We were referred to Dan and Mary Ellis, Ellis Design, by our Contractor, Dan Gruenefeldt. We had previously build a similar sized home in California in 2003. For that project, my wife and I designed all of the cabinets throughout the house, a very difficult task since we had no experience designing cabinets prior to building that house. We learned a lot from that project, both does and don'ts, but still dreaded going through the same process again twelve years later.
That was until we met Dan and Mary. Not only are they delightful, fun people, but they really really know their business upside down and backward. We sat down with them the first time with our floor plans wanting something very different from our previous house. Although my wife and I had very specific ideas about the design and functionality of our cabinetry, Dan and Mary very patiently moved us through the process (managing my wife and my many differences of opinions on what we wanted) adding immensely to our experience base.
Between wood selection, finishes, colors and designs for every drawer, cabinet, shelf and cupboard for every room in the house, it was an even bigger job and I had remember. Happily, Dan and Mary made it almost effortless. We created cabinets for a very large kitchen, butler pantry, living room, dining room, five bathrooms, one powder room, mudroom and laundry room, we thought we would never get everything completed so Dan and Mary could finalize the working drawings. Since we were back and forth to California, many of the drawings were sent electronically which kept everything on schedule. Needless to say, the finished cabinets were absolutely magnificent and the craftsmanship as perfect as we could have possibly hoped for when we started the project. The massive installation was done on time and without damage to anything. The very few adjustments needed once we moved in, were made immediately and very professionally.
Additionally, Mary was extremely helpful with the select and specification of virtually all our appliances, most of which were Wolf and SubZero. Her knowledge of the many fine points of appliances and how to put together the best deal for us was not only a big relief, but we got exactly the products we wanted.
Bottom line, our entire experience with Ellis Design, start to finish was fun, perfect, invigorating, educational and five star. We had many design sessions that probably took twice as long because we wandered off into all sorts of fun discussions regarding food, films, dogs and skiing. We are so happy we were able to work with them on what will be our last house since we are retired happily in Colorado.
