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Portfolio of Showrooms Photos: Courtesy of Inspiration Design Center The Slab Selection Center, in addition to 15 vignettes and multiple product displays, helps Burnsville, MN-based Inspiration Design Center achieve its plan to be a 'one-stop shop.' he states. "People buy what they see, so aside from the six full kitchens, we show bathrooms, laundry rooms, mud rooms, closets, pantries, etc. Even all of our desks were designed using cabinetry." Kleppinger carries five cabinet lines, including Dutch Made, Crystal Cabinet Works, Shiloh, Mid Continent and Koch. They range from custom high end to standard stock to provide a full ofering of product in every price point. Countertop samples, hardware, sinks and faucets abound in the space. Gay also wanted people to feel comfortable in the space. "Many people have been using their existing kitchen for years, if not decades, and a change in the design means a change in their habits," he explains. "People need to see, touch and experience a new way of doing something to see if it feels right or not. The last thing we want is to design a space for someone and have them not be happy 38 | Kitchen & Bath Design News August 2013 because they didn't know what it would feel like." The final part of the vision involved showcasing how K leppi nger Desig n Group handles the details of a design. "There are many ways to do things – such as install molding and decorative toe kicks, place door and drawer hardware – and we've learned over the years what we think works well," Gay offers. "The showroom displays refect this. That's not to say we can't do whatever the customer wants, but more times than not, they are looking to us for guidance, especially on the details." Visitors to the showroom are encouraged to interact with the spaces. "We want them to explore," Gay reports. "Anything they can experience helps us design their space better." Gay explains that each of the displays is designed and decorated to ft a particular customer in mind, "so it is rare that someone comes in and can't relate to something. Having a large number of displays helps with this, too, because we can show more door styles, more woods and fnishes, more styles and details," he explains. He doesn't really incorporate technology in the showroom. "We believe people want to see, feel, touch," remarks Gay. "It's hard to do that on a computer screen." ONE-STOP SHOP At 13,000 square feet, the Burnsville, MN-based Inspiration Design Center may sound like the site of an allday excursion. However, this self-proclaimed "one-stop shop" devotes a signifcant amount of square footage to its Slab Selection Center – a climate controlled area that houses granite, marble and other exotic stones, as well as Silestone quartz. In addition to the stone area, the open-air, two-story showroom features over 15 vignettes showcasing cabinets from Fieldstone Cabinetry, as well as displays for plumbing products and fxtures. In fact, Inspiration Design Center grew out of its sister company, a plumbing and heating frm. "Originally, as a plumbing showroom, the facility was between 6,000 and 8,000 square feet, and it had plumbing and bathroom vignettes," relates Steve McDonald, general manager for the company. But, as the market changed, the company changed with it. "We started evolving, and got into the kitchen segment and added those features to our showroom," he reports. "We now have kitchen and bath vignettes, as well as the granite selection." The Slab Selection Center includes about 65 granite and stone colors, along with 100 color options of Silestone. "Customers can go into the center and choose their own slab," says McDonald, "and we'll install it. There is no need to go elsewhere." Inspiration Design Center also uses its InVision software when working with clients. InVision allows the company to alter a photo of the customer's current kitchen by adding new options. "Customers can view new countertops, cabinet refacing options, backsplashes, fooring and even wall color, all in their current kitchen," notes McDonald. The company invests in the showroom every year, changing things out on a regular basis. "We're taking out some tubs and replacing them with showers, and we're also currently building an accessible bathroom with a walk-in shower," he remarks. "In the immediate future, we know that accessibility will be big when it comes to design." The company is also focusing on creating some small kitchen vignettes because, as McDonald notes, "kitchens are getting smaller. We are focusing on the efficient use of space in the kitchen, rather than making the kitchen larger. There is so much great storage that we can incorporate into the kitchen, and we want to show people what they can do to make that space more efcient. "We are always examining where we are going and what is happening in the marketplace," McDonald continues. "We have a vision two, three or four years down the road and, while that vision may change on a regular basis, we know it's important to have one."