(Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo) THE 41 LUMBER Kitchen & Home Design Center in Iron Mountain features 3,500-square-feet of showroom displays. From left are Carol Quandt, chief operating officer; Ben DeRidder, residential designer; Stephanie Sotka, kitchen and bath designer; Mike Miller, senior residential designer; Hannah Pancheri, kitchen and bath designer; Craig Burkman, manager, Iron Mountain; and Mike Roman, lead residential designer.

IRON MOUNTAIN — Careful consideration should be given to every decision when it comes to home construction or renovating projects.

The team of skilled professionals at 41 Lumber Kitchen & Home Design Center in Iron Mountain can guide homeowners through every step of the process to help them achieve the desired results.

The family-owned Upper Peninsula company officially opened its new showroom in May.

Through interactions at the Quinnesec store, they decided there was a need locally for a kitchen and bath design center.

“We didn’t have the space within the footprints of the store to have this type of showroom,” said Carol Quandt, chief operating officer at 41 Lumber.

They searched for a couple years before purchasing the former Perina’s store at 321 S. Stephenson Ave. in downtown Iron Mountain.

“It was coming back and a lot of people are investing in downtown,” Quandt said. “It felt like the place to be and we wanted to give back to our community.”

Contractors were able to restore the historic structure while leaving some of the history, she added.

The 3,500-square-feet showroom features kitchen and bath displays, as well as other interior spaces, including office, pantry and laundry.

They carry Dura Supreme, Decora, Kemper Choice and Kemper Echo cabinetry, along with a full line of countertops, sinks, fixtures, hardware, flooring and more.

“In design, we have noticed that the biggest benefit of the new center is the convenience of meeting customers — they feel comfortable here,” said lead residential designer Mike Roman, a certified professional building designer, or CPBD. “We have access to products, so instead of showing clients pictures we can show them the actual product.”

Since opening about 10 months ago, the center has been a success, Iron Mountain manager Craig Burkman said.

In addition to Roman, who works from his home, the center has four designers: Hannah Pancheri and Stephanie Sotka for kitchen and bath, and Ben DeRidder and Mike Miller for residential work, such as custom homes and larger remodeling projects.

Designers will first meet with customers at the store to go over their wants and needs for how they want the space to function. Those ideas create the actual construction documents needed to get a loan and building permits for the project.

Designers will produce 3-D plans that allow customers to take a virtual reality tours of the new space.

“To see 3-D pictures is one thing, but when you can put that headset on and everywhere you look it feels scaled proportionally — you will get a feel if it is a comfortable space,” Roman said. “That is a big advantage we have here.”

For more extensive remodeling, team members will meet with the homeowners on site to assess and take measurements. Designers will then go through the same process of entering the information into the 3-D software to redesign the space.

Quandt noted they are also able to design any kitchen or bath to fit any budget.

The timeframe varies depending on the extent of the project. They want to make customers aware and to set reasonable expectations.

“Currently we are still seeing considerable amount of delays in products,” Burkman said. “Available of raw materials is probably the biggest problem, along with labor shortages.”

The team at 41 Lumber is available to customers through the whole process.

“We have the experts who know how to build and solve problems with years of experience to back it up,” Quandt said. “Our goal is to make it a seamless process.”

Building a home represents the greatest financial investment that most people are ever going to make, Roman added. “Few people see how complex of a project it is until is too late — they are knee deep into it.”

He also stressed it’s never too early to visit them. “You don’t want to rush the design phase,” he said.

Roman is currently one of two certified professional building designers in the Upper Peninsula. In the future, they hope to have all three designers certified. He would also like them to be certified in green home building. Another aspect they will focus on is “aging in place” design, which allows people to grow old in a safe and secure home.

At 41 Lumber they are always looking to keep up with the latest technology and what they can offer their customers through design and visualization.

Companies are always changing out their products, so it’s a constant process to keep their designers educated and displays up to date, Burkman noted.

“We have been having talks with the team with building science and how we can more inform our customers and home owners,” Quandt said. “There is a science to home building, recommending the best products for that, and sometimes it will be a slightly larger investment in the product, but end result will outlast the alternative.”

41 Lumber is a full-service building material supply and project design service company.

They were founded in 1925 by Edward A. Hammer and Albert Quandt as Prior Lumber Co., with a single location in Houghton. They have since grown to six retail locations, distribution center and design center and employ 90 people in the Upper Peninsula. They are led by the third and fourth generations of the Quandt family.

The new design center is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. They can be contacted at 906-774-2681.

Terri Castelaz can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 241, or tcastelaz@ironmountaindailynews.com.