Better Remodels Start Before the Build Begins | Erica Kalkofen

Trades and construction projects rarely go wrong because of one big thing. More often, it is the small gaps in communication, process, expectations and trust that create the pressure.

In this episode of Built. Trusted. Chosen., I chat with Erica Kalkofen, a remodel designer based in metro Denver, Colorado. Erica shares how she approaches residential remodels, why her six-step design process helps bring order to complex projects, and what builders, trades and construction leaders can learn from the way designers manage clients, subs, budgets and site realities. We also unpack how to handle mistakes, when ego becomes a red flag, and why the best client relationships are built on relatability, experience and practical communication.

You’ll take away:

• Why remodel projects are “management in three dimensions” 
• How a six-step process can create clarity for clients and trades 
• Why great design starts with how people actually use their space 
• How trust can be strengthened when problems are handled well 
• Why communication and ego are major red flags in collaboration 
• What clients really look for when choosing a designer, builder or contractor 

Guest bio:
Erica Kalkofen is a remodel designer and REALTOR® based in metro Denver, Colorado. Through EK Kitchens + Design, she helps homeowners with kitchen, bathroom and whole-home remodels, combining more than two decades of design, construction and real estate experience with a practical six-step design process.
Guest links:
https://getyourhometoday.com/
https://ekkitchensanddesign.com/

Host bio:
Wes Towers is the founder of Uplift 360 and host of Built. Trusted. Chosen. He helps trades and construction companies be built, trusted and chosen online through high-performing websites and Search Everywhere Optimisation.
https://uplift360.com.au/

Want to be a guest on Built. Trusted. Chosen.? Book here: https://uplift360.com.au/built-trusted-chosen-podcast-guest-booking/

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome to Built Trusted Chosen, the podcast for leaders and marketers in trades and construction, hosted by Wes Towers from Uplift 360.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Okay, hi there, Erica. It's good to have you on the show today, Built Trusted Chosen. If you'd like to just introduce yourself real quick, we'll unpack it, of course, as we go along, but just tell the audience who you are and what you're up to these days.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Well, thank you so much, Wes, for inviting me to participate in your show. I'm super excited to be here and share what I've done over my career with you and your audience. I am a remodeling designer just based west of Denver, Colorado, in the U.S. Um, and we focus on remodeling design uh for residential projects mostly. Um, and we do everything from simple projects all the way up to whole home design.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Yeah, fantastic. So I'm sure the uh audience will get a lot of value out of it. Obviously, our audience is uh trades in construction. So um your interior design flair is something um that I'm I'm sure that they'll uh appreciate. So, what do you see the biggest challenges um with the work that you do um in the construction industries? Um, are there are there certain in uh issues that sort of arise, common problems that arise when you're elaborating and so on?

SPEAKER_01 1:24

You know, that's such a good question. I'm like, do I only get to choose one? Uh and you can go over all of them. But I'm sure it's like most of the general contractors and and people listening, right? It's coordinating the subs. It's what do you do when life throws you a curveball with either one of your subs or your clients? Um, it's it's more of that uh management in three-dimensional um that I mean, I do it and I do it really well, but I would say that's a huge challenge just in keeping the project on track as well as um communicating that to the client.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Yeah, it's always about people, isn't it? They the um communication and obviously the end of the client, they're potentially building their dream home or whatever it is, and they're they're so invested in the in the process. Um, even if it's a commercial building and and people are invested in the what it is. So um, you know, they want it to look and feel right. And um sometimes when there's so many moving pieces in the you know, pe people involved, things can go wrong and and often do, but uh process is is um so important. So I I was really curious for you to unpack. You've got a six-step design process. Is that is that right? I I was really curious how that all works.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Yes, excuse me. Um, so quite a few years ago, I realized that the process that we do, we as you know, interior designers, as general contractors, what have you, really remains the same. However, it's differently applied for each particular project and client. In order to convey what I do and help people understand really truly how simple it is, simple but complex, uh, to go through the whole design process. I did come up with a six-step design process. Uh, steps one and two are like the consultation and the paperwork. Uh, steps three and four are measuring the space and doing some concepts. Five and six are, you know, budgeting, how much do you want to invest? Where do we scale the material selection in order to um achieve the client's uh budgetary goals? And then the final step is ordering all the product and getting it to the job site.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

