**Pictures to be updated next month Aug 2024 after our renovation fully wraps up**…read more
For months, my sister and I were daunted by the thought of renovating our Cobble Hill, Brooklyn condo. One weekend, we visited various tile and fixture stores near our childhood hometown in NJ, scraping for motivation and inspiration. We walked into Alba Kitchen and Bath in East Hanover on a whim and were warmly greeted by Serenay. This one serendipitous meeting gave us the comfort and confidence to jumpstart our entire project! We are so grateful to Serenay and the whole team at Alba for our beautiful new kitchen!
Here are 3 reasons why working with Alba has been a wonderful experience and why I wholeheartedly recommend them.
1. Seasoned Kitchen Design Experts:
Serenay accounted for every inch of available space in our kitchen and produced multiple renderings (see pictures 3 and 4) showcasing different design configurations. For example, we have an awkward wooden beam which previously left a gap between the upper cabinets. She commissioned custom shallow cabinets, and turned both the top and bottom into usable cabinet space!!
She also advised us on how we could maximize space inside our cabinets, such as getting rid of the lazy susan we originally had in our old corner cabinet. The renderings were super helpful in visualizing what the kitchen would look like. Our appliances also fit perfectly back in during reinstallation.
Serenay was also able to take the "inspiration" picture I sent her (see picture 5 - this is from Brittany Marom's 61 Rivington project) and turned it into reality. We chose thin shaker (Luna collection) Fabuwood upper cabinets in White Dove, lower cabinets in Kona, and Maharaja quartzite stone backsplash and counters. Maharaja quartzite is actually the stone we saw in the showroom kitchen countertop. We fell in love with the horizontal striations and after quite a bit of sleuthing, Serenay helped us track down its origin.
2. Clear Communication: Serenay was very direct and clear about what was included in scope (e.g., we would need to hire someone else to remove and reinstall appliances given their COI scope in NYC). She always answered our questions instead of dodging them using vague terms (we noticed a lot of contractors we spoke to, instead of getting into details, would just say things like "It will be great. It will look really nice" whereas Serenay would actually tell us *why* it would look great, *why* we might want to go with Fabuwood instead of other cabinet manufacturers, etc). Scheduling the measurements; cabinet delivery; cabinet installation; countertop installation; and followups were also a breeze. At our request, she also connected us with the stone yard so we could inspect a sample slab, and to meet the stone fabricator so we could preview where they were planning to make the cuts.
3. Fair and All-Inclusive Pricing: I googled Alba beforehand and was reassured by several blog posts/reviews that they get the best pricing on Fabuwood cabinets in NJ. From the start, Alba's quote also included the cost of materials and installation for both the cabinets and countertops, and it was very fair, especially for NYC. We were considering just refinishing our 2002-era cabinets to save money. Working with Alba allowed us to get brand new cabinets with all the bells and whistles, like soft-close and pull-out utensil cabinets. Throughout this process, my sister and I felt so lucky that Alba is willing to do projects in NYC and not only NJ.
Since we are still mid-project with other renovations, I don't have the best pictures yet of the finished product. I will update this review with closeup pictures once we clear all the construction materials away. But in the meantime, do not hesitate to choose Alba and especially the wonderful Serenay. THANK YOU Alba Kitchen and Bath!!