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Welcome to Let’s Build with Armada, the podcast where Washington homeowners learn how to remodel with clarity, strategy, and confidence—on a schedule that follows real projects, not a rigid calendar.
I’m Charlie Carter from Armada Design & Build. After years of working across the greater Seattle area, I’ve learned that successful remodeling isn’t about luck. It’s about planning, transparent conversations, and understanding how every decision—from windows to insurance to material selections—affects long-term value.
In each episode, I sit down with experts to answer the questions homeowners genuinely care about:
- Why your PNW windows cry every winter
- Financing options that actually make sense in 2026
- How to not get burned by a cheap insurance quote
- What adds value in Seattle… and what just burns cash
- How to plan a DADU without turning your backyard into a 2-year construction zone
Whether you’re preparing for a kitchen or bathroom remodel, planning a full-home upgrade, or exploring a backyard DADU for equity or rental income, this podcast gives you the clarity you need to move forward confidently.
Listen here, watch more real projects on our YouTube channel, and visit us when you’re ready to build with confidence.
And don’t forget to follow the show—so you never miss an episode that could save you time, money, and stress.
Visit the Armada Design Center in Bellevue when you’re ready to start planning your own home transformation!
📍 15600 NE 8th St. Suite O2, Bellevue, WA 98008
📞 425-587-8286
🌐 https://armadabuild.com/?utm_source=transistor
Hello, welcome back. Hi, I'm Charlie with Armada Design and Build and this is another episode of Let's Build with Armada. This is our podcast about all things home remodeling, renovation, additions, new construction, and trying to educate you so that you understand what's possible, what's be careful of, dangerous, all the cool trends. And I am super super excited for our 15th installment of our podcast that we have finally talked ya here in Numa, director of design here at Armada. She's the director of design. She is in charge of the whole design team, the architectural team, getting the projects from the early stages through permit out, all the stuff picked into construction. Thank you very much for taking time away from your incredibly busy schedule. This lady is amazing. Um, I met Ya 21 years ago, something like that. We both when we were both much younger. She still looks like she's 25. I clearly don't look like I'm 25, but I think we were about 25 at the time. Or maybe even you were a little younger. We worked together at another company here in town and then we both went different places and didn't see each other across paths for 15 18 years. I don't know what it was. And then I came here and then one thing or another led me to her and we were managed to swipe her and get her to come to work with us and we're super excited and that totally benefits you to have her on the team. her experience, um, the way she runs her team and that everything she does. She's just an incredible lady, an incredible designer, an incredible manager. So, we're really, really lucky to have her here. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Don't forget to like and subscribe, rate and review, click on down below, leave us a comment, tell us what you think, ask any questions. We'll get them to ya and she can answer a question for you. Or if you have a topic that you would like us to cover. Now, we are only going to be able to scratch the tip of the surface with this lady and her knowledge base today. We could do a 10-p part series on design stuff with her knowledge and all the stuff that she knows. So, we're going to try and do an overview a little bit today, but if there's something specific, let us know. So, anyways, without further ado, thank you very much, Ya. I appreciate it. Can you give us a little bit of a background? you kind of what how did you get into design? What you know what's your education? What was it that drew you to design and then sort of you know the path you've been on to find yourself here at Armada? I don't know if she's gone but uh to find yourself here and like what's all that been about and how did we you know how did you get here to be the awesome designer that you are? Yes. So um I was actually born in US but when I was two my family went back to Japan. Mhm. And I basically grew up in Japan and I study economics in a college in Tokyo. Uh that was not something I always wanted to. I mean the economics it's a basic skill set. Um but I just studied from my parents basically cuz I have a typical Asian parents you know. Uh so I pursued that but I quit pursuing the career in the economical [clears throat] side and I always wanted to do something more like I don't know a little fancier than economics you know and um my um great uncle or uncle I can't remember but anyhow he was the architect so when I was a little I was kind of exposed to that envelopment a little bit so and then I kind kind of grew up in that kind of environment. So, uh it was kind of natural for me to graduate to uh design field a little bit, right? So, then uh when I came to US, I studied interior design. Okay. And uh I feel like this is it. This is something I kind of feel the passion about, you know. So, and that's how I started studying the internet. So you got you got a little taste of it as a young person came here formal education in that and then a series of positions with different companies over the years. So yeah, I went to like a four or five different builder before I came to the alma but I always practice uh the design with the design built at one time I work for the just a design firm but I usually like the design build concept right because um you can design any fantasy on a paper but when it comes to the actual build you know you had to face some engineering issues issue any like a reality issue. So in the design build practice you can practice both side at simultaneously. That's why I kind of like working for the design build always as opposed to just a design firm. Correct. Design only. And we'll talk about that a little bit. Try and draw some distinction between the two so that you guys can understand somewhat of that difference and design build might not be you know the right choice for you. you might want to go with a design firm, an architecture firm, and then go find a builder. That's a viable way. Lots of things get built going that route. Um, but lots of things get built as design build, too. So, we'll talk a little bit about that to draw those distinctions. Um, and I think it's I think it's cool that Ya has worked in both and decided that design build is the avenue that she likes as I like design build and that whole aspect of it. Personally, I