So yeah, yeah. I love that when creative people like yourself have really solid um uh structures and processes well. So oftentimes with creatives, we can be on a creative as well, a digital agency. So sometimes we can be a little, you know, sporadic, but to have uh solid process, and um, you know, that's uh obviously super important when you're dealing with a large-scale project as well.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Yes, I will I will say that my creative team right now, um, as well as my financial team, um, we're coming up on my 16th anniversary being in business, right? And 22 years overall in the construction industry and trades and design and things like that. And and I was like all like fired up from my team, and I was like, yeah, I have things organized. And then they're like, well, what about this, or what about that, or what about this? And so I appreciate the kudos. Um, and then at the same time, I'm like, oof, I got a lot more to do.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Yeah, it always feels like that, doesn't it? There's always things done well and things to be done and improvements, enhancements, and so on. And to have a solid team, that's fantastic. So, how many people involved in your team did you say?

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Um, so I don't have any employees. Everybody is a subcontractor, but I have three uh financial people and three creative uh marketing people. And um, we had some turnover. We yes, collectively had some turnover at the end of last year. So I feel really um solid and firm in the team who I have who are freaking brilliant. I we had a website rebuild meeting yesterday, and I was like, wait, you're gonna do what? And it was so fun to hear the the creative team just riff on what we could do. And I was like, okay, I'm just gonna sit back here and let you be brilliant on your own.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

So yeah. Well, that's the key to success in anything. If you can, if you can hire people that you trust in certain fields that do, you know they're going to, they're aligned with what you want to achieve, and you know that they understand what you're trying to trying to do so that you can just um delegate tasks and know that the best outcomes will be achieved, and then you can concentrate on the things that you do best.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

You know, that that I'm sorry to interrupt, um, but that it absolutely uh is the essence of what what I do in my firm in order to achieve a successful remodel. You know, we take all the ideas from the client, we download that, we put it into a mood board, um, we then start looking at the site, really looking at the site, you know, from external walls on in, what do they want and pairing that up and then having that client allow me and my team to go and do the work um to achieve their goal? It's the same thing when you really let people uh do the work that they've been called to do, it's amazing what can happen.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Yeah. And so with that creative process, how much of the um design sort of um in uh preferences are uh communicated to you ahead of time or how and how many are sort of giving you a an open, you know, open uh slate to work from?

SPEAKER_01 7:09

Oh, uh so when I go into a home for a design consultation, um, I do not want to see any ideas, I do not want to see any uh other designers who may have come in. I want to literally sit down at the kitchen table with the homeowners and talk about how they use their space, what their storage is like. And then we start brainstorming in real time. Like if we push this wall back or if we slide this appliance over, or if we had a storage cabinet here, how would that improve the work and the flow and things like that? Once we get that basic agreement, then yeah, the clients are absolutely welcome to um inundate my Dropbox uh folder that I share with them with ideas and and things like that. And then we start big and we start narrowing it all down.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Yeah, got it, got it. And so has AI impacted the way in which you work and the creative um flows of how how you do things?

SPEAKER_01 8:12

You know, uh last year I would have said absolutely not. Like we're we're not doing AI. And and then I and then I started uh really investigating what can be done. And I actually love it when clients take a picture of, let's say, their kitchen or their bathroom and you know, put it into whichever preferred AI dialogue you have and say, hey, what could this look like? Because that will actually help my clients' uh mind open to new possibilities. Um, whether they're changing locations of, let's say in the bathroom, maybe we're moving the tub and the vanity, or maybe we're making we're stealing a part of a closet in order to put a water closet in. Um, anything that my clients can do in order to see more possibilities, I'm all over. Um I'm sure most of your listeners can relate to this, but shoot, how many projects do we do per year? Or over the course of our lifetime, right? Um our clients typically only do one, maybe two projects like this in their entire lifetime. So um, so yeah, that's that's how I use AI.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Yeah. Yeah, that's right. So the it the experience that you've got over the many years, you you know what kind of works and and what doesn't. So sometimes it's wading through some of the ideas that people might have that you know just won't work, but communicating what might work as a as an alternative solution. And working with the construction people, the builders, um, how do you find that process? Uh does do you how do how do you connect with them?

