The summer before the second project they did for us, North Star built a spa room in our ten-year-old house. We started out with that project just to see what it would be like to have people hanging out all the time.

This second project, from February to May 2004, was an addition to our kitchen and a theater room in the basement.

We first heard of North Star by doing research and interviewing a bunch of contractors. When we asked them who they’d say their big competitor was, a lot of them came up with the North Star name. So then I called North Star and talked to them.

When North Star added space onto our kitchen, there was extra space beneath too, so we made that into a theater room. The kitchen was extended out about twelve feet to accommodate an island and more cabinet space. There were custom touches. We configured the cabinets differently from before, and bought new appliances.

The old kitchen didn’t have a good flow; it was not necessarily small, but it was not convenient either. We like to entertain, and now, with the big table in the kitchen, we tend to gather here both as a family and as friends and party guests before and after meals. In fact, we use the kitchen rather than the formal dining room for most of our meals.

The downstairs addition is a custom entertainment center. North Star put in extra sound-proofing insulation, then built in cabinets and places for speakers. It was designed so that my big screen TV would fit through the front opening and all the electronics would be hidden. Yes, we see a lot of movies and listen to music in this custom theater.

North Star workmen were very nice; they always had time to answer questions and receive feedback. They were respectful of our schedule. We were happy with the work done on our remodel.