KALONA

When folks drive by Ramsey Creek Woodworks on Hwy 1 just north of Kalona, they don’t always know what exactly the business does. Is it a furniture store or something?

“We mainly do residential remodeling,” designer Emmy Johnson explains. High-quality wood cabinetry is their forte; built-ins, moulding and trim installation, and custom wood flooring are a few of their other available services.

For those interested in remodeling their kitchens, bathrooms, or other spaces, the process usually begins with a meeting with Johnson at their homes. On site, Johnson can get a far better sense of what a client needs rather than if she were just given a list of measurements and dimensions.

“If I have been there, then I remember, Oh, there’s a bathroom around the corner, and it flows from the living room to the dining room,” she says. “I can get a better sense of someone’s personal style, how they decorate their home, [if] they have a dog, how many kids they have, things like that that you don’t necessarily get if someone just sends you measurements. It helps me to better understand what that person might actually need in their home.”

When clients contact Ramsey Creek about remodeling, some know exactly what they want, and others are unsure.

For the former, “We basically just have to facilitate,” Johnson says. “A large portion of the job is scheduling with subcontractors, which are plumbers, electricians, [etc.] Then it’s just planning, planning, planning.”

For the latter group, clients who need more help and suggestions, “We do the best we can to get people the space they want in the end,” Johnson says.

Cabinet selection is a critical choice in a kitchen or bathroom remodel, and may be when designing office and entertainment spaces as well.

Johnson says for a while, painted white cabinetry and pale white oak flooring was “a huge trend,” but now there is an international design movement leaning toward richer color. “Specifically, quarter-sawn white oak is really big right now,” she says.

“I have a few people that are experimenting a little more with color, which is really fun for me,” she adds.

The designer can help with selecting coordinating finishes for cabinets, countertops, backsplashes, flooring, and hardware. Using a software program, she can enter the specific appliances a client has, such as oven and refrigerator, and design cabinetry around them. Then she can share screenshots of the virtual room with clients so they can better imagine the finished outcome.

Unlike stock cabinetry, which is produced in standard sizes, leaving gaps to be bridged by filler pieces, Ramsey Creek installs custom-sized cabinets produced by Brighton Cabinetry in Illinois.

Custom cabinetry is “especially helpful when you’re doing remodels,” Johnson says. “We’ve worked a lot in the old historic homes in Amana, the historic homes in Iowa City, and things there aren’t exactly level or square. They weren’t built to have cabinetry in three-inch increments.”

Most clients choose cabinets custom-sized by Brighton because the company offers so many options at a good price point. However, a fully customized, one-of-a-kind cabinet can be made in-house at Ramsey Creek if a client so chooses. Inside Ramsey Creek’s offices, photos and examples can be viewed that illustrate some of what is possible.

The timeline for a remodeling project varies depending on what is required.

“Some projects are just massive, and they take a year of planning,” Johnson says, but others “are much shorter, depending on the scale of the project.” A six-to-nine-month lead time is common, she says.

What sets Ramsey Creek apart from other like businesses is their quality.

“Craftsmanship is one of our core values,” Johnson says. “What you’re getting is quality,” is what their clients say about them, and that extends to the work of their subtractors. “Another thing we value is longevity,” she adds, noting that the solid wood cabinets they install can be expected to last decades.

Clients will also appreciate Johnson’s design help. A fashion design turned history major in college, she found herself first working in textiles and then working with her parents in their house-flipping and construction projects post-graduation.

“I was working on the job sites, doing the painting, helping install flooring and cabinetry. I did all of the tile work for those jobs, bathroom floors and shower walls and all that,” she says, in addition to taking on project management and interior design. “I got a lot of great experience doing that and made a lot of mistakes.”

Her hands-on remodeling experience makes her an asset at Ramsey Creek. “It has made my job a lot easier, having that understanding of how remodeling works,” Johnson says.

Ramsey Creek Woodworks is located at 1050 Hwy 1, Kalona. Contact them about your remodeling needs at 319-656-3883 or stop by their booth at the Kalona Home Show on March 22-23 at the Kalona Community Center.