don't do the part of it that she does in in terms of the process. Um, but I think it's a better one for the client. I think it's better for us. I really like that aspect of it because it is getting built. Right. Right. We're not just drawing things. Exactly. Yeah. You know, so we know it gets built and then there's always that sort of hidden challenge for me is that is the problem solving. Exactly. There are always problems. There are issues. there. I need this to do that and I can't fit this and how do we do it and oh this is you know whatever. So I think there's a lot of that that that makes it attractive you know is that problem solving I think so. Yeah. Yeah. And the team the team aspect. So I just have to cross the hallway to ask some you know technical building questions to the project manager or some production people instead of like if I were in a design firm I had to reach out to the different people outside of the company right and then speed is different you know I have to wait for the answer from the builder or plumber or electricians to solve the a issue uh it usually takes like a week or so, right? But in here, it's just, you know, like um cross the hallway and then knock the door and then then get the answer right away. The problem is you're going to get three or four different answers. [laughter] Well, he says one thing, he says something else, she says something else. You're like, "Oh, now what?" Well, all of these are viable. Pick what's the best solution. Right. Right. [snorts] Right. Okay. So, let's dive in here. Just want to kind of get going. Let's see where we got time. So, um a few things. And like I said, we're not going to cover this all. So I have got a million questions here. We could talk all day, but I want to try and hit some of the highlights, right? So kitchens, I know that's something that's near. Oh, I also have to just so I won't necessarily work with you on designing a project. She would have her team would be doing it, but she's here as a resource. So just, you know, can remember that. But so [sighs] kitchen design in sort of the past five years, right? What are what would you say is the biggest change? Like what would you like you know there's so many things we could so many we talked about this before it's like what are we going to talk about we could talk about a million things right but so you know like what would you say is the biggest difference from recent past five six eight years just in kitchens alone. Mhm. I would say people get more serious about cooking actual physical cooking. Okay. So when I was working for the company I used to work with you um there is some certain client who wants to make a beautiful kitchen but they don't use the kitchen at all. This is true, right? So, but the these days actually people are more serious about the food and actual serious about like what they do in the kitchen all the activity. Not only just the cooking but also like entertainment or just the gathering with the people, right? You know those aspect but the people are more serious about the the activity in the kitchen. That's the biggest changes compared to like 10 years ago or even like a 15 years ago. Right. So more showpiece then. Right. Right. Oh, we need to update it. We need a cool kitchen. But didn't spend a lot of time thinking about the functionality of that space. Exactly. Exactly. What would you attribute that change to? I mean, I'm sure you have theories. Well, the one thing is the height of the backsplash. So uh traditional height of the backsplash is 18 in high but not these days. People probably realize oh 18 in is not high enough to accept the freestanding appliances or actual cooking activity. You know cutting the veg or prepping the baked meat or fish. You know the 18 in is really short right? So, she's talking about the distance from the countertop to the bottom of a wall cabinet. That distance here. So, like behind me, this is way more than 18 in. But 18 in for 60, 70 years has been kind of the standard default right there. Well, you could do whatever you want. But if you were just doing the default setting, everybody understands the default setting, right? With your computer and your phone, it would be 18 in. But you're not wrong. I think one of the things that I've seen is people getting a little taller, you know, and so like they want a little bit more room cuz I can't see under there. So I want to raise that up. I can see a little more. And certainly countertop appliances, right? They're in there. And again, the activity and the participation of the family member used to be mom is the only one who cooked something in the kitchen, but not anymore. You know, like a husband does all the cooking. Maybe I do a lot. Yes. So for the folks who is over 6 feet high, 18 in high backsplash is not right. And then and then the counter to that of course is if you've got someone who's 5'2. Right. Right. And then you raise that up. Now they can only get to the stuff at the bottom of that cabinet. So we have to balance that. Exactly. Right. So that's important. Right. So So the functionality I think that's a great answer. I like that. so that people are more deliberate about how they use the kitchen, that they're cooking more, they're cooking at home more. I think there's I would say I can think of two aspects that would sort of drive that. A the cost of eating out. Yeah. Right. Would be one. I know that we're eating out less just because of what it costs. Exactly. You know, it's like, oh my gosh, you know, I love to eat out, but I just can't, you know, at that these numbers anymore, you know, with great regularity. Um, and then I would also think the quality of the food, what they're putting in their bodies, the stuff that they're eating that they're there's less processed stuff, less stuff coming out of boxes, more real cooking being done where people are trying to be more health conscious. Correct. Right. And then I think the aspect that the other thing you would mention would be that family space, right? I mean, you and I both are a little older. Our kids are a little bit older. Mine are older than yours, but you don't have little kids at home anymore. But you know, you still have someone in high school doing homework and maybe they sitting at the island while you're preparing dinner and you know they're there and that whole heart of the home kind of aspect that if you're awake and you're home that's where you're going to spend the majority of those home wake hours. Exactly. Right. You're asleep, you're in your bed, right? But it doesn't matter like it doesn't matter. But when you're home and you're awake, that's where the majority of that time is spent. Yeah. That's why you see more open concept floor plan. You're right about the the wife, you know, the little lady go, you know, squirrel