New Look Kitchen and Bath

Run- do not hire this contractor. A lot of talk and no delivery. You will be made a lot of promises that will not be seen through.

Full Kitchen Reno - Oct - Nov 2016 The best boss I’ve ever had gave me great advice one day, when providing constructive feedback, open with a positive! So, up front and with all things considered, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY KITCHEN. I adore everything about it. I am crazy about everything and every thing in it. It is awesome and fabulous and every time I walk through my front door I’m surprised by how much I love it. The floors, the cabinets, the countertops, the layout. I mean just LOOK at the pictures. It is everything I had hoped it would be. It was a scheduled 5 week renovation that did drag into 7 weeks, but that in itself is not out of bounds. Do I have nits? Of course! It’s impossible to achieve 100% perfection. I will also say, Kelley is a terrific designer, she has an energy about her and a vision that caught me from day 1 and she was incredible at providing design advice, designing on the fly, providing input on aesthetics, making the kitchen not only beautiful but also workable and maximizing usable space. I. LOVE. MY. KITCHEN. Now comes the “but”. So, I love my kitchen, but, the sheer amount of miscommunication, scheduling mishaps and "Last Minute Larry” antics drove us almost over the edge during this process. When you add to that the amount of “work” that we had to put in to keep everything straight and on-schedule was, to be frank, unacceptable. The tracking of schedule, trips to the hardware store to purchase supplies to keep our reno moving and OUR management of the job was something I did not anticipate. Seriously, sometimes I feel like I just program managed my own General Contractor for a kitchen renovation. Let’s tackle communication and scheduling first. Kelly was great at communicating with us, emphasis on the "with us". It’s something we discussed in the planning (pre-contract) phase. However, depending on who you talk to on her team, schedules were wildly different. Kelley is high energy, and would communicate a whole host of updates in rapid fire sentences that we’d frantically try to keep straight. One piece of advice I’d give any potential client of hers? Don’t talk to her without a notepad and a pen in your hand. We would review status and I would walk away with the latest notes on schedule and, most times, would be somewhat happy. I would also take the time to text the latest and greatest schedule updates to her for quick reference. The problem was she was not turning around and communicating that to her team or her subs. A frequent text message to Kelley from us was “Hi Kelley – is so-and-so coming to our house as scheduled today?” Which kicked off a flurry of “oh he’s delayed” or “My office was supposed to contact you” or “they were double booked” or a whole host of other excuses. There at over a dozen examples of this from either my husband or myself. I think I’m being conservative when I say a dozen. This began right out of the gate, just after demo and continued until final inspection. Many times we had no idea who would be showing up and when until we asked and often we would get next to no notice that someone was on their way. For a few things, I asked pointedly “Are they confirmed to work on X day?” I would get a YES and then something would happen to turn the yes to a maybe and then, in many cases, a no. One example of this is the fixture install by the electrician. My husband emphatically wanted to be home for that so he took the day off. We asked 3 times if they were confirmed for Monday, Nov 7 and received a yes. Surprise, no electrician on Nov 7. Turns out the electrician sent an email to confirm and did not get a response from Kelley or her team so they cancelled the appointment. Here’s the problem with this, the granite install was scheduled for Nov 8, so when the electrician also showed up on Nov 8, he had limited time to install all the fixtures, under cabinet lights, etc before the Granite folks arrived and took over the whole show. It was a mess. Of course all the electrical work did not get accomplished and there was again items left undone which had to be rescheduled for another day. For those playing the home game and want a checkpoint, this was where my husband “tapped out”. I think his exact words were, “I’m going to lose my mind if she lies to me to my face one more time so you can deal with her from now on.” Imagine this being said in ascending tone, volume and intensity from start to finish. Good times. Throughout this process we began to notice a phenomenon I like to call “Last Minute Larry” syndrome or LML for short. For example, when the electricians showed up on Nov 8. Kelley came with our under cabinet lighting, in the shopping bag she just bought it in. They were LED as described in the contract but they were black puck lights, not the LED strip lights my husband had requested during discussion. In case it’s not clear in the photos our cabinets are WHITE. Her response on why she bought black? “That’s all they had.” The pucks stuck out from below the cabinet edge so we told her right then they would not work. That set off a whole host of frantic phone calls to try to get the strip lighting, etc, etc. All easily avoidable with a little planning and forethought. Additionally, the supplies for the electric for the island were also not purchased beforehand so Kelley had to run out to get 2 brown electrical outlets. She came back with 1 brown one and 1 black one. Yeah, we have 1 brown and 1 black in the island because there would have been a further delay if we hadn’t just gone with it. They’re