Any Emerson owners out there?

[Mari&Rob]

Hey,

My husband and I bought an Emerson elv B in phase 4. We are closing April 28, 2010. We absolutely love the floor plan of the emerson and can hardly wait to move in!!

[Porter Nines]

We bought an Emerson B - we close in three weeks! It's been a long road, but it's definitely going to be worth it when it's over. I can't wait! Are you guys doing any upgrades?

We got the all maple staircase, 9 ft ceilings on the second floor, faux transom's over all of the doors on the main floor, glass shower in ensuite, upgraded tile on main level to name a few!

Have fun!

[Mari&Rob]

Hey! Wow, 3 weeks to go, that is awsome! We are defitnitely doing some upgrades. We are getting 9' ceilings on second floor, bath oasis, oak stair case, extra windows in kitchen, whirlpool jets in ensuite, a bunch of kitchen cabinet upgrades too.

[Porter Nines]

Mari &Rob,

Just a word of advice - we just got our kitchen cupboards in yesterday and when we went to see the house we noticed that the kitchen looks TINY! It looks far smaller than the kitchen in the model. The model kitchen is deceiving because the fridge in there is done with the same paneling as the cupboards which gives the illusion of a lot more cupboard space than there actually is. We deleted some upper cabinets and got the extra windows and wow - is there ever hardly any cabinet space.

I'm now absolutely kicking myself for not going with the chef's kitchen. Now we have a gorgeous big house, with what looks like a teeny, tiny kitchen. Just be aware - if you can afford the extra cash for the chef's kitchen it may be worth it!

[Mari&Rob]

Oh wow, I never thought about the paneling on the fridge in the model. Now that I think about it, it does give the illusion of more cabinets. I really like having the extra windows in the kitchen. They bring in so much extra light. We will be doing the chef's desk with uppers. Did you guys pick that upgrade? We are thinking this will help with the lack of upper cabinets. We have our structural on May 20th, and I really want ot make sure we have selected the right kitchen upgrade. Is your house locked in Mill Pond? I would love to take a peak and see your kitchen cabinets look like.

Thanx,

Marianne

[Porter Nines]

Hey Marianne,

We are 99 Porter (lot 103)- you can certainly go by and take a look. The stairs may still be a bit fresh though (if you plan to go soon) so just be aware of that - the stain looks great! You will be happy that you went with teh wood stairs! If it's locked you can normally get in through the garage.

If you're doing teh chef's desk you will probably be okay. Funny....I am scrambling around now calling Aya to see if they can quote me on the chef's desk with uppers after closing because now I need more cabinets!!!

[K.C.]

You should post the picture of your kitchen Nicola. Watch everybody gasp when they see how few upper cupboards they gave you. What were they thinking?

[Porter Nines]

Here's the pics....to be fair, we DID know that we would be eliminating upper cupboards, but I guess it was hard to picture what it was going to look like without them. Now we know and unfortunately too late.

[K.C.]

Is that opening right next to the fridge the walk-in pantry? It looks like it might be very large inside. That should help.

I love the extra windows.

[Porter Nines]

Nope! ha haha - that is the doorway that leads to the garage. There is a closet there, but no pantry. The pantry is the door that you see that is closed right across from the "peninsula". It's decent to have the walk in pantry because there is quite a bit of space in there. Now all of the cupboard space that we would have taken up with canned foods, dog food, cereal, baking stuff etc. can be in there.

I just talked to my hubby about the idea of getting the chef's desk with uppers after close and he seemed to be okay with it. I think he's just as dissapointed with the kitchen as I am - that says a lot!

[Mari&Rob]

Ya, there definitely is a lack of upper cabinets, but I love all the light the extra windows bring in. The walk-in pantry definitely makes up for the lack of cupboard space. Instead of doing the chefs desk & uppers, we will put a big wall pantry in that space. I love the one that is in the Bellingham, and is has a little servery counter in the middle of the pantry. I think that will make up for the lack of upper cabinets. We will bring in Aya after soon after closing to do the wall pantry.

I would be ok with not doing the extra windows now, but my husband really wants them. I am going to show him the pictures when he home. Maybe he will change his mind.

What series & name cabinets are those? I love light kitchens. :)

Thanx for all your help,

Marianne.

[Mari&Rob]

let me know the price you get from Aya on the chefs desk with uppers. I have not called them yet.

[Porter Nines]

I believe the door style is "Windsor" and the colour is "Mushroom". I believe it's a series 6.

I'll have to go and check out the Bellingham's wall pantry. I might stop in tonight and take some pics as well as stop into the good ole' emerson because I SWEAR our kitchen is smaller than the model!

Wish me luck!

[Porter Nines]

let me know the price you get from Aya on the chefs desk with uppers. I have not called them yet.
I'll let you know what they say. I know that Mattamy was going to charge us $4900 for our door style....hopefully Aya comes in less.