SPEAKER_01 10:00

Um make sure everything's aligned.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Yeah. Um, so I tend to operate as a very collaborative uh designer. Um, I don't have all the answers. I might have come up with a plan, and but I really approach projects as here's the plan, here's the materials, let's work together in order to get the project done. So starting with the demo and communicating what needs to be removed, what needs to stay, communicating with the electrician, what we're, you know, where we're going to place uh receptacles and and um appliances coming up, and in really making sure that there's an open line of communication so that we all eventually end up at the same place.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Yeah, for sure. Now it's um it's it's sometimes I was talking to a a guy in construction where things can often be interpreted. So there's thorough plans and um instruction and so on, but sometimes people interpret the intention a little differently. So you can say, um, does that kind of happen a little bit in your world? And how do you go about those adjustments that might have have to occur if something's not quite um that uh I I love how you asked that question.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

That was so precious. Um, but you know, there there are times when I have visited a job site and I'm like, oh, that is an interesting interpretation of the plans, which clearly say this, but let's talk about how you got to, you know, got to where you're at, what you were thinking. Did you run into uh some structural piece? Could you not go through a sill plate for the plumbing or you know, any any number of issues could have impacted that particular trade's uh decision to look at the plans and then choose to do something different? Um, and then we brainstorm it out and we adapt. Uh sometimes I can change the cabinetry, sometimes I can't, but there's always fillers that we can order. Just saying, always, always a career uh a fix to something, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Yeah, you're gonna think on the fly a little bit sometimes and figure out okay, this is what's happened and what's the way forward. Um, so everybody's everybody's happy. Um it's it's part of the um the creative and the and the technical merging that sometimes as well, the the practical and pragmatic. I mean, I remember when mum and dad built a home um and it was architecturally designed, so and the builders working on it, they were saying they were complaining because it was comp more complicated what than what they felt it needed to be. And they were saying, if it was just square, uh it'd just be so much easier for us to build. We've got to finish now, but you've got this curved wall through the house that's causing us, blah, blah, blah. Um, yeah, sometimes you get those arguments, but their outcomes when people understand what what they're what they're working towards. You know, I think they're pretty impressed by the build in their in their finish. It's just that made it more tricky for them in the in the process. Do you see, do you see that sometimes? Um, is there sometimes um uh I guess frustrations or even red flags ahead of time that you think, okay, maybe this isn't a great um client or collaboration or things are uh working. Is it like a gut feel? How do you how do you go about those things? Because not everyone's a good fit collaboratively.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

Oh no, not everybody is a good fit uh collaboratively. I mean, there are there are I'm thinking of several subs that I'm like, nope, not working with that person. Um and and what it really comes down to is are two things, communication and ego, right? Um, and if there's a lack of communication or poor com communication, or if the communication I provide is received rough or gruff or what have you, that's kind of a red flag. Um, and then also ego, like I need to be right all the time. Well, I know I'm not right all the time. Goodness, I learn new things every single day, right? Um, but being in a place to say, wow, thanks for sharing. Let's figure it out. Uh, for instance, a great example are the electrical um changes in how many outlets do you need in an island over the past even five years, right? Before it was 48 inches or more, you needed two outlets on either end. Great, I could plan for that. Well, then it got really complicated, and it was some uh algebra formula that I had to calculate out. And now it's really easy. There's no outlets. And um and in working with the expectations, code, and um and the technical requirements, um, I would just say that those those are two things that that really I'm aware of.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Yeah. All those compliance issues obviously need to be ticked off, but then you've also got the constraints of budget. I'm sure for the most part, people are restrained to some degree with with budget. So they want wanting to to achieve um a certain something, but uh you've got to be smart about how you get as close to that as possible. Um I guess that comes with years of experience and knowing how to create a great outcome with the limitation and constraints.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