away in the kitchen and cook the meal and there was a door. Right. Right. Another door to the kitchen. It's like a more like a hidden spaces. It's more like a how can I say like a backstage area in the house, but not anymore. It's a heart of the house. You know, everybody gather there and then it's a multi-function area. Not only for that cooking but also like social you know entertainment or home homework homework any meal planning I mean it's every like our island is everything you know like I'm working on a project there I'm doing the thing right my wife and I were like literally had a blanket out last night and she was sewing the thing that was we were doing that in the kitchen you know at the table it's a multiunction area so uh that's a big changes as well okay the last time you designed a kitchen that had a door like an interior door? I couldn't even answer that question. But the trend is uh one of the trend I see these days is there is a tiny pantry with some kitchen aspect inside. Right. So I see that I'm a big fan of that. You're right. Y separate space. Exactly. But it has a small prep sink area with even some like a small cooking surface too. Mhm. It's not like a 30 in or so, but it's only like a 15 or 18 in surface of the cooking. So, uh I've seen those like if you are um affordable to hire some maid or somebody and that person is going to be in the pantry and do some prep, right? Butler's pantry kind of thing. It might be a term you've heard it called a butler's pantry, right? So, like the stripped down version of that. I mean, there aren't many kitchens we do. I mean, you know all of the projects we do. I don't know all of them. Um, but you do, you're aware. Like the vast majority of the kitchens we do these days, if there is any way to fit it in the space, have a walk-in pantry, right? I mean, at least a walk-in pantry. And then if they don't, they have a pantry cabinet for sure. Right. So then then what you're talking about is the walk-in pantry grown up, right? It's got a sink. It's got some countertop. It's not just shelves. Exactly. Right. There's lighting. There's a window. often there might even be a place for a stool, right, to kind of plan and some of that kind of thing. So yeah, these these butler's pantries have grown up a little bit. A little bit and that's that is a separate space, but we because we don't want to close off the kitchen. Yes. So I'm just referring to your idea. You said like when was the last time you designed a kitchen with the door? Yeah. So the new version of that is a small pantry, right? But the main part of the kitchen is right. still wide open to the table, the island, and the family room and to the outside, right? Kind of thing like that big big space. Okay. Um All right. So, what about technology? How is technology changing the way you design kitchens? Of course, appliances um got approved a lot. I mean, improved a lot, you know. So, the new technology is integrated into the all the appliances, you know. You can do a remote control, you know, you can start the oven when you're driving, you know, those kind of stuff. I need that. I don't have that. Or you can turn it off uh from the distance. Oh my gosh, did I turn off my oven? You still unplug the iron. Yeah, you can still do that with your cell phone. So those kind of things uh been advanced a lot, you know, and also like the lighting is different now. Lighting this is key. Lighting is huge. It's so It's so so different now. It's It's It's purposeful. It's useful. It's It's a work component, but it's also an aesthetic. Exactly. Right. It's a little bit of both. There's a functional piece to it that you need you need to be able to see while you're working, cooking, or cleaning. Right. But then there's the aesthetic component of it. Exactly. Where you can set the mood. Yes. Right. So that's it's so advanced these days. The layering as they refer to it. The good thing about the like a super uh soft skated lighting system is itself is learning your lifestyle. So like you can adjust something and then that system is going to learn okay this person likes this setting and at like a 5:00 p.m. Right. And then they're going to do that for you automatically. It's going to try to guess. Exactly. You mean to change it but it's going to Yeah. Okay. I like that. That's cool. I wasn't aware of that. Is Is that the Cassada? What system is that? Uh CASSA is a kind of entry level. Okay. Entry level version, but there's a more Okay. Very cool. Um so then so appliances induction induction, right? Like that's like that's probably the new the newest big thing, right? In the last few years for like a probably um 25 years. Well, it's I mean just in terms of getting a lot of application, right? We're using induction cooktops a lot now. A lot, right? That's really kind of come in and and things in our world as you may or may not know that that the in my opinion the construction, remodeling, home building industry, we are very slow to adopt new things, right? We are very slow to adopt them because they're they're the things are expensive and they're permanent or semi-permanent. So we are reticent to try the new thing because what if we put the new thing in and then it goes bust. I know. Right. So that we are a slow industry. That's so true. To adopt new tech. Yes. Right. Because we're worried about it figuring out later that it was a bad idea. Right. Right. And also like you know there is a cutting edge technology over there in the unit let's say appliances or plumbing any case maybe but the installer needs to update as well and then the code the building code needs to be updated as well that's why the speed of the progress a little slow so and and the adoption like one example that I can give that is not necessarily in ya's wheelhouse as is um is gas piping, right? So forever and ever and ever, gas pipe was this hard iron black pipe that you had to thread and cut and elbows and was very very labor intensive and the material is pretty expensive. And [snorts] then and then we have code issues and safety issues, particularly things with gas and electric or whatever. And so then finally someone developed a flexible gas line that you could just run. You didn't have to make all these bins and all this stuff. And it had been approved, like you said, induction has been around for 20 years. Yeah. But it was 15 years before people started adopting it and putting it in because if I make a bad mistake and I put in this gas line, this flexible gas line, which is supposed to be easier, and there's a problem, I got to go in and tear it out and it's in the walls. It's everywhere. So, you know what? I'm just going to put in the stuff I know is going to work [laughter] and I'm not going to have to worry about it. Right. But like that kind of thing, like we are slow to adopt these things. That's so true. because it's it's so permanent to the most part to what it is we do and so I think we're reticent for that. Um so anyways that so technology what about as tools for you to design not incorporating technology but using technology to design with Yeah. So uh occasionally we use the goggle uh for the people to experience like the Oculus kind of 3D things. We have some of those. You can come in. We could we're we're trying to figure that out. It's still a little little new, but you could come try. Yeah. So, that's kind of new to these days. And also, like I'm so scared of the AI capability, right? So, uh, of course, we use the AI to render the picture. It used to take like probably eight hours to do a photoshopping and do some, you know, um, manual um, 3D rendering. 