of the National Association of Home Builders while chairing its committee for Green Remodeling. His company, T.W. Ellis LLC, was the first in the country to certify a remodeling project under the National Green Building Standard.

Smart-Home Connectivity

Imagine having a smart thermostat in your home like the ecobee4 (pictured above) that you can control through its touch-screen, a smart device or voice. Alexa voice service lets you ask your ecobee4 to adjust your home’s temperature, while ecobee4 also delivers comfort and energy savings via sensor technology.

Or perhaps you would like a smoke/CO alarm like the Onelink Safe & Sound (pictured right) that sends alerts to your devices in an emergency. Built-in Alexa voice services provide hands-free commands, while multi-room intercom functionality lets you communicate with your family, or listen to music.

The VELUX Active system (bottom photo) monitors the indoor air climate in your home, as well as local weather forecasts. Then it automatically opens and closes your skylights and skylight blinds as needed. VELUX Active uses a smartphone app, Apple HomeKit, and provides voice activation control.  

Would you like to own Samsung’s Front Load Washer with QuickDrive? Not only does it offer a faster wash time, the intelligent Q-rator laundry assistant takes the guesswork out of doing laundry from a mobile device. It provides automatic recommendations for optimal wash cycles, and monitors your washer to keep it operating at optimal performance.


Left to right: Samsung QuickDrive Front Load Washer, Samsung Family Hub smart fridge, and GE Kitchen Hub.

In addition to these award winning products, the 2018 exhibits included refrigerators that have cameras inside. If you are out grocery shopping and wonder if you have enough milk, you can find out through your smart phone connection. Samsung’s Family Hub smart refrigerator has a large screen on the door that can act as your recipe finder, weather channel, smart speaker and more.

Or you could install the GE Kitchen Hub above your kitchen range to function as a ventilator, while it also controls all of your smart-home devices even if they are not made by GE. The hub lets you watch recipe videos, listen to music, check on the weather and make video calls.

There are so many wonderful smart products available in 2018—many more than we have listed here. Which products would you like to have in your home? Luckily you do have some time to mull it over because several of them will not be available until the summer or fall.