So I look at my job not as necessarily design or construction, but it's really hospitality. You know, when you when you really break down your job to think about what work are you really in, it's all about the hospitality of taking care of your clients and your subs so that uh you can anticipate their questions, you can anticipate uh their their um concerns, you can anticipate answering budget questions uh so you're not fumbling or awkward about it. And and yeah, you're right, it's just a lot of years of practice, just a lot of years of practice.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

So Yeah, yeah, just understanding all the different ways in which you can yeah, communicate. It's like it's kind of like a a life coaching sort of scenario.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

So that's super funny because I I when working with uh let's say a couple, right? Usually one person can see the final design like straight away, they got it. And the other person's like, I don't know what you're talking about. One person can totally see the budget, the other person's like, I don't know what you're talking about, right? So I often say that I don't do remodeling, I do marriage counseling, and I happen to use remodeling as the method to do the counseling.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Yeah, yeah. I could say that it certainly uh yeah, that that's often the way it seems seems partners are often uh quite the polar opposites of each other, which is good. That's what attracts people to other people, but the you know, the uh the tension in that as well, not uh, you know, someone's just wanting uh a square box and someone else is wanting something quite beautiful. So um, you know, it's uh it's interesting. And so building the trust, so the people thing, so this shows you know, built trusted chosen. We we like to speak about trust. So that trust in the the human experience and that um building that um uh understanding so so powerful. What what um what things can erode trust in your industry? Um do you think that that sometimes it goes horribly wrong?

SPEAKER_01 17:33

Um people not doing what they say they're going to do. Um I was on a huge project that I was managing. Um we got three quarters of the way through, and I was just cleaning up paperwork, you know, insurance and uh, you know, copies of licenses and everything like that. And I found out my electricians were not licensed. Whoops! And yeah, and I was like, oh my god. And um, and that really had the potential to erode that trust. However, the way I approached it, the way I dealt with it, the way I communicated it to the client, the solution I came up with, as well as to firmly, you know, file a complaint. Um, our electricians are uh licensed by state in the US. I'm I'm not sure how it is with where you are, um, but then filed a complaint with them. Um, you know, like like it was really how uh the the professionalism behind it and crossing your T's and dotting your I's. Um but yeah, that that was a shocker, just saying.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

So Yeah, yeah, I can imagine. And so that and that's just the nature of doing anything, building anything, creating anything. Sometimes things just go wrong that you just don't foresee. But the the way in which you deal with those challenging times, even though things are a bit rocky at the moment going through those horrible times, sometimes um when you come out the other side and you've dealt with it in a positive way, but it just builds more more um reputation and trust because they know stuck at it and found a solution. I think that's that's so powerful. Uh we as humans make mistakes and sometimes it's the way in which we uh correct course that makes all the difference in that trust.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

I would I would definitely agree with that.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Yeah. And so you mentioned you're you're working with your marketing team at the moment. So you are you sort of reshifting anything or just um solidifying what you're already doing?

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Um uh so my um so we're in the middle of a complete uh website rebuild um to align the messaging with um where I want to go for this year, um, as well as build my company um here in the Denver metro area. Uh prior to me living in the city, if you will, um I was up in the mountains of Winter Park, uh Colorado, where Winter Park Ski Resort is. And I was up there for about 18 years. Um, and now I am just really figuring out that ideal client for me, um, changing a little bit of the messaging. And so we should have a new website launched, I'm thinking by the end of March, uh, based on their timelines that they gave me yesterday, uh, which will be so exciting. We've got some really fun lead magnets and like measuring guides and love your home guides that um that it will definitely keep your listeners um uh attuned to.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Yeah. Now that's really interesting. So changing locations, because uh typically for trades, construction, um, interior design, it's you you have a local network and and market and so on. So building that all out uh again with other um other people, you know, you've you've done it before, so you know what you're doing. So we're just establishing it all that again. It's kind of fun, I suppose, uh, because you you can set out in in a new path, knowing a whole bunch of of things that you you might have done slightly differently the first time you kind of started. So almost starting again to some degree. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