3D rendering, but you know, you have to enhance the color. So, we man used to manually use the Photoshop and then kind of enhance the color and make it more like a photo realistic. But these days, air can do it in like a 20 seconds. That's the So, that's a big plus for clients. It is very very big plus so that they can see have a really good insight as to what their kitchen is going to look like. Exactly. Because the software itself still has a limitation in the graphic quality. You know, we can kind of generate like a cartoon look, right? But people always get photo realistic. Exactly. People feel like, oh yeah, it's kind of close enough, but I can't really see the true color in the cabinet in here. I'm sorry. The software has some limitation. This is maximum we can do in the software. But if I put that picture in the AI, ask AI to do a photo, tweak it up. Yes. And they can guess all the sound lights, you know, based on the window locations and also orientation of the houses. They can do like a night version and day version, you know, like late afternoon sunset. Exactly. So those are those are big help uh for the people to understand better and again the speed. Right. Right. Oh yeah. So I can do that even in the client meeting, you know, just right there. Make a change. Exactly. They don't need to wait for another couple days to like wait for it. Tori, one of our designers, architect that we've done podcast, you can go look that up about her. But we'll sit in a meeting and she'll make a change, make the window bigger or do the thing and there it is. Boom. Boom. Right. So that's a good thing for both of us. like both us and also the client. Yeah. Move it along, you know, like do you like this or no? Right. Um, what kitchen trend are you the most excited about right now? Things that are coming or excited that are going like you're over this whatever that might be like I'm well it might be extreme but um I think it's happening pretty soon is the robot you know like a cooking [clears throat] robot. Okay. So I think the prototype will be like a big arm. Mhm. Have you been to the coffee shop like which has a arm of the robo who makes a coffee for you? No, I don't do fancy coffee. I know I'm in Seattle and I'm not big coffee guy but Yeah. I don't know if it's in the Seattle but I went to the Vancouver BC. There's a store that you can, you know, ask the robot to make a coffee for you. Okay. And they do it and pretty fast and a pretty um like smooth movement. Mhm. You know, so with that being said, probably pretty soon you can buy the rubber arm in your kitchen. So, I'm wondering maybe I should make some spaces for that. Okay. Pretty soon. What's that going to look like? How are we going to incorporate that? Yeah, that would be great. Yeah. Get all my veggies chopped. Exactly. Do that. Get the veggies chopped. That takes so long. It's like, oh, we're got to spend the next 30 minutes chopping and prepping, right? or whisking, you know. Yeah. Stirring. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. When you get the cleaning robot, that's the one that I'll be super interested in. I like cooking. I'm not so into the cleaning, but it's a part of it, right? Yeah. Um so the technology trend, looking at that, what about um a stylish trend? You know, something that's new that you like or you're you know, like we've been in painted cabinets for a long time, right? Is that we still there are that because like the pendulum swings, right? like wood, dark wood, light wood, painted, whatever. Back, you know, the color styling pendulum swings. The funny thing I kind of discovered recently is uh there's no a style in a trend. The thing is like there's so many different styles are happening right now. Okay. So, it's more like uh it's up to you which style you like, right? You know, so there's a lot of things that are all okay. Absolutely. Absolutely. So again, uh I think people are like more focused on more like a circulation or a layout functional. Exactly. Instead of like a skin color or material. So um that's something I discovered recently.
[music] I like design. I like the kitchen stuff. I'm big into it. So, I like to do a lot of prep for that so that when finally clients start working with ya and her team that I've already got some background for them is that I will, you know, is the main cook right-handed or left-handed. Mhm. You know, like know who's doing that? Because that might affect where I put the sink or the cooktop or the dishwasher, right? And some of the flow of the space depending on, you know, like how left-handed are you? Like I am super left-handed. Okay. Well, then we want to set that up for more of a left-handed use type of thing. Um, common design mistakes in kitchens you see people make or you wind up correcting or I think we have a same opinion, but I not huge fan of having a cook top in the island. Yeah, that's Yeah, we're we're definitely on that. I am I am anti cooktop. So many issue, you know, the grease uh splashes and the hood um I I don't think it's a practical, right? So, I mean, unless the thing's 13 feet long and then you can put the cook top down here at this end and then you hang out at that end. That would be But still, I'm still not a fan. I know. I don't I worry about the grease, you know. I worry about the hood location. I worry about the hood is broken the view, yada yada yada. So, or oh, I want to do a downdraft and it's not effective. Right. Right. Yeah. And and it goes against what you talked about kind of that heart of the home. The island is the hangout place. Exactly. For so much. And if I'm turning that into this splattery, messy hot thing like people don't know. Is that hot? I don't know. Maybe that's hot. You know, so I'm a big one. That's a great one. I I totally agree with you on that. Totally agree with you on that. No cooktops in the island. We don't do that. Obviously, if you want a cooked up in the island, it's your house and we'll do what you want, but we will try to talk you out of it. So, I'd rather put my my favorite thing