on opposite sides of the island so it’s completely unnoticeable, but you get the theme I’m presenting. A Tale of Five Tile Guys – A Vignette The tale of our tile is a tale of woe, but it has a happy ending! I think? It starts with a panic attack though. So, tile purchase, materials and install was one of the things that was completely included in our contract, by allowance, for both the floor inserts and the backsplash. So we, never having done this before, are anticipating the day when Kelley will say “Hey, it’s time to pick tile and get it ordered” and get us to come to her office to pick out tile and had visions of looking at samples, etc, etc. What can I say, we were young and naïve and hadn’t really been exposed to the LML syndrome yet. Here’s what really happened. On or around Friday Oct 14 she told us we had 3 business days to get the floor tile as the Tile Guy is coming on Oct 20. Cue panic. We’ll call him Tile Guy A. He comes on Oct 20 and does the floor cutouts and promptly says that the material that goes under the tile is too thick to achieve the look we want and we will need something thinner. They decide to go with durarock. Durarock is then delivered by Kelley’s team on Monday Oct 24. This is one of those where I have a text from husband to Kelley: “Kelley are you coming today?” Shortly thereafter they figure out that even the thinner durarock is too thick for our tile and something called DITRA is required. To save time since Tile Guy A is still waiting in the wings we purchase that ourselves and scurry to have it on hand. Shortly after this, Tile Guy A becomes unavailable and Tile Guy B is now queued up! No big whooop. Two weeks pass and we never see Tile Guy B. I’m not sure he ever existed really. Then, next thing you know, Tile Guy C is on the scene and comes up with her to take a look at the job. It is now Nov 16. Again, for those playing the home game and want a checkpoint, that is a FULL MONTH after the panic attack and our scramble to purchase floor tile. In addition to the DITRA, at this point we’ve also already gone ahead and bought the backsplash tile (although it's also included in the contract). This is now not our first rodeo and we anticipate that she’s going to need it and will give us next to no notice on when. Tile Guy C seems like he knows his stuff, looks at the job, draws pictures, asks questions. One of which was “Oh, you got glass backsplash tile, that will need unsanded grout” and Kelley says yes indeed that’s what it’ll need, etc, etc. Tile Guy C disappears without a trace. Enter Tile Guys D and E!! WOOOHOOOOO! They arrive on the scene on Nov 22 and LML syndrome is again in full effect. Once again, Kelley arrives with a fresh bag from the hardware store with supplies for the guys with, you guessed it, sanded grout. I point that out to her and she confirms we need Unsanded. She runs to the store and brings up, Sanded Grout, I’m totally not kidding. At this point she has dropped and run so I send her a text saying “Hey, not sure this is right, blah blah”. Long story short (I know, too late), my husband stopped at the hardware store on the way home and got the Unsanded Grout so the guys could finish the job. All in all, the Tile was the most ulcer inducing process. The fact that she ended up using subs who were completely unknown to her was a concern. I think they did ok, however the glass tile finished product is one area where I have nits, they did leave a mess and were kind of rude when I asked them about things that Kelley asked me to ensure they did. (Again, PM’d my own reno.) So ends the Tale of the 5 Tile Guys. Good times. In Summary, if I have to give any short a sweet feeback, I would say that she absolutely needs better people behind her. She can’t carry the whole company on her shoulders, especially with the workload she seems to have. Asking multiple times if something is confirmed/scheduled, get a yes, only to discover it is not happening as discussed is the most frustrating aspect. Asking 3 separate times if our final inspections were confirmed only to find out the day of that the gas inspector was not coming as requested was the final straw. I personally texted her 3 times to ensure they were scheduled so I was understandably FURIOUS (while standing in my new beautiful kitchen) when they told me they were not scheduled. The kicker is, she tends to blame her staff but then she takes accountability for it, that gets a lot of points with me but the problem is you tend to start discounting the accountability when there is no improvement. So, the aforementioned boss also said to end any difficult conversation on a high note. Have I mentioned I love my kitchen? The strength of my love for my kitchen is why I have graded this (per HOUZZ guidance) as 3 stars “pretty good overall” vs 2 stars “could have been better”. My husband would give a different grade, I’ll let you guess what that is. Shout outs, want to ensure these folks get some credit for their contribution to the kitchen that I love: United Granite in Chantilly, VA – they were a sub to NLKB but these guys were terrific! We also visited MSI but the customer service we got at United Granite was above and beyond. Mark’s Hardwood Floor Company, Front Royal, VA – also a sub to NLKB, terrific work! Shanholtz’s Painting and Drywall Service – hired directly by us to do some wall work and all the painting associated with the renovation. Definitely a shout out for working with the crazy, last minute scheduling difficulties we experienced with NLKB. We were given 3 days notice that we really should have the painters in. !!! Also was able to tell us that some of the drywall work done by NLKB needed to be addressed, fixed and redone. Recommend!