[Mari&Rob]

good luck tonight! My husband and I may go to the model home tonight too. Maybe check out your place in mill pond as well. For a 2700 sqft house the kitchen does seem on the small side. The model home seemed quite big, but there are alot of extras in that kitchen.

Marianne.

[Porter Nines]

Honestly....if you're not planning on doing a huge upgrade to the door style then I would do the chef's kitchen. I think the chefs kitchen looks much, much bigger. The only problem is if you ARE planning on doing an upgraded door style then it gets pricey because there are soooo many cupboards that you have to upgrade. Yeah - super small kitchen for such a big house - seems odd and the model def. looked bigger. Either they extended the peninsula out toward the eat in area more so the kitchen area actually IS bigger or they did a lot of trickery like the panelled fridge to give the illusion of more space.

Maybe I'll see you at the model :)

Nicola

[Porter Nines]

SO, I went to the model home tonight and the area in the middle of the kitchen measures 7.25 feet across.....the kitchen in our house measures 6.25 feet. So, the kitchen in the model is bigger, and man does that extra foot make a lot of difference! I'm a little irritated because I just assumed that the drawings I was given for my emerson matched the model Emerson....was that wrong of me to do?!?!?! I feel as if it's false advertising on Mattamy's part. They have a model home that you tour and buy your home based on that and they make their kitchen bigger. I understand that they dress it up with nice extras etc to make it look better.....but to make a whole room bigger???

Sheesh!

[K.C.]

They would actually increase their sales if they spent a little more time with customers explaining all the possibilities instead of rushing you through your appointments and giving ridiculous pricing on upgraded door styles and finishes. Much of the detailed information I got was from Aya directly because the design center back then didn't even have most of the door styles in stock. If it wasn't for this message board I wouldn't have found out about the availability of the cocoa maple cabinets which are the best included ones. Once they became available I changed many other upgrades in the house because the finish makes such a difference. I went to Aya in Vaughn to borrow a sample door while I was choosing because the design center never had it available to look at.

They get mad if people get pricing from Aya but they won't take the time to explain all the possibilities to you. They don't seem to want you to have the kitchen you love. They want to sell you the kitchen that makes them the most money for the least amount of time spent. Smart customers are going to go to the Aya showrooms and realize that the upgraded finishes probably can't justify what Mattamy wants to charge. Aya has some really cool products ... too bad Mattamy doesn't want to tell you all about them.

[Joanne]

I'm now absolutely kicking myself for not going with the chef's kitchen. Now we have a gorgeous big house, with what looks like a teeny, tiny kitchen. Just be aware - if you can afford the extra cash for the chef's kitchen it may be worth it!

Friends of mine bought the emerson, granted they did not order the extra windows but they have the large crown moulding and I think that may add to
illusion of a larger kitchen, so maybe considering that post close would help. Just my two cents :D

[Mari&Rob]

Proter, I went to the model homes tonight and walked throught your house under construction. That makes me really mad if Mattamy has made the model kitchen larger and not told their customers. According to our floor plan from Mattamy, that area should be around 7 ft wide.

I agree your Kitchen looks much smaller with the extra windows added, but I think you have such a great view that the windows are really nice. They bring in so mcuh extra light. I was in the model home and closed both the shutters of the extra windows and the kitchen was quite a bit darker. If you do the chefs desk or pantry it will make up for the lack of cupboards and the kitchen will be complete.

My husband and I are going to Aya on Saturday to see what design we can come up with for the chef's desk area. We will let you know what we find out.

Sorry for all you frustration with Mattamy, I really hope they have not tricked people with the size of the emerson kitchen.

[Porter Nines]

Friends of mine bought the emerson, granted they did not order the extra windows but they have the large crown moulding and I think that may add to
illusion of a larger kitchen, so maybe considering that post close would help. Just my two cents :D

Hey Joanne, we are actually going to do the large crown moulding post close as well as the flush valence. Aya is coming out two days after we close to give us a quote. Now we are also going to have them quote us on the Chef's desk with uppers as we've decided it's definitely needed.

[Mari&Rob]

Hi Porter,

Congratulations on moving into your new home! How did the move go? How do you like your new home?

Just wondering if you have had Aya come in yet to quote you on the chef's desk with uppers? If so, can u let me know the price they quote you? They won't quote us on any price until we close, and that is next year!!! :)

How are u finding the storage in your kitchen with the upper cabinets & pantry?

We have our colour appointment in 2 weeks, and I am pretty excited about picking the rest of our upgrades for the house.

take care,

mariannne

[K.C.]

Boy they really make a killing on the valence. If I'd known how cheap it was I would've just got the under cabinet lighting through Mattamy and got the valence later. Considering they screwed up the valence and it had to be redone, there was no convenience factor. Matching the stain doesn't appear to be an issue at all even with the darker stains. Looks like the markup on valence is about 600%!

[sunnyboy]

Does anyone have any pictures from the Emerson Model home. We are looking for the pantry door or the study room door they had in the model home.