Northeast Cabinet Design, Inc––

Designing Kitchens That Are The Heart Of The Home

By Kaaren Valenta

Browse through the new book Dream Kitchens: The Heart of the Home (Schiffer Publishing, $34.95) — where page after page features exciting, distinctive kitchens in every style and color — and the name Northeast Cabinet Design, Inc, of Newtown and Ridgefield repeatedly pops up.

Newtown residents Simon and Kim Johnson are the owners of Northeast Cabinet Design, a company that was launched in 1994 in Newtown and opened its first showroom at 99 South Main Street two years later. Fourteen of their kitchens are shown in full-color photographs throughout the book, which was written and photographed by John and Cassidy Olson.

“The kitchen is the heart of the home, where children do homework and people congregate at parties,” Kim Johnson said. “It’s a gathering place more than ever before. Kitchen design is getting more interesting, with pieces that look more like a piece of furniture, with features like ball feet and rosettes instead of the typical kitchen cabinet.”

That evolving design carries throughout the house as Northeast Cabinet also does bathrooms, libraries, built-ins, and entertainment units. The company offers cabinets, countertops, hardware, and plumbing fixtures.

 “Ninety-five percent of our business is by referral,” Mr Johnson said. “In the beginning it was primarily through builders but now we are involved in more remodeling projects. We don’t do the remodeling, but we have contractors that we refer to and we coordinate the plumbing, too.”

 Although the trend in kitchens is larger, the Johnsons said they do kitchens of all sizes and budgets.

 “We can do a $5,000 kitchen or a $100,000 kitchen, it all depends on how many accessories people want. Generally, we start in the middle of the road and go up from there,” Mr Johnson said. “We carry four lines of cabinets, two out of Canada and two from Pennsylvania, semicustom and custom, not stock lines.”

Before he opened his own business, Simon Johnson worked for a national kitchen manufacturer out of Dallas, Texas, for seven years.

“We relocated from Boston to Florida to Newburgh, N.Y., which was how we wound up in Newtown,” Mr Johnson explained. “I became the general manager of our facility in New Haven, then decided to start my own business and Kim joined me as controller because she has the background as a bookkeeper and accountant.”

At first they operated the business from their home. “I traveled to nearby towns to meet with builders and generate business,” Mr Johnson said. “Then it was time to open a showroom and this location [on South Main Street] was just being built. It’s a great location.”

Much of their business began to come from lower Fairfield County and Westchester County so last year the couple opened the Ridgefield store at 77 Danbury Road.

Kitchen remodels are popular because not only do they make a house more functional and appealing, they also increase its value.

“You always get your money back when you invest in a new kitchen,” Mr Johnson said. “It’s the biggest part of the home. But you can also make a kitchen look great without spending a fortune. “

Kim Johnson agreed. “We advise people if they are remodeling to consider whether they will only be here for a few years.”

Some clients want kitchens that reflect the latest styles: cabinets with painted or glazed finishes; granite countertops or countertops made from engineered stone, such as Caesar Stone, in stonelike chip- and stain-resistant finishes. Corian is still popular for its styling diversity, but wood tops such as cherry and teak with tough marine finishes also are popular.

“People want finishes that are easy to maintain,” Kim Johnson said. “They want things that are quick, easy, that they don’t have to worry about.”

Commercial elements such as stainless steel, Sub-Zero refrigerators and Viking ranges are popular, as are two sinks and two dishwashers in a kitchen.

Northeast Cabinet has two designers, Simon Johnson and Valerie Bradshaw, who work out of both locations. Typically a customer will come in with an idea of what they want, or a rough sketch, or they will want the designer to come out to their house, take measurements and make suggestions. The designers will use a computer to create the design and, usually after two or three meetings, produce a formal quote.

“If I get a go-ahead, I then come to the customer’s house and do precise field measurements,” Mr Johnson said. “I also meet with the contractors to give them the electrical and plumbing locations.”

The company has two installation crews, one under the direction of Peter D’Abate of D’Abate Construction and the other from Kitchen Services of Danbury, which also handles all the delivery.

Northeast Cabinet Design recently added GE Capital as a source of financing. The company has a 90-day, 0 percent financing option. Many customers also opt to pay by credit cards that credit airline miles, Kim Johnson noted.

The Johnsons have two other staff members, receptionists Lisa Dye in Newtown and Suzanne Mason in Ridgefield, and Jesse, the Newtown showroom dog, a 14-year-old black lab who is deaf but still loves to entertain the customers’ children.

Newtown residents since 1990, the Johnsons have two children: Brian, 7, who is in second grade at Middle Gates School, and Sydney, who will be 4 next month.

Northeast Cabinet Design has a website at www.northeastcabinetdesign.com. Showroom hours are Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 9 to 1. Appointments are suggested, by calling 426-5899 in Newtown or 203-431-9894 in Ridgefield.