I I would definitely agree with that. You know, I've uh when when anybody starts a business, at the bottom line, they have no idea what they're doing, right? They may know their trade exceptionally well, right? But you don't know the ins and outs and the and the whatevers and the the the I don't know, everything from the anxiety to the uh celebration to the fear to whatever. This time, and and you're absolutely right, you know, uh we, I am really looking at, you know, who do I serve exceptionally well? Um, who what kind of projects do I really enjoy doing? Um, and that first one, you know, I really work with homes up to about a $2 million value. And it's usually a whole home remodel. And we are diving in and evaluating the flow. How does it match your client's lifestyle? And then, you know, some of those older homes, you know, 15 years at the minimum is typically where we start remodeling, which I'm like, wait a minute, that was at the beginning of my career. That's crazy. It is starting the business again, but I I can I know my craft, I knew who I serve, and it's making that website now um align with those two things.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Yeah. It's so important. And there's always um adjustments. I've I I've found every year I've slightly tweaked and adjusted the path. You know, you sort of kind of have an end goal in mind, but new opportunities arise and you find uh things that you're really enjoying, so you pursue them a little more and things that you you don't sort of fit well with you, so you sort of leave them behind. It's always a matter of um, you know, adjusting, correcting course, making improvements, enhancements. I I love that in in business. There's always something new on the horizon. What do you think the big trends might be in interior design? I mean, tech, we we touched on AI before, but it it feels as though every industry is evolving and changing and um sometimes threatened by AI, but sometimes technology can improve and enhance things as well. Do you think the trends are moving?

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Um, so what I'm seeing for trends in in the interior space, um, whole home connectivity is an absolute must anymore. Um, I work a lot with second homeowners or um or vacation homeowners, and they want to be able to know that if there's a water leak underneath a sink or a vanity, they want to know um where their temperature is at their house. Uh this one of the last clients I worked with, they wanted to be able to set their temperature in their home before they got there. Um, so really keeping tabs on their home when the property managers are becoming fewer and farther between so that owners have that control. Um, I have a friend of mine who travels quite extensively, and he can absolutely control his whole home from anywhere in the world, which I'm like, that's really cool and that's really creepy at the same time. Um the other trend I'm really seeing in interior design is more of a trend towards um softer goods, um, uh a more lived-in experience, uh, not necessarily the white shaker doors and the super modern countertops anymore. Um, people want to feel comfortable and cozy and warm in their home. And so there might be a room that's a deeper accent color. Um yeah, I'm seeing a lot of natural fibers, I'm seeing a lot of um just pretty lighting and displays. And um, you know, if it is a clean line with a cabinet, well then maybe we're looking at white oak or um uh or even some of the the really pretty laminates that are out there um instead of all the super fancy or the super modern.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

Yeah, yeah. It's interesting with uh you mentioned the tech piece. Uh I was talking to someone who runs Airbnbs and and sets them up and manages them and a whole bunch of stuff. I hope to get them on the show because they were really interesting. But they were talking about some of the sensors and so on that people are um having in their homes, uh not cameras and so on, but um heat detectors, so they can tell if someone's heat blaring whilst you know the home when they move it, you know, leave the premises or the the water detectors. So if someone's left a tap on and there's a flood and no one's in property for a a length of time. So pretty clever the way they're doing it. But then also the the the the the design and the you know, because Airbnbs and BBs in general probably are taken care of as well as um you know, your own home. So um creating it so it looks beautiful but is pretty robust and can um and can withstand uh a little bit of abuse.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

I think uh designing with the intended user um is so important. And I suppose when you're designing you've got to consider like the homes, but also if people have young kids, I I suppose that's a thing, you know. They're um they're uh you you need things designed fit for purpose, everyone's unique circumstances um play into it. Yeah, yeah, really interesting. The um this is we've covered a lot. So with the chosen piece, what do you think it is that um a client looks at, a potential client looks at when they're choosing an interior designer?

