Distinctive Remodelers earns praise for Pastor’s Mokena home renovation

As pastor of Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, Tim Harlow is proud of the large congregation he’s grown over the past 20 years. Growing extra room in his home to better accommodate parishioners and friends, on the other hand, would require a minor miracle a la a major renovation.

Tim and his wife Denise enjoy hosting church groups and meetings in their home throughout the year. But while they’re close to being empty nesters, having enough elbow room in their 15-year-old home to comfortably entertain select members of their faith flock has proved challenging—especially considering the tight confines of their kitchen.

Luckily for the Harlows, one of his churchgoers, longtime friend Bryan Nooner, is an experienced and reputable remodeler who offered to assess their square footage needs and suggest renovation options.

“We didn’t really know what was possible until Bryan came over to the house one day and took a closer look,” said Tim. “We yearned for a first floor with more usable space and an open flow, but I knew that knocking down exterior walls and building an addition was outside our budget.”

After taking stock of the couple’s current floorplan, “our goal was to get Tim and Denise to think outside of the box, literally, by visualizing potentialities within their home’s existing footprint,” said Bryan, chairman/CEO of Orland Park-based Distinctive Remodelers. And that meant asking what would appear to be very simple yet important questions, like ‘why do you need more room in this particular space,’ ‘what is your ultimate goal,’ and ‘what if we tried this alternative?’”

Bryan observed that the Harlows’ kitchen was adjacent to an ample laundry room. Knocking down the wall between and expanding the kitchen into the laundry area would increase the kitchen space by 33 percent, they suggested.

“That sounded like a creative and logical solution, but one that begged the obvious question, where were we going to move the laundry room to?” said Denise.

Exploring further, Bryan noticed that the homeowners had a two-story foyer as well as a small walk-in master bedroom closet upstairs that the Harlows had always wished was larger. After taking careful measurements, he recommended converting the existing closet into a laundry room and building a new, larger master bedroom closet in the foyer space above the home’s front door.

“It made more sense to have their washer and dryer upstairs anyway, considering that all the bedrooms were on the second floor, where laundry accumulates,” said Bryan. “Plus, this strategy would provide the Harlows with a new 80-square-foot walk-in closet accessible from the master bedroom next door.”

Additionally, Bryan proposed updating the master bathroom shower and tile floor, which would be more cost effective now versus later, considering that they had to remove that wall anyway to create the new second-floor laundry room.

“We were impressed by Bryan’s creative suggestions, which would not only maximize spatial efficiency upstairs and downstairs but save us a lot of money compared to the cost of building an addition,” Denise said.

It didn’t take long for Tim and Denise to see the light. In early 2010 they decided to take that leap of faith and hire Distinctive Remodelers to implement Bryan’s suggestions.

Phase one involved building the new master closet and upstairs laundry room, which only took a week. The next step required removing the wall between the kitchen and family room and walling up a window in the soon-to-be converted first-floor laundry room.

“We thought that finding exterior bricks that matched the shade of their existing bricks around that window would be a challenge, but after shopping around at a few brick suppliers, we found a mason who provided a seamless match,” said Bryan.

In the kitchen, Bryan and crew installed new custom birch cabinetry topped with a handsome hand-rubbed stain; granite countertops sporting brown and black tones; a center island; several new appliances; pendant, recessed and under-cabinet LED lights; an eye-catching tile backsplash; a French provincial-inspired ceramic tile floor; and a new back door.

“Distinctive Remodelers even helped me move our old cabinets into the garage, so now I have extra storage space in there,” said Tim.

The end result, finished by late winter, continues to thrill the Harlows and their many house guests.

“The ideas Bryan came up with proved to be successful solutions that I wouldn’t have thought of in a million years, which says a lot about their ingenuity and years of experience,” Tim added. “They were so proud of the completed project, in fact, that they came by and took photos of our home to use in their marketing materials, which my wife said is about the best compliment you could give us.”

The Harlows “had a great vision for their home that came to fruition and then some,” Bryan said. “Now they have a home that will reap long-term dividends in terms of improved practical, usable living space as well as increased resale value.”

Bryan said that Distinctive Remodelers offers partial or whole-house renovation services throughout the suburbs. The firm provides a vast array of remodeling projects, including room build-outs, second-level additions, home theater room installations, basement finishing and kitchen makeovers — with no residential job too large for Distinctive Remodelers to tackle. Plus, all work is backed by a full warranty.

What’s more, Distinctive Remodelers draws on the built-in advantages of being a part of Distinctive Companies — a successful, established area business with 45-plus years of collective experience.

“We’re familiar with these homeowners and what they’re looking for, and we know the territory we cover like the backs of our hands,” said Bryan. “Moreover, we have a highly skilled crew in place that we’ve added to, as well as an unparalleled reputation for outstanding quality and value.”

Distinctive Remodelers boasts a 3,000-square-foot, full-service design studio, making it simple and convenient for remodeling customers to choose their exterior and interior product, finish and material selections. From cabinet pulls and plumbing fixtures to flooring options, door handles, appliances and trim packages, everything is there under one roof. Homeowners can browse through plentiful wall and floor displays, samples and swatches.

Also, Distinctive Remodelers has a skilled architectural design team and computer-aided design (CAD) resources to ensure that the conceptualizing and planning of every home project goes smoothly and efficiently.

“When you enlist our services, you can rely on courteous, knowledgeable professionals — all of whom have been carefully screened — who will treat you and your property with respect,” said Bryan. “You’ll get punctual responses to your questions and requests. And you can count on the highest level of customer service from a project manager specifically assigned to your home who will supervise your job from start to finish.”

To make an appointment for a free estimate, contact Distinctive Remodelers at (708) 479-7700. For more information, visit www.DistinctiveRemodelers.com.