Weston Kitchens

Hello…I am Jim Simko, Founder and Owner of WESTON KITCHENS. I have been a designer, builder and a passionate cook most of my life.

During my more than 30 years in this general field, I have been honored to work for a long list of New England’s top chefs, academics, business leaders, sports legends, architects, and others in all fields who may also be your friends and neighbors.

This is now the VERY BEST time in my long experience to plan and complete home improvement and construction projects.  In late July, 2011 it was announced that the Massachusetts economy grew at a vigorous annualized rate of over 4% for the first quarter. Impressive!! But as far as my fellow designers, trades persons, vendors and suppliers can tell you, whatever activity created that result was not much in evidence in residential construction, residential real estate and residential renovations. The truth is prices have been steady or decreasing for 3 years, margins and costs have been cut to the bone, and people who want to stay in the field are usually willing to go to extremes, if necessary, to help make your project possible. From all reports the trend appears unlikely to change at least until well into 2012.

The good news, for you, gets even better because for the present at least, skilled designers,  crafts persons, and related vendors of all sorts have generally lowered prices and upped their services to try to at least “keep busy” and hold on to their best employees until “better days”.

At Weston Kitchens we have demanded that all our affiliated vendors and associated service providers maintain their strictest cost controls. No one is served if a project is meticulously planned but beyond current skinny budgets and ultimately abandoned.

New trends we have noticed:

There is a decided preference for good quality North American cabinet brands over much more expensive non custom European brands.  There are domestic brands now that have identical style, better quality, are totally custom designed and cost less than half the price of the European brands.

Instead of $8000-$12,000 refrigerator models, we often find customers now opting for the recent category of $3000 French door refrigerators which seem to some to have functional advantages and arguably, better reliability.

We see a tendency for customers more often to buy high end cook tops or range tops but then select mid tier ovens, versus going top dollar across the board.

Renovations to existing kitchens and baths now focus first on trying to make better design and usage with in the existing footprint of a room – or at least with in the existing house.  Smart design and clever new storage options can frequently double or triple the previous usage of an older kitchen within the same space. Avoiding an addition can cut out more than half the cost of an update.

Lead times for contractors to start after bids are accepted can often be 2-4 weeks instead of 6-12 months. Custom cabinets often take 5-6 weeks instead of 4-6 months. Trades people have less work to attend to so your project will often be completed more quickly than it would have been previously.

We are finding customers often purchasing plumbing fixtures, light fixtures, tile and some appliances on line. I have seen savings of upwards to 75%. The downside to this strategy, in some instances, is difficulty getting refunds or service if you find defects or  if you are dissatisfied with the quality of a product. If an installed lighting or plumbing fixture proves defective, the trades person who wasn’t allowed a markup for the product is unlikely to absorb any labor costs for necessary service or replacement.

For every reason we are all hoping the economy rebounds soon and with gusto. Until then if you need or want an improvement in your home you may never find a better time!!!

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