Category: Uncategorized

Hank Wall and designer Kathy Walker have worked together at Wood Wise for nine years. After designing hundreds of kitchens, bathrooms, outdoor living spaces, living rooms, family rooms, laundry rooms, and much more, they have fine-tuned their design process and work well together. They both have a great sense of style and knowledge of the best materials along with having a fresh eye for a home’s potential. For each client, Kathy creates an as-built floor plan and both she and Hank work together to develop two to three design options. They make the client’s journey to a final plan with its many decisions a pleasant experience. Then they follow it all the way through to the completion of the construction. Give them a call today to set up your free in-home consultation. Let Hank and Kathy help you see your home in a beautiful new way.

Years ago, the typical steps to remodeling involved homeowners engaging an outside architect or home designer to help them develop the plan for their project. They would then take it to several remodelers to price out and from there, choosing one to do the construction. Often the estimate for the designed work was much higher than the homeowners wanted and resulted in Wood Wise working with the homeowner to redesign the original to bring it more in line with their budget. Hank realized early on that this model did not serve the homeowner well. He decided to bring the design phase in to Wood Wise to make the remodeling experience smoother and easier for the homeowner. The design-build process has transformed remodeling from being a series of complicated and confusing steps to a simplified stress-free experience.

Read more about our 4 step process:  https://woodwisedesign.com/what-we-do/our-process/

Guests and family alike seem drawn to kitchens with large islands. There’s something about the expanse of counter space and the openness that causes people to gather around. When homeowners come to Wood Wise to remodel their kitchen, they ask for an island – or maybe two – to be included in the designs. Our kitchen designer Kathy Walker understands optimum island sizes, distance needed between cabinets, and what shape looks best in a space. She works with clients to choose the best cabinet configuration for good storage with additions of shelves, good lighting, and countertop. Our kitchen gallery features many shapes and sizes of islands. Here is one that is a favorite with everyone who sees it:

“We need more light in our kitchen!” is a refrain we hear from many homeowners who choose Wood Wise for their remodel. Hank and Kathy have several tools they use in their designs to provide better lighting:

Recessed lights are the #1 tool used to increase the lighting and are spaced out to cover the whole area.

Under-cabinet Xenon puck or strip lights are fully dimmable and give warm lighting to work areas.

Island lighting can include pendants, chandeliers, or other kinds of decorative lights.

Solatubes bring in natural light.

Enlarging windows or adding transoms over existing windows can dramatically improve the lighting.

Removing the wall from an adjoining room can flood the room with additional light.

Every kitchen poses different challenges to good lighting. Wood Wise brings the skill and experience to maximize the lighting potential of each space.

 This is one of the big questions homeowners ask us when remodeling their master bathrooms. We have found that one bathtub in the home (usually located in the hall bath) is sufficient for resale. Some homeowners want to get rid of the large garden tub and replace it with a smaller slipper tub. Often a larger walk-in shower (no door or frameless) is the goal by removing the existing tub. Whether including a tub or not, Wood Wise designers can suggest the best configuration of your space and help achieve the fresh new look you are wanting.

Cooking outside is easy on this beautiful Wood Wise porch. It features a built-in grill with an exhaust hood that is vented to the outside so wet weather doesn’t interfere with the plans. The grill’s stone base is topped with granite and the wall behind is a glass mosaic. The well-designed space ensures many happy gatherings of family and friends for these homeowners.

Give us a call and we’ll build an outdoor living space that works just right for you.

When you choose Wood Wise to remodel your home, one of the many benefits is our beautiful cabinet showroom. Samples of both of our cabinet lines, KraftMaid and Waypoint, are beautifully displayed. You can see the many finishes including stain, paint, glazes, distressed, and more. You can open the full-extension drawers and experience the wonderful feel of soft-close hinges on the doors. You can explore the newest storage options that include roll-out tray shelves, adjustable drawer dividers for dinnerware, spice storage, novel ways of using every inch of storage in corner cabinets, to name a few. Our designer, Kathy Walker, has put together cabinet vignettes to help you envision what your dream kitchen will look like. Call us today to set up an appointment to see our showroom and get started on your remodeling project.

The bathrooms in this 40’s era Raleigh inside-the-beltline home were in need of updating. Wood Wise was called in to design and remodel the spaces. In the master bathroom, WW designer Kathy Walker took out the tub to make room for the large corner shower. The glass and tile half walls along with the glass mosaic racing stripe provide sleek styling. Waypoint cabinets with granite countertops feature rectangular sinks and polished nickel hardware to complete the great new look.

The Wood Wise design-build model makes remodeling easy and stress-free for homeowners. With our more than 25 years of experience, we have taken the complex remodeling process and divided it into 4 orderly steps. (Read more about our 4-step process here:https://woodwisedesign.com/what-we-do/our-process/)

This process is one of the reasons these homeowners chose Wood Wise. As parents of 3 busy children, they had a kitchen that was too small. Wood Wise was brought in to design and build an addition that provides plenty of room for two large islands plus a wonderful family dining and gathering space. Large windows and five big skylights fill the happy room with plenty of light.