New Look remodeled two bathrooms for me. Visitors to my house often remark on the beauty of the guest bathroom, and a plumber who visited my master bathroom said it was the most beautiful bathroom he had ever seen.

Kelley helped us redecorate our master bathroom, our kids' bathroom, and totally re-designed our kitchen. She listened to what we wanted to do and came up with wonderful ideas and a beautiful plan. She was patient when I changed my mind about the tile in the kids' bathroom, wanting something more eye-catching. She also showed great integrity when there was a pricing "snafu" with a couple of kitchen cabinets with glass doors which I had asked her to add. She had given us a price, but when the bill came in, it was much higher. Kelley immediately made that right by giving us the price she quoted. We had an issue a few years after the project was finished, and soon after we contacted Kelley, she sent someone out to take care of it. NLKB stands behind their work, and that's very important. Kelley's eye for design and use of space is fantastic. Our kitchen is so much more functional now, and is one of my favorite rooms in our house. We're very happy with the bathrooms as well, and highly recommend Kelley and her team at NLKB.

I have worked with Kelly Miller on a number of projects over the years. Her attention to details and the standards she sets are second to none. The completed projects I have seen are impressive! She is always available and listens to her clients-ensuring she fulfills all expectations. She is also demanding of the professionals (me included) that she refers to her clients-ensuring we meet those same standards. I would recommend Kelly in a minute-her firm offers the custom attention that is rare to find these days.

In 2014, I had the pleasure of working with New Look Kitchen and Bath. Kelley Miller and her crew were a pleasure to deal with. Both our companies, were brought on site to do work on a high-end renovation of a lower level in Haymarket, VA. I was hired to do all of the old world Italian plasterwork, hand-paint a custom bar sign and a night sky scene for a ceiling dome. I was delighted to have my artwork compliment all of the amazing custom touches that NLKB did throughout this extensive job. I would highly recommend New Look Kitchen and Bath.

Giving this business 1 star is being generous. Run and don’t look back. I am writing this review after enduring a “4-6 week” renovation that has turned into a 5 month nightmare that is ongoing because NLKB has left behind substandard work that we demand be corrected. I would NEVER hire this company to do work for me again. Before we hired them, I was unable to find any ‘complaints’ but my gut said for a business of this age, the portfolio should be larger and there should be more positive feedback. Regretfully, we moved forward. Only came to our job site for the initial walk through, at points when we had threatened to fire her and get a lawyer or to get paid. She never called to ask us how things were going, what our thoughts were etc. Not once. There was a 73% turnover rate of employees with NLKB during our project. Hum….. a mature business should have quality tradesmen at the ready. Why so hard to get people??? We had trouble with every job performed by every trade except electrical: Drywall – started then delayed 2 weeks because the crew showed up at noon, took lunch and figured out after the hardware store closed that they were a box short of screws. Not joking. Molding – crown, window and door casing and base. held up because adequate quantities were not on the truck. We were told that there was a “Backorder” despite the fact that the molding used is a "Stock item" at TW Perry the NLKB supplier. Contract says “Adams Casing” but we learned from a friend who does construction that “beaded casing” was installed in our home; it’s inferior in quality and < 50% of the price. No one from NLKB every discussed this change with us nor offered a price adjustment. After repeated inquiries on our part, finally said that she “couldn’t get” Adams casing…. So she figured we’d never know the difference I guess. Hum… "Custom Bathroom mirror" Turned out looking like a kindergarten artwork project. Joke. Plumbing: Not his fault, sat around literally for ½ DAY because the fixtures we ordered a month prior, and were available couldn’t make it onto the truck. His fault, our kitchen sink leaked due to the stress on the joint. Also, our new JennAir range required gas to LP conversion. He didn’t know how to do the conversion and jetted it wrong, then used blue painters tape to either get the jets to stick to his screwdriver or to stay in place. We had to hire in a JennAir certified installer to fix the issue. You’d think that a KITCHEN business with this many years of experience would have installed a high end range before. Hum…. Tile – Master shower mud set floor sloped toward the wall and not the drain. Had to be pulled out and redone. The kitchen backsplash originally installed on a wall that they installed after a window was removed was all wavy due to the uneven wall surface [uh… HE installed the wall]. After fighting for a while sent someone else to patch it. Looked like garbage. Fought some more, got some random tile guy in to patch the patch. NLKB need to rip the entire backsplash down and redo it properly; that would be the 4th redo of a simple backsplash! Tile floor in guest bath had to be removed because installed a heat mat that was ½ the size of the floor surface. Radom tile guy removed entire floor, used self-leveling stuff and retiled. Highs and lows all over. Came back and PATCHED…. Feels like cobblestone under your feet. AGH. Needs to be removed and redone; would be 3rd attempt. There’s more, but I think you get the idea. Look around, hire someone who is transparent and who has done work for someone you know. Save the headache.

The guidance was superb, the cabinet work fantastic, demolition was fun. Tile work beautiful. My concerns were treated with respect, and addresses the coordination of all the sub contractors was great and impressive.