In early to mid-March as the severity of the crisis started to become clear, the steveworks team decided that the best response to keep our clients, trade colleagues, employees and all of their families safe was to wind down projects. First, we had to make sure our clients and their families had what they needed to be comfortable in their homes for the duration. By March 20 we had completely stopped field operations. It was a scramble leading up to the day as you can see from these pictures!

Temporary counters and sink in this Cambridge kitchen. Many thanks to our plumber, John Galant, who managed to get the job done at the last minute before returning home to his pregnant wife and family.
This kitchen renovation in Cambridge was about 80% complete, but we were afraid we wouldn’t have time to get countertops templated, installed and plumbed. The temporary solution? We reinstalled the homeowner’s original sink and part of the Formica countertop. We installed plywood over the rest of the lower cabinets to serve as a temporary counter. Attractive? Not so much, but it sure is better than the homeowners having to do their dishes in the powder room sink for weeks (or months!) on end.

Meanwhile, in Jamaica Plain, we were almost finished with this kitchen with the exception of the punch list. This family is in good shape for a home quarantine…they may just have to overlook a few details such as the final finish on the floor. We’ll be back to finish up when the stay home order is lifted and they feel comfortable with having us back in their homes.
We also want to be clear that we are still working … just not in any of our clients’ homes. While we’re all at home there’s plenty of design work that needs to be done. Tova just jumped on a Zoom call with clients whose project isn’t slated to begin until early fall. There’s quite a lot of “behind the scenes” work that happens with every remodeling project. We can still work on floor plans, make design decisions and clients can certainly shop from home for fixtures.
I think we can all agree that this is a tough time and we’re all worried about our jobs and the future of our businesses. But staying home is the only responsible thing to do and hopefully there are potential clients out there who are currently dreaming of their new kitchens, additions, mud rooms… We hope to meet them in the months to come! In the meantime, the steveworks team hopes you are all healthy at home.
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