Wondering where to start in your renovation? Wonder no more. I recently discovered one of the coolest companies I’ve come across in awhile(spoiler alert: it's Renovation Angel). I highly recommend you put this luxury kitchen and bath retailer on your shortlist for consideration in your next project.
The discovery...
Since starting The Home Green, I’ve had so many strange coincidences that I’m starting to believe in fate.
About a month ago, I came across an article in House Beautiful about a gorgeous kitchen that was renovated with the help of the Used Kitchen Exchange. My excitement was sadly short-lived, though, when I learned that this kitchen reseller is UK based and does not operate in my neck of the woods.
I posted this on social media minutes shortly after:
About 2 weeks later, I was listening to a Chairish podcast that highlighted Renovation Angel – a luxury kitchen and bath reseller right here in the US!
I’m tempted to believe that the universe is telling me it’s time for a luxury kitchen and bath renovation. What's more likely, however, is that it's telling me to use my platform to spread the word about this great business.
Renovation Angel: the best, first stop for luxury kitchen and bath remodeling
After checking out RenovationAngel.com, I had to know more. Luckily, founder Steve Feldman was kind enough to grant me an interview and share the inspiration behind this innovative brand.
I learned it's not uncommon for wealthy individuals to purchase a home with designs that simply aren’t their taste. Before Renovation Angel, this almost surely meant that these beautiful, expensive, and oftentimes cumbersome items ended up in a landfill.
That was the exact scenario Steve came across in 2001 while looking to move his rock and roll career in a new direction. He learned that a former Rockefeller Estate nearby was being renovated with no plan for the superfluous furniture and fixtures. With that discovery, a business was born. Steve rescued the fixtures and founded Green Demolitions, a business focused on “whole house recycling” and evolved into Renovation Angel.
Renovation Angel in the early years
The Rockefeller Mansion that started it all!
Addressing a need in the renovation market
Renovation Angel has filled a void in the renovation market and addressed two very important needs:
- Helping Sellers of luxury kitchen and bath items. They provide white-glove pick-up, the paperwork for a tax write-off, and smooth facilitation of the entire process.
- Helping Buyers. They enable homeowners, contractors, and house renovators to find beautiful kitchen and bath designs at significantly discounted prices.
A further benefit for buyers: they often sell kitchens with their appliances and original granite for no extra charge. While the company cannot guarantee that the granite will always survive transit unscathed, they do everything they can to enable its reuse, if possible.
The business has expanded beyond saving luxury kitchen and bath items in homes and also works with manufacturers and retailers. Now open-box and showroom kitchens now get a second life, as well.
All of Renovation Angel’s current inventory can be viewed online or in their Luxury Outlet in New Jersey. In addition, they handle donations and deliveries across the country.
The impact
The result of this endeavor is a significant amount of diverted waste from landfills and tremendous resources saved in the kitchen renovation process.
Renovation Angel can claim among their achievements:
- 8,100 kitchens recycled or repurposed
- 52 million pounds of waste saved from landfills
- $29 million in new jobs created
How does refurbishing a kitchen work?
If you’re like me, you may have gotten swept away with this fantastic idea but then thought: wait a second, how does this all work? Aren’t kitchens custom-made?
I asked Steve about this and he explained that kitchens are kind of like a modular puzzle: each kitchen is a unique shape made up of a series of relatively standard-sized cabinets. So more often than not, a kitchen can be rearranged to fit its new space.
Another great thing about Renovation Angel is that they receive substantial new inventory each year. This means you have a lot to choose from in finding a kitchen that will work in your home. If that seems too overwhelming, Renovation Angel has a solution for that, too. Join their Bargain Hunters club and they’ll guide you through the process of finding the right kitchen for your home.
Checklist for a kitchen renovation
If you’re not ready to join the Bargain Hunters Club just yet, but want to peruse their selection, Steve recommends that you start by asking yourself three questions:
- Do I love this kitchen? Sometimes people have an idea of what they want but fall in love with something different in the process. Since a kitchen is such an integral part of the modern home, it’s important that you are sure you’ll be happy with this change in plans well into the future.
- Will it fit? The first consideration is the ceiling height. You’ll need to make sure that the kitchen you are buying is designed for the same ceiling height as your home, or lower. Renovation Angel provides extensive information and diagrams to make sure you have everything you need to make this determination. The second recommendation is to purchase a larger kitchen than what you need. This will give you some options when it comes to the installation, and any excess cabinetry can often be used in other places in the house.
- Is it in my budget? A preowned kitchen can save you a tremendous amount of money, but there is still a wide range in price. RenovationAngel.com regularly has kitchens ranging from a few hundred dollars to ones with six figure price tags
Who buys refurbished luxury kitchen and bath products?
What Renovation Angel customers have in common is more of a mindset than an income bracket. Homeowners across all walks of life love that a beautiful home doesn’t have to come at the expense of a beautiful planet. While not everyone is equally comfortable with the resell process, you can lean on the Renovation Angel team and/or a contractor for help. Renovating responsibly is well worth it in the end.
What you really want to see - the luxury kitchen and bath pictures!
Images courtesy of Renovation Angel
If you had any concerns about what a second-hand or open-box kitchen or bathroom might look like in your space, I think these pictures should alleviate any concerns! Renovation Angel has the expertise to help you or your contractor figure out how to make your purchase look like it was made for your home.
The future for Renovation Angel
Renovation Angel has a lot to be proud of. In addition to making a huge dent in renovation waste, they’ve also donated more than $2.3 million to organizations helping with addiction recovery, working with at-risk youth, and charities that assist people dealing with homelessness.
But they’re not resting on their laurels. Steve dreams of a future where Renovation Angel can follow the model of companies like Bombas socks and make a donation for every kitchen sold.
His research estimates that approximately 100,000 luxury kitchens are removed from homes each year. Unfortunately, most of these don’t utilize Renovation Angel to help them responsibly renovate. If all of that luxury could be recycled, Steve feels like he could achieve his goal of donating $1 billion dollars to charitable organizations. Additionally, this would mean creating even more green jobs, and continuing to divert waste that’s inherent in the renovation process.
What can you do?
If you’re an architect, designer, or realtor, and you have a high net-worth client looking to renovate, recommend Renovation Angel for a donation and/or purchase. And if you're considering a renovation yourself, start at RenovationAngel.com!
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