Crystal Kitchen Center

Our experience with Crystal Kitchen and Bath was fantastic. We needed to replace our cabinets, countertops, and backsplashes in our mid-70s split-level home. We also needed some additional storage space for food. Amber was great about listening to our thoughts, being conscious of our budget, and suggesting fantastic options. For the build process, Lisa gave us a 7 week schedule and everything happened exactly as she scheduled it. The contractors were careful, and thorough and friendly. When a couple issues came up, Lisa, Amber, and Jolynn were right on top of making sure they got resolved. In the end, we got a beautiful, clean, light, and low-maintenance kitchen that is a pleasure to spend time in.

We compared and found that the Crystal Kitchen + Bath quote was competitive and we believed that from CKB we were going to get the best quality, value and first rate service. This was proven true at every step of the process. Our designer Chelsey Preuss was knowledgeable and fun to work with. She tweaked the design with grace when our budget demanded, never causing us to feel uncomfortable or pressured. Every person we talked with at CKB and the contractors who were in our home were cheerful and professional. Questions were answered and messages returned quickly. Measurements were checked and checked again. The cabinets are of exceptional quality and were installed with care and precision. The owner and project manager Jolynn Johnson, made sure that every part of the job stayed on schedule…even the parts we were doing ourselves! Knowing when we could expect the next step helped us endure the total disruption that a kitchen remodel brings to your entire house! Our new kitchen is gorgeous and functions even better! We highly recommend Crystal Kitchen + Bath!

It turned out beautiful. They kept it pretty clean for us.

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Awesome!!! I do tend to overuse the word, but it is the only one that fits. My highest praise has to go to the owner and Project Manager Jolynn, whom we would adopt if we could. She is easy to talk to, has terrific ideas, and best of all - many years of experience so our four month project was done to the day! Her crew is top notch also and showed professionalism in their handiwork as well as being terrific to have in our house day after day. I cannot give enough praise to the entire crew. We have received many, many oohs and aahs on the great design (thanks Carol!) and beautiful work. We could not be more pleased. The only complaint is not that it cost too much (doesn't it always cost more than you want?) but just that I did not feel I was in the loop as to the cost of the choices I was making. I totally love my finished projects (kitchen and bath) however, despite being over my original budget.

It went very well. We had almost no changes to our initial plans so I can't address that question. It took 8 weeks to complete remodeling of a kitchen, mud room/laundry and the powder bathroom. We also had two ceilings to remove "popcorn". They use only one carpenter i to do the work. That fact makes the project go slowly. It does lead to excellent quality work. Drywall was. Installed by someone other than the carpenter. It went fine given that it is such a messy process. There was some mess but they sent a cleaner in to help tame the dust. They are not cheap so have them work within a budget that you determine in advance of the purchase of any items you will need.

Just started, Looking good

Read about Crystal Kitchen Center on another web site. Since their showroom wasn't very far from my home, I decided to stop over there with samples of the backsplash, flooring, counter top and pictures of my kitchen from various vantage points. It was late Monday afternoon and I was met by Mary and she led me back to their conference room. I showed her the samples and the layout of my kitchen. She agreed with me that the bay window was the problem and that it was a difficult layout. She was very cordial and very professional. However, we hit a snag when she disclosed and reaffirmed their requirement for a down payment before of $1500.00 before any other step could be done such as visiting my home to review the lay-out personally. Other contractors had no problem coming over to see my layout. As such, I wasn't confident enough to pursue any other steps with them.

I was thoroughly impressed by them. They stayed right on schedule which was rare for kitchen remodeling. I've used them twice and would recommend them highly to anybody.

Excellent experience. I know I'll use Crystal Kitchen Center on the next remodel (bathroom?). At the point where we thought we had saved enough for a new kitchen, I had visited and researched at least 30 companies. I had researched cabinet construction, countertop quality and maintenance requirements, flooring, appliances, even city remodeling requirements, I found I kept going back to JoLynn at CKC when I wanted a clear, concise answer. JoLynn is a soft sell, no pressure, but no nonsense when it comes to quality and schedule. And she made me laugh. It was easy to choose CKC. I wanted a functional kitchen within a budget. JoLynn met all my requirements, while upgrading things I didn't know I needed, like more and better lighting, all within my stated budget ($35,000). I'm certain I would have loved the original design. But then I kept researching and changing the design until we came up with the final plan. The upgrades from the original budget are all me. Even JoLynn warned me about exceeding the original budget. I especially appreciated that JoLynn limited the color and material choices for me. I believe she said something like "If it won't work or won't look good with the other choices, I'm not going to show it to you." Since I don't have a good sense of design or color, that's exactly what I needed from a designer. JoLynn provided a calendar up front, and stuck to it. Even the contractors knew that they couldn't mess with JoLynn's schedule if they wanted to keep working with her. The contractors left things clean each night (JoLynn insists on it) -- vacuumed, any equipment neatly out of the way. A copy of the plan was on the wall for the contractors, but we also used it daily. The drywall and ceiling texturing were exactly right (and I'm still stumped as to how he could clean up all that dust every day. There was no sign of it when we got home each night). The carpentry was meticulous -- especially the unexpected work he had to do around the window. The tilework required extra cuts to get it centered and lined up exactly right - which he did without prompting. I was impressed that I had trouble finding the seams in the countertop -- and I still forget where they are. The lighting JoLynn insisted on makes all the difference in the functionality. Any problems were small. One of the cabinets wasn't in the original shipment, so it came a couple days later, with no impact on the schedule. The electrical guys threw out all the owners manuals for the lighting, but they went dumpster diving the next day to find all the paperwork for me. (All the other contractors left manuals and spare parts for us without prompting.) The tile grout where it meets the counter cracked after the fact, but it was caulked up promptly, so that will no longer be an issue. I've never before felt so good about a contractor after the job was done. I expected the euphoria to fade in time, but it hasn't. I continue to be thrilled with the work CKC did for us.

