North Star remodeled the kitchen of our 1889 house, from November 2003 to February 2004. The room had been remodeled in the 1970s — and very badly.

The homeowners had done it themselves; it had plywood base cabinets, open plywood shelving, and severely damaged wood countertops and floor.

Now the kitchen is gorgeous! We have distressed cherry cabinets with inset Shaker-style doors and honed black granite countertops. North Star used a design we commissioned from someone else several years ago, but helped us make small changes to the design that made the kitchen more workable.

How did we know who could best realize our design? We asked around and got bids, and felt the most comfortable with Rob Warneke. We knew the contractors would be in our house for a long time, and we wanted people we would be comfortable around, people we could trust and who would be easy to spend time with. We also had heard that North Star does high-quality work. Rob took me to visit a project that was underway, and I was very impressed with the workmanship at that site.

North Star was wonderful. We lived with them for four months, as they were right in the middle of the house. They did demolition when we were out of the country, and even moved all the old cabinets and appliances down to the basement, where my husband fit them into his workroom. They cleaned up every night, and did their best to minimize the inconvenience.

The new kitchen is 22 feet by 22 feet. It has an eating area, an island, an apron sink, and counters on two walls. The small laundry area has sliding doors that were salvaged from the original interior house doors. North Star replaced the old hardwood floor with ceramic tile, replaced the wet bar with a pantry, and opened up the stairway. At the parties we’ve had since the renovation, we’ve had trouble getting our guests out of the kitchen!

North Star’s workmanship was really outstanding.