The experience with Closet Factory (CF) was far, far superior to the one with California Closets (CC). (I'm going to start using initials to save on the typing.) This surprised me, frankly, as I was under the impression that CC was the mac daddy of closet design companies. Maybe they were just the first…
Anyway, when the CC designer visited last Wednesday, she was very professional with her laptop and design books. I showed her which closet was in dire need of help. She handed me the books to look at while she measured the closet and then came up with a general design using her laptop. Then she showed me the design, which needed some altering as she had not asked me a thing about my wants and needs. Truthfully, I was never happy with the design for my side of the closet, but figured it was better than anything Tom and I could come up with on our own.
The CF designer, Claudia, was casually dressed in jeans and had no laptop. But she had design books, material samples, hardware samples and a sketch pad. Plus a folder full of brochures for me to keep. She started by walking me through a design book, page by page, explaining everything that CF has to offer, including materials, features, the installation process, etc.
After measuring the closet, she and I stood in the closet and discussed my wants and needs. Claudia offered suggestions and asked questions. Once we had a basic plan, we started on the details. What size drawers did I want? How much did I need for long hanging items? What depth baskets were best for Tom's biking shorts? We must have walked back into the closet with a measuring tape a dozen times, checking and reassessing.
Once the design idea was fairly concrete, Claudia sketched it out on a gridded sketch pad. Then she determined the cost and presented me with a quote. It was higher than the cost for CC, but a far superior design and better quality materials.
For the most part, CC units attach to the wall, off of the floor. Even though they attach a very sturdy anchor, we're still talking about something very heavy hanging from the wall of the closet. CF doesn't do that. All of their units go to the floor.
I showed the quote to Tom and mentioned that it was more than the other company. The designer perked up at that. "You had someone else out to design?" I explained that CC had been out earlier in the week and I showed her the closet they had designed. She was very professional, but explained why she wasn't comfortable with the products that CC installs. Then she looked at the design for the office closet, which I had liked, and come up with a quote that was $100 less than CC.
So I bit the bullet, signed on the dotted line and gave her a deposit. Our new master bedroom closet will be installed on March 12.
Now that's what a personal closet design consultation is all about!
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Saturday morning I played tennis as usual, despite the pain in my hand. My tournament partner, Diane and I needed to practice playing together and Mary Ann had promised to keep us paired, win or lose. Which is a good thing, because we lost three of the four sets we played. Though two were very close, with one coming down to a tie-breaker.
After tennis, Joy came over and Tom and I took her to lunch for her birthday, which was Wednesday. We went to El Leoncito and enjoyed Mexican food. Afterward, we went back to our house and treated ourselves to a Raspberry Elegance cake from Publix. Joy had mentioned wanting this particular cake for her birthday quite some time ago. I had never tried it before, but thought it sounded delicious and was not disappointed. I might ask for one for my birthday, too.
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Yesterday, Tom and I went mountain biking with our usual gang: Vicky, Matt and Dallas. I hadn't ridden in three weeks or so, but had a great day. I didn't fall down and didn't get slashed by a rogue palmetto frond. I was riding strong and feeling confident. It was a fantastic ending to a very good weekend.
Raspberry elegance....MMMMMMmmmmm.
Send pics of the new closet when it's done!
Posted by: Denise Baum | February 27, 2009 at 04:26 PM
Very cool about the new closet - please post photos when done!
Posted by: Stefani | March 01, 2009 at 02:52 PM