Grand Opening St. Paul – Design Selection Studio

Castle Building & Remodeling is proud to announce the Grand Opening of its new Design Selection Studio at 362 Snelling Avenue South in St. Paul. A Grand Opening Celebration is scheduled for Saturday, April 4th, from 10am to 5pm. Appetizers from Blondie’s Café and wine from The Wine Thief will be served.

Castle understands the value of local neighborhood service and has been serving residents of both Minneapolis & St. Paul for over 30 years. A second location was a natural fit for Castle, which strategically chose a location at Snelling and Jefferson in the center of the western half of St. Paul. This location will add convenience to the design process for our clients in St. Paul and make managing projects easier for the Castle team. Castle is extremely excited to have its second home in St. Paul and looks forward to getting involved in the community.

The new Design Studio will be staffed by Katie Jaydan, ASID. Katie holds a BS in Interior Design. She has three years of commercial property management, construction, and renovation experience and has worked in the residential remodeling field for five years. She also possesses an NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification) Certificate and is a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers. With Castle, Katie has become a member of the NARI Green Remodeling Task Group, designed the first GreenStar Pilot Program Certified Remodel in Minnesota, and was voted as one of the top eco-friendly Interior Designers by Innovative Home Magazine.

Projects in St. Paul will be managed by Bill Braniff. Bill brings to Castle over fifteen years of experience in the construction industry as a framing carpenter, lead remodeling carpenter, and in various roles of construction management. His previous experience as a high school English teacher proves invaluable on a daily basis, both in project management and in communication with clients and trade partners. Bill enjoys keeping up with his two young children, hiking and camping when there is time, and a variety of woodworking projects.

Castle’s headquarters at 2600 Johnson Street NE in Minneapolis will continue to boast a Design Studio, offering both St. Paul and Minneapolis clients the convenience of a local showroom and local service.

Search for Good – Support Rebuilding Together

I have a favor to ask of everyone who uses a search engine to find things on the web…. Please consider using Goodsearch.com. (It’s actually powered by Yahoo)

When you first sign up, please designate Rebuilding Together Twin Cities as your charity. Then, every time you do a search using their search engine, they donate a penny to us. May not seem like much but if we all send it on to folks in our address books, and they send it on it adds up… (1,000 people doing approx. 25 searches a week for a year – adds up to $13,000).

Here’s the link to Goodsearch. http://www.goodsearch.com/

Thank you VERY much!

Kathy Greiner
———-
Executive Director
Rebuilding Together Twin Cities
www.RebuildingTogether-TwinCities.org

MN Womens Press – Favorite Home Remodeler – Please Vote

Please help us complete a short survey from the Women’s Press to let the world know your favorites in many categories including Castle Building & Remodeling as your favorite Home Remodeler. Click here to complete the survey http://www.womenspress.com/Formlayout.asp?formcall=userform&form=30. We were honored as the favorite Residential Remodeler in 2008 and would like to make it two years in a row.

If you complete the survey and shoot us an email at info@castlebri.com before the January 8th deadline, you could win a $250.00 Castle Gift Certificate as well as a chance to win two luxurious nights at Lutsen Resort including dinner, two breakfasts and champagne or a Blue Sky Guide book from the Women’s Press.

NKBA Garage Sale a Success

Thanks to the NKBA Garage Sale Committee – Tanya Otten, Clark Bidwell, Susan Septer, Linda Sigl, Amy Pfleiger, Linda LaFrenier, Tanya Kula, LeAnne Guyer, and Andrea Kottas. Great job in collecting donations of unused and building materials. I appreciate the event and ability to get rid of mis-ordered and extra materials while helping a good cause.

A better time than ever to remodel – says CNNMoney.com

I know that all you hear when you turn on the TV is bad news but is actually a great time to remodel. Layoffs, declining homes prices, and depleted retirement accounts make it tougher to consider a large investment in your home. The reality is this is the best time to consider a project because: 1) although home prices have come down some they are still way up and equity with low interest rates attached makes financing and monthly payments easier, 2) It is hard to sell now and could take a year or more on the market competing with foreclosures, 3) material and labor prices for projects are coming down significantly versus a couple years ago, 4) remodelers have the time to give each project more attention resulting in a smoother process and better finished project, and lastly my favorite reason 5) you have been thinking about it for years and will end up doing it in a year or two anyway, why not enjoy it. Obviously I am biased as a remodeler so I have a link to a second opinion from CNNMoney.com to back up what I am saying. Here it is read away, take a deep breath, think rationally, turn off the negative hype, and think about starting that project. http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/18/real_estate/renovations_sale.moneymag/index.htm