How did they do? They nailed it. When Jolynn said a subcontractor was coming, they were there. We were done on time and on budget. Every little thing that wasn't perfect was adjusted or fixed until we were 100% satisfied. Jolynn was even pickier than I was about making sure that everything was perfect before she thought they were done. What impressed me most about Mary and Jolynn was their flexibility to include other items and other vendors that they didn't know about. I wanted to be as "green" as I could be with the remodel. That meant that the old cupboards had to be torn out carefully so that they could be given away. Done. I wanted cork flooring, which they hadn't used before. Done. I wanted a table-top built from wood from a downed Dutch Elm tree, sold by a local vendor, Wood From the Hood. Done. I wanted Minnesota-made tile from a local artist for the backsplash. Mary worked with the artist and found other field tile for the non-artistic part of the backsplash so that it looks fabulous. Would I use Crystal Kitchen Center again? You bet. Next time, I won't even check references; I'll just call them for a start date. I hear people say that they hate their contractor and were glad to see them leave. Not me! Jolynn and her subcontractors were neat, professional and perfectionists themselves. I'd recommend them to anyone.

For the amount of work that needed to be done, the whole process went very quickly (1 month). Ken had all the sub-contractors scheduled for specific days and they showed up and completed their part of the job in the amount of time that they had estimated. They all did quality work and were very professional and enjoyable to work with. Jolynn had made some excellent recommendations on the design of the kitchen and she also was very enjoyable to work with.

From start to finish every detail of our project was expertly attended to. Initially, Mary, our Crystal Kitchen designer, worked with us to come up with a plan for our three bathrooms. We were overwhelmed, but Mary helped to break design elements and product needs into manageable parts by guiding our choices when needed. Her design advice was excellent, never heavy-handed, and always helped us determine what was best and right for us. Jolynn, Crystal Kitchen?s owner/project manager kept all aspects of the remodel on track. The subcontractors are excellent and work well together. Everyone worked as an efficient, effective team focused on quality outcomes. The remodel calendar was an accurate guide which Jolynn frequently supplemented with updated information about what would be happening when. Target completion dates were consistently met. Our bathrooms were completed on time and met our expectations. Additionally, we had several home update/repair projects needing attention. Jolynn cheerfully arranged for the appropriate subcontractor to do each project. We are happy to not only have well-done, lovely, functional bathrooms but also home repairs that are no longer languishing.

Of course remodelling kitchens is always stressful. But Crystal made it as painless as possible. The designer we worked with listened enthusiastically to our ideas and came up with a plan that was wonderful. The providing an overseer for the project that carefully explained the work and the schedule. They stuck to the schedule and finished when they said they would. All of the contractors they hired were a pleasure to work with and did a professional job. We live in a condo building and they were always respectful of our association's rules. We have one of the most beautiful kitchens in the Twin Cities!

It came out PERFECT!!!

VERY TIMELY AND HIGH QUALITY WORK. THE BEST SUBS WE'VE EVER WORKED WITH! MANY ARE EXCLUSIVE TO CKC, POLITE, FRIENDLY, HELPFUL WITH SUGGESTIONS... BUT, IF SOMETHING'S NOT DONE ACCORDING TO STANDARD, JOLYNN WILL HAVE IT TAKEN CARE OF. WE WERE GIVEN A CALENDAR OF WHO AND WHAT WOULD BE HAPPENING EACH DAY. DURING THE 6 WEEK PROJECT THERE WERE ONLY A FEW CHANGES AND THE JOB WAS COMPLETED AS SCHEDULED. VAL WAS OUR DESIGNER AND SHE WAS EXCELLENT. VAL WORKED HARD MAKING SURE WE'D BE HAPPY WITH THE DECISIONS SHE WAS HELPING US MAKE. KEN, PROJECT MANAGER, WAS RELATIVELY NEW, BUT WAS ALSO EXCELLENT. EVEN JOLYNN, OWNER, WAS OUT SEVERAL TIMES TO CHECK ON THE PROJECT. WE FEEL CKC MAY BE ON THE EXPENSIVE SIDE OF REMODELING, BUT SOMETIMES YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!