The dynamic duo of ECC Kitchen & Bath in Elizabeth, Design Director Sarah Garofalo and Designer Amanda Pankonien, come to the table with almost 30 years of experience between them, and it shows in their quality work.
“Our niche is truly kitchen, baths, and basements,” Sarah explains. “What the clients get is essentially that Amanda and I go out to an initial complimentary consultation on site, and I put together an initial working budget. We have the clients come in here to the showroom, and basically, they get to see what we’re all about because there are no other showrooms like this in Elizabeth.”
Their space, settled just south of downtown Elizabeth, is filled with design options and kitchen and bathroom set-ups to showcase every option for redesigning. Once a client reaches the design phase, ECC streamlines the process, making it easy for clients to accept design features.
“We have an online platform called Design Files,” Sarah says. “And in that, we email all the correspondence over to the client, along with vision boards, so they’re able to approve, decline, and there’s even commentary buttons where if there’s a faucet they prefer to be rounded versus square, we can do all that remotely. If someone’s able to make quick decisions, literally, a kitchen can be done in two weeks.”
Going along with that, ECC offers 3D rendering to show a client their new design.
“I can take a space and make it 3D and put everything into the plan, like okay, you want this tile, we’ll put this tile in,” Amanda explains. “You can see everything that you’re about to get.”
Designing for all the surrounding areas, including Douglas, Elbert, Peyton, and Falcon counties, Sarah and Amanda watch trends and curveball clients towards and away from them depending on the space and what’s included.
“We are seeing a decline in gray,” Amanda notes. “We do have some clients that still like the gray, and we’ll curveball them a little bit and say maybe we add this tile that’s gray and brown. We don’t want to design something that was done in the prime of the gray era.”
“Today’s trends and what you’re finding are more natural materials like neutral, warm tones like white oaks,” Sarah comments. “Granite is coming back, or quartzite and quartz. Quartz is a man-made stone, and quartzite is a natural stone.” She goes on to mention how the natural materials are beautiful and each slightly different, giving space character and depth.
“LVP [Luxury Vinyl Plank] flooring is something that’s been really interesting,” Sarah mentions. “It’s up and coming.”
Amanda adds, “It’s taken over the market. No scratches, no watermarks, or anything like that. This will hold up to the test of time. And we can install it right over hardwood floors. So, if they decide to sell the home and the next person wants the hardwood floors, they can be removed. It’s a very durable product, and it’s an accessible, easy product.”
Another color that has come back in full force is green. While beautiful, it’s what is called trend-forward and should be approached with caution.
“Green is something that you truly have to love the color green,” Amanda warns. “If you are just wanting to do something different, that might not be the best thing because we’re going to tell you, this is just trend-forward.”
“Standing the test of time is really important and having a timeless end result,” Sarah adds. “That is all discussed in the design phase. So if someone really wants green cabinets, we say, ‘Can we give you these green cabinets in your bathroom?’ Because when you want to change your vanity, it’s way less expensive than a whole kitchen.”
As trends shift towards warmer colors like golds, browns, and greens, and grays fade, family dynamics are changing as well, prompting people to adapt their spaces.
“What you’re finding now is multi-generational living,” Sarah explains. “So you have a lot of husbands, wives, a couple of kids, and then grandma or grandpa is moving in to maybe help with the kids, or they’re getting old and the family’s taking care of them. So creating flow of the space has been really important.”
No matter what style a client decides on, having this pair of experts is a significant plus in a kitchen, bath, or basement renovation. With Amanda leaning more toward trend-forward styles and Sarah loving a mountain water and natural stone style, the duo complements each other to bring clients precisely what they are looking for and more.
“She’ll think of it one way, and I’m like, well, what about this? And what if we look at it this way?” Amanda says.
“With me being more architectural,” Sarah explains. “And she has more of a decorator’s eye, I don’t have that.”
“I see more of the hard surfaces that we’ve done, and I say, how do we take it to the next level?” Amanda says.
For kitchen and baths, taking it to the next level with ECC is a must!
“Today’s trends and what you’re finding are more natural materials like neutral, warm tones like white oaks. Granite is coming back, or quartzite and quartz. Quartz is a man-made stone, and quartzite is a natural stone.”
As trends shift towards warmer colors like golds, browns, and greens, and grays fade, family dynamics are changing as well, prompting people to adapt their spaces.