in the island. What is your favorite thing to put in an island? Nothing. What's your second favorite thing to put in an island? Tiny sink. Prep sink. Yeah. Right. And then your third favorite thing, the main sink if you have to. I'm going back to nothing. Right. Well, I would go Yeah. Like prep sink, nothing. Main sink if I have to. If I have to. I would put the main sink in the island before I'd put the cook top. Yeah. If I had if I had to pick I agree. If I had a choice if one of those two has to go in the island, I would put the sink in the island. I agree. Right. So, that's a good one. That is a good one. Um, has remote work or people working from home more? Has that changed kitchen things for you? Are you seeing that? I mean, it's been three or four years. Again, kind of going back to the original things I just discussed. Uh, people are more serious about the kitchen. people more serious about making a food or all the activity in the kitchen, right? Uh so I think the the co time is a pivot point for the people starting thinking about what I'm eating every day, how can I cook every day, you know, how can I spend the time at home, right? You know, so um I think definitely that was a pivot point for the humankind. I think it was I don't disagree. I think we see more people being deliberate about what they're cooking. There's more meal prepping. Yes. Right. So then we need more storage capacity because we shop less frequently for larger amounts so that we can variety of the food. Right. So we can store a lot whether it's stored prior to being cooked or it's being stored after it was prepped. So I've done my meal prep for the week and I just grab my thing and it's ready to heat up to be quickened during the week. Right? So, we need to be able to store that over the over for the week kind of thing, right? I think we definitely see that. Um, all right. Here's one um for you that I really like. The the kind of the the yin and the yang here is the functionality of the kitchen versus the aesthetic. Right. So, a lot of people everybody's heard the saying form follows function. Right. Right. And I believe so. And I and I totally buy that. And what that really mean is is it's saying that make it work right first. That's the function piece. Like the form follows function. And so then once it works properly, then you can style it. Right. Right. Now you may when you start out down that path, you may want to have some understanding of what the general direction of the style is, right? That like this is going to be more contemporary or a little bit more traditional. So maybe I do more doors or less doors or some of that kind of thing. have a general sense of it, but I think we're both on the same page that we want it to work right first. Exactly. You know, well, again, since the kitchen is the probably the most used area in the house every day. So, uh for most people, most like some of the people we talked about before, they just heat up, microwave, fridge, and that's it, right? But the for the most people I think uh with that being said uh people usually look for the function over the aesthetic you know and then uh sometime I have to extract what exactly people looking for in the kitchen even though people say oh I don't cook that much I just need a gorgeous kitchen but when I started talking to them I kind of try to extract what they truly looking for and uh their answer might be different from just the looking. So they're actually more into it than they thought they were. Exactly. Once you start peeling that onion a little bit, no pun intended, then you realize that no, they have some specific things. Exactly. So, uh I always start with the layout first, not the color. Color you can change anytime, but lifestyle that's you. You know, you can't you don't need to change and then it's you. Yeah. We got to make this work around you. Exactly. And work with you, support you in what you do, the way you want to do it. Right. Yeah. We're not trying to change how you cook. Exactly. We want to enhance how you cook and capitalize on that. And the cooking is not just a activity for the life. It's sometime it's a therapy. You know, people likes to knead the dough or people likes to hear the cooking smell. Smells of course of our strongest senses. sometime you know you can rinse the brain you know uh to forget something bad okay I I totally agree it's function first make it work right for you the way you do it and I know that we we get in the weeds a lot where like okay this is going to be where the pot and pan the pots and pans go this is where the knives go this is where the spices go it's not just cooktop countertop refrigerator it's deeper than that it's like here's the garbage here's the recycle cycling. This is a This is a three drawer cabinet. This is where you're putting the the the cellophane and the the tin foil and all that kind of stuff. That's where this go. This is where your kitchen towels are going to go. Yeah. Right. Is a drawer this big good enough or do you need a drawer this big, right? How much of that stuff do you have? You know, let's talk about that. Um so, it's gotten fun to get into those and really make them work. It's so so great. And when you walk into a kitchen that's not done that way, you're like, "Oh my lord, what a nightmare." Um, where do you see the, and I think you kind of touched on this, the kitchen design like heading in the next 5 years, the the robot stuff, Rob? And, uh, again, I probably see more variety of the color combination and the different materials from a styling standpoint. Yes. Uh, so again, there's no a specific style in the trend. there's always like a four or five different styles ongoing. That's how I see I think that's changed, you know, years and years ago in the '9s, like there was a period like 49 out of 50 kitchens were white. Yes. Right. You know, there was a period like one thing is in the hot everybody does the same thing, right? But not anymore. I think yeah, there's more. It's accepted to be a broader spectrum. Yeah. the variety, right? That's the key. So, which I love that people are comfortable doing like you don't have to do a white kitchen. Exactly. You don't have to do a maple kitchen. Yes. You know, you can do this or do that, right? So, I see the blighty of it like a probably still like a traditional white shaker painted door. I still see it. At the same time, I see some like, you know, different funky um material. Maybe the slate. Have you seen the stone uh cabinet in our showroom? Yeah. Yeah. Something like that, right? Or I don't know, grass maybe in the cabinet or a mirror in the cabinet. Yeah. Yeah. There's all kinds of Yeah. That goes like that brings you into the next thing, right? Is the is the styling. And I think the styling evolves somewhat and follows tech, right? Like that's