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Uh one thing I think is really important is um relatability. Um, you know, there's there's general contractors across the spectrum, there's interior designers across the spectrum. And um I the clients I get um or that I earn, um, I'm very relatable. Um I I, you know, talk the talk, I do the things I think I'm going to do. Uh I'm pretty down to earth as far as uh reality versus their investment they want to make. And I think that has a huge part, um, no matter if it's me or or a different designer, but if you can relate to that person and that person can actually achieve your goals, uh that is super key. Um, the second thing would be do you actually have the experience to do what you say you're going to do? Um I I I now I do. I it's always a challenge. Um, but uh uh yeah, I think those two things uh by far. And then also looking at the the designer's uh portfolio to see if their design style, if their attention to detail really matches your end goal um as a client. So though those would be the three things that I would say.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

Yeah, absolutely. I've got a I've got a few clients. We we're a digital agency, so we design the websites and so on for for clients. And a couple of the builders I've noticed, they um they promote uh their collaboration partner in the interior design world in their website. And it's it's such a powerful move if you can, as a builder, if you can have someone in your corner from the interior design um perspective, because I mean that's the the beauty of the the finished product, those finishing touches make make or break um successful, successful home and build. So uh those part those companies who have found ways to collaborate with someone in their region, such a powerful, such a powerful move. I think everyone should, if you're a if you're a home builder, residential or um a remodeler, you know, um extensions, all those sorts of things. Uh I think everyone should have someone like you as a partner um to um to uh you know improve what they're doing. The end product is a far better product when you do it that way.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

I think it definitely improves the product. Um in and and it also depends upon the location. So I am working with a general contractor who's based in a different state and building homes uh up in the mountains where I used to live. And there's a slight disconnect which we're we're um uh between design expectations and what clients are looking for. And so it's becoming a really fun learning experience and teaching, um, and also just elevating that final product with all those attention to details.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

Yeah. Yeah, that's it. It's um it's so much easier if you're familiar with the region and the area. Um and you face to face and go and see the space. Um, that's all important. It's been a fantastic conversation. Is there I always like to ask, is there a question I missed that I should have asked you and what would the answer be to that question?

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Oh my gosh, there's so many things. I've only had a chance to chat with you for about 15 or 20 minutes here. Um, you know, I think if I think the biggest thing to bring to a project, either as a trade to the client or from the client to the trade, is to have a little bit of humor. Um, not like I'm making fun of you, but just humor. Like when you open up a wall, you're like, wow, we can't actually move that. Great, let's go back to the drawing board. Or um, you know, really understanding what you're seeing. And um, again, not not being having too much brevity, but just um understanding what you're seeing and committing that in such a way to the uh to the client. Uh a quick story on that. I had a listing. Um, I'm also a licensed real estate agent in Colorado, and I had a listing a couple years ago. They had a water main break in the lower level. And by the time I got there, about 20 minutes later, the whole lower level is just destroyed and there is like water all over. Um, and uh, you know, we called the we called the reconstruction crew, we got the water shop, we did all the all the normal things, and I'm talking with the client. I'm like, well, you really did want to upgrade the lower level before we sold it anyway, right? And he's like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Yeah, you can just gonna laugh at those circumstances, and it's it's totally outside of anyone's control. Things happen. Gotta get part of way through. Uh fantastic conversation. How do people find out, particularly obviously in your region, how do people find out more about what you're up to?

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Absolutely. The easiest way is to go to our to my website, which is getyourhometoday.com. Um, and then I'm on Facebook under my company name, which is EK Kitchens and Design. We're also working on some changes there. Uh, but literally just getyourhometoday.com. Super easy.

SPEAKER_00 32:39

Yeah. Love that domain name. So yeah, we'll put those that in the show notes and your link as well to Facebook and so on. So fantastic. Thanks so much, Erica. Uh good to have you on the show.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

Thank you so much, Wes. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 32:55

Thanks for listening to Built, Trusted, Chosen. Brought to you by Uplift360. Visit Uplift360.com.au.