Kitchen Expansion
It’s always great when homeowners return to us for another job. In this case, we had previously worked on their bathroom…it turned out so well…and they liked the tile so much…that they hired us to do a kitchen addition and use the same eye-catching tile as a backsplash. Excellent! The original kitchen was small […]
The Bold Tile Trend
If you’ve stopped by a tile store lately you may have noticed a growing trend: BOLD tile, often in striking colors, has surged in popularity over the last year or two. Patterns, colors, new shapes and sizes, and intricate designs are all the rage in tile these days and they’re being used throughout the […]
MacHarrie Marks 10 Years at Custom
Congratulations to Brenda MacHarrie, who is celebrating 10 years as Custom’s office manager. Brenda, who grew up in Arlington Heights, spent 20 years supporting sales teams before joining Custom in 2009. While she hadn’t worked in the remodeling industry before, she picked up things fast. If you call Custom, chances are Brenda will […]
Management Memo: 7 Questions to Ask About ADUs
In case our last post has sparked your interest in an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), here are seven important questions to ask yourself before moving forward. Can we even consider building an ADU? Some communities have certain districts that are zoned for single-family dwellings. In these areas, ADUs may be prohibited or may require […]
Accessory Dwelling Units Are Having Their Day
Do you worry about an elderly parent living on his or her own? Do you have a child who has graduated from college but doesn’t have the financial means to rent an apartment in your community? The solution in cases like these might be an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). The Commonwealth of Massachusetts defines an […]
Bringing Cutting-Edge Tech to the Bathroom
Alison Stanley is a senior sales executive who has been with Kohler for 15 years. She recently spoke with us about some of the latest plumbing technology in the bathroom. Custom: What’s new in bathroom plumbing technology at Kohler? Alison: We’re always trying to stay at the forefront of trends and innovation. With our […]
Transforming a Basement
For some lucky homeowners, their basement offers hidden potential to be converted into prime living space. One such homeowner is Arlington resident, Janet Fidelman who recently worked with the Custom Contracting team to transform an unfinished basement into multiple finished rooms that expanded her home. We wrote about Janet’s kitchen remodel in our previous blog, […]
Revisiting a Kitchen Remodel
In 2009, Arlington resident Janet Fidelman was ready to remodel her cramped kitchen. She had originally purchased the home in 1979, and, all those years later, had decided that it was time for a major update. Janet said, “The kitchen was always big enough, it was just really inefficient.” After hearing about Custom Contracting from […]
The SMART Kitchen
Technology has transformed the kitchen in recent years. Housewives of the 50s and 60s may have trouble recognizing today’s refrigerators and stoves and the voice of Alexa or Google Assistant might scare the heck out of them. Times have certainly changed in the kitchen and only time will tell which of these ‘product advances’ are […]
Recreating a “Carriage House” / Garage in Historic Lexington
Tim and Sara Wondolowski love their circa 1810 home in Lexington’s historic district, but it was missing one thing: a garage. Ironically, a painting they found hidden in their attic proved to be an inspiration for constructing a new carriage house to serve as their garage. After many months and meetings with Lexington’s Historic Districts […]
Oversized Kitchen
(The above large kitchen remodel includes an oversized island with plenty of seating for the whole family) Over the past 29 years, Custom has worked on dozens of kitchen remodeling projects. Lately, these projects seem to be getting bigger and bigger. Given the age of the housing stock in Arlington and surrounding communities, many […]
Subcontractor’s Corner: Steve Gilbert on Smart Home Technology
Over the past few years, many of us have become familiar with the “internet of things,” or “IoT. This term refers to the various devices that leverage internet technology to be connected and exchange data with each other. More and more, the internet of things is making its way into our homes. A so-called smart […]