true. Like we're we're able to do stone on a on a cabinet, right? Like we can do that now. Like you know 10 years ago like people look at you like you had six heads if you like suggested like what are you talking about? No, it's not a thing. You know so people are trying new stuff and it becomes you know we're doing a lot of these uh these laminate cabinets now. Right. Right. And we don't have to worry about them falling apart. Correct. Right. That they used to you would do it the early days then it would be installed three years and the doors falling apart. The stuff's coming delaminated. It's unglued and it's a mess. Right. And now we don't worry about that. Exactly. These are the So the tech allowing us to do things we couldn't do right 5 10 15 years ago exactly is that new staying on that like you talked about the you know the the stone cabinet stone cabinet which is crazy and also like a tile cabinet you know or again the I like the mirror cabinet sounds high maintenance house to keep it clean technology you know you get the cleaning robot for me well no I mean like a maybe like a a fingerprint free mirror could be available someday, right? Then you worry about that would be handy. Is natural wood going to make a comeback in the kitchen or in cabinetry at some point? Always there. It's always there to some degree. Always there. Always there. So it never goes away. It never be hot. I mean, it's always there. Okay. So, but like in the 70s when I was a little kid, um everything was wood cuz that was really the only option from a cabinet standpoint. That was the uh most available resources back then. There wasn't laminate cabinets there. You could paint them, but nobody did because they were, you know, the paint would fall off and flake. We didn't have the technology for the paint to be tough enough to last in a kitchen, right? Because of what you talked about how abused it is the paint would just disappear, right? So [laughter] it was all stained wood, right? For decades, that was kind of the only option probably, right? I mean, metal cabinets had a little time period there for a while, right? Metal painted cabinets and and high-end St. Charles line, right? You remember those? But they didn't do much, but it was wood forever and ever. So, it's still there, not coming back or not like going to take over again. It just is an option because there's just so many other choices and there's more available all the time, right? Yeah. What about sustainable or recycled? Um, it was hot about like 15 years ago. People were so, you know, uh, buzzing about like a recycled glass countertop, something like that. remember stone stone glass something and the glass the glass guy whatever that one was called. Yeah, that's right. So unfortunately I don't see those anymore. But um cuz it costs a lot expensive like a twice more. Yeah. I used to say my my sort of flippant response was that it costs a lot of green to go green. Yes. Right. And then you would explain that to people that well these green cabinets are $50,000 or you can get these pretty green cabinets for half that and then you can either not spend the 25 or buy something else with the 25. And that's where people went was like well I want to get the cool refrigerator or whatever. So it didn't it didn't stick. It didn't I think it was just too expensive. It was Yeah. [music]
functional storage, right? Storage that's improved a lot which is which sort of is under functionality. Yes. Right. So it's not just a drawer. Yes. Or it's not just a shelf, right? Much anymore or it doesn't have to be. Yeah. So I think the the new thing uh I kind of talk about the pantry stuff a little bit, right? So the trend I see in the big house, they have a big huge kitchen plus a framed pantry area with a small sink and a small [clears throat] cooktop surface, right? And a fridge maybe. Yes. Or wine stuff or both. Yes. Yes. So I've seen a lot. And then I call it still storage, but it's not storage anymore. It's storage plus like some kitchen function, right? plus, you know, and also like if it's a small kitchen, uh we can take advantage of the hardware inside of the cabinet. So there's like a blind corner hardware. That means like a small hardware inside of the cabinet, right? We can utilize the dead space on the corner of the kitchen. Come to the showroom. We got one to show you there. There's a couple of ways to do it and they're really efficient getting around the corner and using all the space. Yes. For tight spaces. high spaces. That's very true. Um yeah. So like drawer dividers, things in drawers. Um putting plates in plates in drawers with the little the little pegs, right? So we keep cuz a lot of people the no wall cabinet is kind of a trend, right? Or open shelves or maybe that's even waning a little bit now. And so we need to put those things in drawers. Drawer drawers are a big deal, right? We're doing drawers kind of rule the day. I'm a huge fan. I love drawers. more more drawers than anything these days. Yes, I will do a drawer if I could all the base cabinet to be drawer instead of the door cuz I agree with you. You pull that out and then you can access from the top. So, it's already organized really well instead of like a if it's a door, you have to either pull that another roll out or you have to look for something in the back. Yep. So, that's really hard. Drawers. I'm I'm I'm so with you about that that the drawers are key and and varying depths, right? Like I have a cabinet in my house that's two drawers. It's two big giant drawers and that's all pots and pans and lids and and things like that right by the cooktop. And then I have one that's got five drawers that's a bunch of s little skinny drawers, right, for for silverware and utensils and the paper towel and plates place mats. Exactly. Yeah. All that kind of stuff. very deliberate use. My spice drawer. I have a spice drawer just to the left of the cooktop that's this wide. It's 33 or 36 in wide. One whole drawer of spices. Yeah. And they're all laying there so I can see them like facing up, not standing up. So I'm looking at the top. They're laying down. Yeah. Very specific. What about lighting in drawers? That's that's a thing. That's common ring. Yeah. People are doing lighting in the drawer. Yeah. So, I recently installed like uh lighting inside of my uh garbage cabinet. It's super useful. So, uh cuz I can see what's inside of that basket, right? [laughter] Yeah. So, uh the lighting helps a lot. It does. And getting older, I know I need lighting all the time. Inside of the cabinet, I wish I could have a small lights every single cabinet. Then I can see what's inside, right? So, Few a few years ago, we had to get a new dishwasher and so I got the, you know, the new one and it had a light in it. It had lights in it. Yeah. And I was like, who needs a light