“We are starting our third project with Sun Design, and the reason we keep coming back is very simple – trust. From the very beginning of the design process up through the final walk-through, Sun lives up to their reputation as a firm that stands behind their word and delivers on their promise to make us a priority until every last item is finished. Our designer, Katie Coram, has been with us on all three projects and her gift is the ability to listen to what inspires us and take design elements from pictures and samples and bring them together into a vision that fits our space and our budget. Her knowledge of the universe of design elements available is incredibly deep, and she has a knack for delivering a luxe look for a less than luxe price tag. Katie continually comes up with designs that are exactly what I wanted, only better.”
– Holly Piper, Client
“Holly is a young mom. She’s an excellent decision maker and is very transparent about her opinions on things so that we know if it’s not for her, we move along. I would describe walking into Holly’s house like walking into a Kate Spade store. She is not afraid of color or mixing metals or styles, and she does it in the most tasteful way. It’s hard to tell that she even has young children living in her house. Her eclectic sense of classic and contemporary, blended with a deep appreciation for her Kentucky roots, fills my heart with gladness every time I’m in her home.”
– Katie Coram, Lead Designer
Katie has worked on three projects with Holly and her husband Billy over the last three years. They have trusted Sun Design with all their upstairs bathrooms, and now their basement. Holly was one of Katie’s first clients, who worked as a specialty designer with an architect on Holly’s master bath to pick out finishes. Katie had such a great time selecting various colors and products with Holly. Holly was adventurous with her selections, and Katie was instantly drawn to her as a client.
The excitement on the first project was sullied by a less-than-positive experience when the design was priced and came in over budget. Being in the design-build industry for nearly 30 years, having a process to identify and solve problems that arise, quickly, has become essential.
Sun Design called a “yellow flag” meeting to pull the whole team together to see how the plans could be value engineered, to get the clients what they wanted within budget. After many hours of brainstorming, multiple solutions were identified and the plans were slightly altered to include more cost-efficient cabinetry and similar tiling that was more affordable to the design. Time and time again Sun Design has found it’s the way issues are handled, when they do arise, that really instills that trust.
The Pipers called Sun Design exactly a year later to do their sons’ bathroom and the guest bathroom. Katie had been promoted to lead designer and was excited to grow into this new position with the Pipers. Katie redesigned both bathrooms and worked with a new specialty designer on the selections. The finishes selected were innovative, fun, and most unique. This time the design came right within budget on the first try, and had no problems going to the building contract.
Since the 2nd project was so seamless, Holly reached out to Katie a few months later stating that she was thinking about redesigning her basement. Again, exactly a year after completion of her 2nd project, the Pipers were ready to start on the basement. This is a much bigger project than the bathrooms.
The walls are being torn down and the layout is completely changing, with a lot of really cool architectural details. We are adding a Theater room with built-in cabinetry and a textured Soelberg feature wall, using Stikwood in the surrounding niches. The wet bar will have a live-edge walnut top and two-zone bar refrigerator to accommodate juice and soda for the kids, as well as wine for the adults.
We also worked around the existing structural poles to create a really cool seating area in the middle that connects the theater room and the bar, and made the best out of standard basement dropped ceilings by creating a series of tray ceilings for visual interest.
Trust built this relationship and is the foundation for reinventing this family’s home that will create lasting memories for many years to come.
About the writer:
Katie joined Sun Design in 2014, bringing over a decade of experience in the Interior Design industry. She is accomplished at recognizing her client’s vision, and prides herself in her ability to deliver innovative, creative design solutions. Read more about Katie and our design team here.
