Hello everyone, my name is Gracie and I am a kitchen designer. My twin sister and I are the oldest of 6 children of a pastor/evangelist/missionary and a homemaker who instilled a love of reading and words into all of us. My journey from a farm in NW Pennsylvania to a kitchen designer has had some interesting twists and turns that include following our dad around the US, into Mexico, and even a 6 week trip to India where he preached while I was growing up, to getting married, raising 2 daughters, & now being Gramma to the cutest little 5 year old boy that this world has ever seen. Along the way I started working as a bookkeeper in the lumberyard that my husband was managing in Virginia, then moved back to Ohio when Hurricaine Fran destroyed the lumberyard and it was closed. After we got settled in near my in-laws, I went back to work at the local branch of that same lumber chain and throughout the next 17 years worked at 4 of their locations in Ohio and Pennsylvania. It was there that I had the opportunity to learn about designing kitchens and bathrooms. At first I was mostly working in sales at the front counter, but as I began to grow in knowledge and expertise, I started expanding that location’s market share for cabinet sales. After a couple of years I had grown that portion of their business to the point that I was able to devote all of my time to selling kitchens. I ended up transferring to another branch of the chain because they were in need of a kitchen designer, but I felt stifled and unfulfilled. About that time, one of my co-workers brought me a clipping from the local paper which was advertising for a kitchen designer. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity, so I made an appointment to meet with the couple who had placed the ad. It was a match made in heaven! Dave was a contractor who had been building homes and doing renovations for nearly 30 years. He had commented many times to Lori that he didn’t like sending his customers to one place to look at cabinets and countertops, another place to choose flooring, and another to pick out plumbing fixtures. He dreamed of building a business where customers could come to his showroom to get their design work done, pick out cabinets, countertops, flooring, sinks, faucets, and cabinet hardware plus have first class installation of all of their products and it would be all done in-house.
I got onboard and have not looked back. I have enjoyed working here for the last 2 1/2 years and I look forward to many more years of loving my job. The pictures in this post are from a basement that we remodeled over this past winter. It went from bare concrete walls to a bar with a pool table, a media area, a wine room for the homeowner’s homemade wines, and a nice bathroom. I hope you have enjoyed my story and will tune in for the next tale. Be blessed.
48 Comments
|
Gracie JonesI am the designer at Gatesman Kitchen & Bath Design Center. I have been working as a designer for over 12 years now and I can truly say that it gives me great joy to make my customer's dreams come true. I love taking someone's hopes and turning them into realities. I look forward to working with you to design the perfect kitchen or bathroom to fit your needs and style. ArchivesCategories |