in a dishwasher? Never. I don't even want a dishwasher without a light in it anymore. Don't even talk to me about a dishwasher without a light. No, not even a thing. It's like absolutely. I got to have a light in the dishwasher now. [laughter] And I'm spoiled so I can see what's in there. Um, okay. So, oh, this one is a big one here. We talked about the bulk uh storage solutions. Um that integrated coffee station, right? We do a lot of that. We do a plan for that. I guess it might be a Northwest thing. Maybe you guys out there in other parts of the world aren't so coffee focused as we are. Um but many many projects are there's a specific like this is where coffee is done, right? that we accommodate that from just a space to full-blown integrated with a sink and all you know all the stuff right so it can run the range but integrating that stuff what else along that line would you say specialty things uh wine wine wine is another thing so we have done couple like a wine uh I mean entire basement is wine yep we've done that we've got a video on one of our bigger wine sellers that we've done um you can go Check that out. A whole thing. It's a,000 bottles or 1,200 bottles or something. Whatever that bottle, we did one of those. They're super cool. Yeah. Wine is a big one. Wine's a big one. And then there's a special cabinet for the wine. Oh, yeah. You know, so and the function around that. Yes. Right. Not just the storage, but then how do we use it? How do we interact with it? Right. Right. Okay. That's fair. Um waste reduction, recycling, water conservation. That come up much those things. Uh well, we do have some uh water consumption restriction in a shower faucet, but not in the kitchen. Not in the kitchen so much yet, but it's coming. Right. [clears throat] The the touch faucet. Touch faucet. It was popular, but not anymore. Not doing that so much anymore. Not anymore. I love mine. Okay. It was booming right after the co but it's kind of disappearing. Settle down a little bit. Yes. I like the touch faucet. The problem with the touch faucet is that when you go to any other faucet that you try to touch to get it to come on, it doesn't work. So, you have to remember you're not at home. That's true. [snorts] Um, all right. So, we've gone a long time. I've taken a bunch of your time here. There's so much more we could talk about. We didn't touch on bathrooms, right? So, is there anything that you would like to put out there and and leave people with that to to think about or be sure that you research or do homework on or you know, if you're thinking about a project from a design standpoint, what would you know the the two or three things that you would recommend that they definitely should do or think about or ask of their designer or whatever? Like kind of the you're like, "Make sure you do this. If you don't do anything else, do this. What would you say? Is there I mean there could be a million, but can you boil it down to a couple? Well, I want them to find out what's their actual lifestyle is and what's their important pieces in the kitchen, the priority priority, you know, and I'm pretty sure it's not just a look, you know, I'm pretty sure there's some lifestyle behind it, right? And then, you know, people don't need to change it, you know? We just going to work around that. whatever the lifestyle you have. So, I want them to kind of find out. So many people don't know though, you know, even though they have that, they don't still haven't discovered, right? They haven't really sat down and think about like how we use the space, how much are we in here? Yes. You know, type of thing. So, really do a a self assessment and analysis or sort of skout yourself um of how do you use it? One of the questions I always ask is what does it not do for you now that you want it to do? Like what can you really almost not do in this space? Or what does this space struggle to do? Right. Like it's tight whenever two of us are in here cooking. Yeah. Right. It's much easier just for one person is we're stepping over each other and we really want to be able to cook as a family almost always. Then that leads me to a prep sink. Right. If I'm trying to accommodate multiple cooks is that I want that second sink so everybody's not trying to share the one. If somebody's cleaning stuff, then they can be at that sink. Somebody's prepping, they can be over there. Or someone can they can be sharing the prep sink and one working on both sides of it. Right. Right. So, I would never recommend putting a prep sink on the corner of an island. I always like it somewhat, it doesn't have to be dead center, but so that you've got a little bit of workable space on both sides of it because if it winds up on the corner, you don't use it that much, I found. And I think a lot of people find that. Yeah. Um, so I that's really good advice to really think about how you use the kitchen. Exactly. What does it mean to you? Yeah. How you use it. What does it mean to you? How would you like to use it that you currently can't use it if it just doesn't accommodate that? You know, like my kitchen is in a older house and it's really in its own little room and I want to take the wall out so that you know it's a it's a bigger you know group thing if that's you know if you still have a house like that. Yeah. You know like that. Think about how you want it to work for you. Exactly. And then sometimes I hear the people say, "Oh, should I have a prep sync because I I want to boost the resale value some something some," you know, but I don't think you need to focus on that, you know, because you don't need to spend the money for someone else, right? Just focus on what you need and then we can just work around it. Right. If it's if it's a a well-appointed functional kitchen that's, you know, styled nicely, Yeah. It's going to be an improvement from what it was almost assuredly. And so people are going to be drawn to it. Right. Right. Oh, the details of a prep sink, no prep sink. I would defer to are you going to use it? Right. Right. Not just because. Yeah. You know, like that kind of comes back to the Oh, we need to put a big jetted tub in our bathroom because we should. Are you going to use it? No. We never take a bath. I know, right? I wouldn't put the tub in there. I wouldn't dedicate the square footage to it and spend the money on it. Just do a great shower. Again, don't spend the money for someone else. Just focus on what you need, how you want to work, you know, so then we can have an answer. [music]
