Between big home improvement stores, websites such as Houzz and Pinterest, and the ubiquitous Amazon, if you’re looking to remodel in 2024 (or thereafter), you have more ways than ever to figure out what you want.
For some, such a long list of options can be exhilarating. For others, it can be intimidating – especially if they or someone they know has had a bad encounter with one of the above.
Luckily for those seeking greater levels of guidance, expertise and personalization, many remodelers and suppliers maintain showrooms around central Ohio. And they can point to any number of reasons why the showroom experience, old-school though it may be, offers advantages not found elsewhere.
Look, touch & feel
Probably the most obvious benefit of a showroom visit is the ability to see items in person and learn how they work.
“People get significantly more confident if they can come in and really see, touch and feel the product that is going to go into their home,” says Kathy Morgan, owner of Functional Living Design Group. “It gives them a more confident feeling than just looking at a picture.”
It’s much easier, Morgan says, to understand how a drawer or cabinet will fit into your home if you can operate it yourself and, if applicable, look around inside. She mentions the automatic inside-cabinet lights on Functional Living’s Lazy Susans and the pull-out drawers under its sinks as examples of things homeowners wouldn’t have a chance to notice elsewhere.
“If you’re going to spend the money – if you’re going to spend $8,000 on an air tub that has all the bells and whistles – you probably want to sit in it before you buy it,” says Lisa Tompkins, an outside sales consultant for Carr Supply.
Product quality
High-quality products aren’t the exclusive purview of showrooms, of
Photo courtesy of The JAE Company
Max Showroom
course, but the curation processes they use naturally filter out lower-quality products that might still turn up in online searches. Think crack-prone plastic drain components, rather than more durable metal ones, says Robin Welsh, showroom manager for BathWorks.
This is part of the reason contractors often refer their clients to showrooms: They know the people, they know the products and they’re confident they can install what the showroom has on display. It helps them keep their promises that the renovation will last and continue to offer greater convenience even far into the future, says Kent Homoelle, vice president of development for the JAE Company.
Homeowners who don’t do their due diligence may end up with products made with little information on the materials use, or products with inadequate – or no – warranties.
“If you buy a faucet on Amazon (as opposed to) wholesale, sometimes, the warranty is a huge difference,” Tompkins says.
Personalized experience
Visit a showroom in the Columbus area, and you can expect to have someone around to assist you – helping you figure out what appeals to you, answering questions and offering direction.
“Even if you’re just browsing because you want to do something a year from now, it’s important to have someone (you) can talk to,” Morgan says.
Most local showrooms take appointments and, though seldom required, they are usually recommended. Often, the showroom trip follows an in-depth conversation about your needs and wants, and may even follow a home visit by the company, allowing its representatives to know not just your desires, but the problems you hope the renovation will solve, along with all the relevant specifications.
“Our sales are very personal,” Homoelle says. “We’re redesigning someone’s kitchen or bathroom, (we’re) inside their home.”
Little details
Photo courtesy of BathWorks
BathWorks Showroom
Being able to see items in person means getting a closer look at smaller aspects that are easy to miss online or in larger stores, such as finishes.
It also presents an opportunity to see in person items you’ve previously only seen online, reducing the odds of an unpleasant surprise down the line. Morgan says she often sees customers inquire about trendy items they saw on Instagram – think spice drawers – and use the showroom as a place to check one out.
Having an expert on hand also reduces the chances of missing or incompatible parts. It’s not unusual, Tompkins says, for her to hear from someone who bought a new faucet or showerhead online, only to find out it can’t be installed because it doesn’t have the right valves.
Clients often have grand visions of what they want in their space, Welsh says, but may not know the limitations their home imposes, giving the example of rain heads and hand sprayers in the shower.
“One valve cannot handle all of that without (using) a diverter valve,” she says, “and a diverter valve may not be able to handle all of it.”
Expertise
Access to expertise is one of the biggest differences a showroom can make. Showroom managers and employees can tell you everything you need to know about a given product, Tompkins says: how it works, its advantages and disadvantages, what kind of warranty it has, etc. The guidance you can expect goes beyond styles and finishes to the most intricate details about functionality, compatibility and materials.
“What we’re trying to do is take a picture and make it feel alive,” Homoelle says. “It’s something they get to experience.”
The experts also know exactly which questions to ask – say, how many gallons per minute your home’s plumbing can handle – and how you can get the answers.
“We say that probably 70 percent of our job is education,” Welsh says. “When you’re ordering something online, or even calling in and ordering it, you’re just talking to an order-taker that doesn’t necessarily know to ask questions about what you actually want to do.”
Garth Bishop is a contributing editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
