For David Cerami, there’s nothing like the freedom of a client who trusts him.

“When you’re a creative person, one of the best things you can work on is a project where the customer gives you the autonomy to do whatever you feel is appropriate,” says Cerami, a certified kitchen and bath remodeler, as well as HomeTech Renovations’ senior designer and president. “As a designer and a design-build company, it’s about who you relate to and the connection you have, especially when they want to do something a little more than your average kitchen.”

That’s exactly what happened with a “unique and special project” HomeTech recently completed for Jan and Amy Kramer, who were ready to dive into the kitchen/first-floor redesign they’d been dreaming of. The couple’s world travels and Amy’s taste in art yielded an impressive and eye-catching collection, the catalyst for a conversation Cerami credits for giving HomeTech an advantageous edge.

“I saw a lot of the pottery showcased in hidden areas of the home: Some were in a powder room, some were in other living spaces,” Cerami recalls. “We engaged in a conversation regarding art and pottery as we finished up the initial consult on helping them execute a custom kitchen.”

It was one more way that Cerami instantly demonstrated his professionalism and passion to the Kramers.

“We were impressed from the beginning because he walked all through the house just to get a sense for our style and taste,” Amy affirms. “He wasn’t trying to impose his choices on us. He really tried to personalize it by getting a sense of what we like. … One of the things he said is, ‘I have some ideas for how we might better present this pottery,’ and that really impressed me.”

Over a series of meetings and home visits, Cerami, the HomeTech team and the Kramers developed a detailed design plan marrying form and function. The pottery’s pops of color in a black-and-white space serve as tastefully appointed accent pieces from their custom-built, well-lit display areas that make for an especially dramatic statement after dark, while updating the kitchen allowed Jan to purposefully arrange the area to his preferences while making better use of the space.

“This kitchen solves a lot of problems we had with our original one, and we got the Blue Star range, which actually gets hot enough for a wok,” says Amy. “The layout is not that different from what we had before, but because of the floating shelves we have now, it feels so much wider, it feels opened up—and we still have tons of cabinets, which we really need.”

Additional kitchen details included cabinetry custom-made in the HomeTech shop, as well as upgrades throughout the first floor, like the installation of an in-floor radiant heating system and more contemporary doors that feature frosted glass.

The Kramers chose to remain on-site throughout the project’s roughly two-month duration, with Amy actually working from her home office the whole time.

“David’s staff did their best to keep things clean and were the nicest, most conscientious, hard-working guys—they were fabulous and respectful, I adored them,” she says.

For Cerami, it’s further proof that his team comprises consummate professionals who possess both the talent and soft skills to deliver above-and-beyond customer service and minutely detailed, intricately individualized home renovations with equal success.

“[The Kramers] were genuinely appreciative of what went into this job,” he says. “We do all of our own installations with my own employees: You can design the most fabulous project, but if it’s put in incorrectly or not to standard or misinterpreted by the installation corps, it can take a wonderful design and vision and totally make it something else. … One of my lead mechanics, Dan Pattison, did this installation, and Amy just loved Dan, and Dan really related to her. And when you really care about the project, things just turn out the way they should.”

And this project turned out to be one that Cerami is immensely pleased with.

“I personally connected with this project because I loved it,” he says. “Sometimes you do things where you’re like, ‘OK, well, it’s the clients’ taste and they like it,’ but this was something I would even consider in my own home. This project just came to life and I am so proud of it.”

The Kramers couldn’t be happier with their renovated space, declaring “it was worth every penny.”

“David has a good eye—he had a vision for our home, and it wasn’t one that we had thought of,” Amy explains. “We are thrilled with the final product. We love the way it looks, but we also love the functionality and the flow and having enough space—we even love the light switches!

“I can’t say one bad thing about this experience. I’d recommend David and the HomeTech guys in a heartbeat. We’re actually setting up an appointment so they can do a little more work in the house, so we clearly plan on working with them again.”

HomeTech Renovations
1013 N. Bethlehem Pike, Lower Gwynedd, Pa.
(215) 646-7477
HTRenovations.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 23, Issue 1 (October 2022). 
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