Got a little rapid fire for you here. Just want to get your quick feedback. So, um, modern or this is your personal what you like now. Okay. So, you just modern or traditional? Personally, yeah, I like traditional. Traditional. Okay. Dark or light cabinetry? Dark. Dark. Okay. Open shelving. Yes. Yes. How much? 20%. 20% open shelving. Okay. My kitchen's all open shelving. Oh, I love it. I love all open shelving and talls. That's all I got. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a big fan myself. Matte black brushed metal or chrome brass? What? I know that thing has changed 50 times what's popular over our careers at this point. Where are you currently on metal? Matte black. Matte black. Matte black. Okay. What is your biggest design pet peeve? Sometime I cannot predict how the everything goes together. Mhm. And uh even though I did that in 3D modeling, everything looks great, but it's in a different lighting situation. Some color is looks different, washed out or something. Yeah. And I feel like ouch, right? But I can't really say that to the client. Yeah. Yeah. So, you don't want to miss. So, the tonal quality, right? What's the most overrated trend currently? The Neo uh R deco thing. Mhm. Uh, which I hate. Okay. You know, like a scalp or like a pink, pale pink and a pale green. Okay. Uh, it's going to fade away pretty soon. Not not going to stick. It's going to fade away pretty soon. What is your favorite construction tool? Screw gun. I don't know. But I like the smell of the construction. So maybe saw. Okay. When you cut the Making some sawdust. Yes. Making some sawdust. I love the smell. Okay. So, it's probably Yeah, that's what I That was our thing when I was a kid growing up with my grandpa and we were framing houses. It would be that's what we call it. Let's go make some sawdust, you know, get back to work. Got to make some sawdust. Are you a coffee shop fufu coffee person or are you a job site trailer coffee person? Well, I'm probably the second one. Okay. Yeah. I'm not fancy. Not fancy. You and I are the same on that. so muddy, you know. What is the thing that I don't want to say bugs you, but that clients do? I think I know the answer to this, but I wanted to see if if I can predict it. What is the thing that clients do when you're working through projects with them, making decisions, designing stuff? What's the thing that is the most frustrating? People don't take it seriously sometime fortunately. I mean, like, uh, people still think that they can change some stuff later. Mhm. Uh but we don't we don't do in that way. Uh when I present something, it's my best, right? You know, so um people kind of like acknowledge, yeah, it looks good, but I will change later. You know, that's not the thing, you know. So when I propose something, when my team prop present something, they already spend eight hours in order to come up with that right option. Yeah. This isn't the first draft. No. Yeah. they already spend so much time on it. They already think about so many different um options and some possibility and then they came up with a two option for you to pick. So just listen to them carefully and if they don't if you don't like them that's fine but uh just take it more seriously. What would be the smartest thing, and we don't really do this, so I don't know if this is a question even, but like what would be the smartest thing you would recommend to someone that wanted to do a project or renovate something for resale? Like what's the quick uh There is a chart. Oh, yeah. The chart. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We know. There's a chart like how much you spend and how much uh the value you get back. And nothing in interior unfortunately, right? only driveway and curb appeal like a siding or big return. Exactly. A lot of it's done for your pleasure and whatnot. Yeah. You spend She's talking about the cost versus value report that's put out on an annual basis and you can look it up online and it's redone and it's by region and by city and all of that. And what it'll tell you is like what the average project of certain type is. Yes. How much it cost. Yes. And then what's the immediate return or the impact on the sale price or the value of your home. Right. Right. So like if you do a $100,000 kitchen remodel, you might get $50,000 in value the day the project's done. Correct. That your job would your home would increase for for that much. I think that's a great place to leave it for today. You did great. I thank you very much for coming in. So think about what you want, understand it. Um you know those how do you use that space and then go do the research and make sure that you know how you want to use it. How does your kitchen work for you? How do you want it to work better? Function and then style. Get it working right and then you can dress it. I I use the analogy a lot of that I want to make sure that I build you a really good mannequin which is the function side of it is that it's going to work. It's going to be sturdy. It's going to do what it needs to do. And then once we build you a really great mannequin, then you can dress that mannequin any way you want, right? Beach clothes, formal wear, winter clothes, you know, whatever the case may be. It doesn't matter how it's styled in because underneath that mannequin is really well done. It's functional. It's got the bones of the stuff and the space and the storage and all of that. And then you can make it look however you want to make it look. And it doesn't take away from that underneath functionality, right? And so that's kind of how I like to think about it. Build that first then we'll style it however you want to style it and but that doesn't take away from the usability in my opinion. So thank you very much a thank you. Thank you for spending the time with us. Um like subscribe comment down below. Rate and review on all the podcast places. Uh leave us a comment. Send us something a note. If you're in the area, stop in. Um, if you're lucky, you might get to say hi to Ya. Um, take a look at our showroom, all the different cabinets and the countertops, all the stuff we have here. Um, we'd be very happy to come out and talk with you about your kitchen, your project, your new house, your bathroom. We didn't get into that today. We ran out of time, but actually time we even got to just kitchens are so detailed in so much, and we love kitchens. And we didn't even really talk about appliances. That's a big part of the kitchen design is it's it's where I start when I start talking about the kitchen is what appliances are we designing around and incorporating, right? Like you don't have to tell me who makes it, but what do you want, right? You know, so that's a big one. We can talk about wine. We can talk about bathrooms, all that stuff. So, we'll get her back for another one. I promise we will. I'll twist her arm again. So, thanks very much. We appreciate it. Let's Build with Armada, our podcast. Check us out on the web. Stop in the showroom. Call us. We'll come out. Tell you how we can help you with your kitchen, your project. Thank you. See you in the next one.