WHEN TALENTED PROFESSIONALS TALK, WE LISTEN.
Admit it, you have an inquiring mind, and you want to know about the team designing your Park City dream home. we understand the inclination. So we decided to bring you Shop Talk, conversations with the talented pros designing, building, and outfitting your homes.
Park City Blind & Design
Clint & Ann Olson, Owners
Park City Blind & Design has been serving clients in Utah for over 25 years. Our team specializes in custom window fashions and motorization. We offer shutters, drapes, shades, and all types of blinds. We also provide custom upholstery, bedding, and pillows. Our Fabric Studio has thousands of designer fabric samples to choose from. Our showroom is a state-of-the-art Hunter Douglas Gallery where customers can view samples of the latest window treatments that are available.
What services do you offer?
Park City Blind & Design is a full-service custom window treatment store. We provide all types of window treatments including blinds, shades, drapes, shutters, awnings, and exterior shades. We also do custom bedding, pillows, and upholstery.
What Geographic area do you serve?
We service Utah and some out-of-state areas as well.
What inspires you?
We are inspired by the talented designers and builders we get to work with on a regular basis.
What other specialties do you have in-house?
We are motorization and automation specialists. Most of the window treatments we offer can be motorized. We work hand-in-hand with builders to pre-wire for motorized window treatments. We also have many products that are battery-operated and work great for existing homes.
Describe your process:
The first thing we do is consult with the homeowner, designer, or builder. We decide together on the best treatment for each window Next, we measure the windows to get a perfect fit. Once the products are all custom-made, we provide professional installation.
“We are inspired by the many talented designers and builders we get to work with on a regular basis.”
–Clint and Ann Olson, Owners
What do you listen to while you work?
Ann loves the podcast “How I Built This”…the host Guy Raz interviews successful business owners about how they got their start. Clint’s favorite is 21 Pilots.
What do you enjoy most about living and working where you do?
We love working and living in Utah because it offers so many great things. The incredible mountains for their beauty and recreation, the four seasons that offer diversity, and the great economy that has helped our business grow.
What is sure to make us laugh?
We are the parents of eight amazing children. But the youngest at four years old is always making us laugh with her witty comments and funny antics.
Favorite place to travel?
We love traveling to Europe. The architecture, the food, and how unique each country is makes it a favorite destination.
You get weak in the knees over_______?
Clint: Classic sports cars
Ann: Beautiful houses
The Closet Butler
Brian Saddler, Co-Owner
For over 30 years, Brian Saddler has dedicated his career to learning about all things storage, organization, and design. His expertise in the custom closet, garage, and storage industry is recognized nationwide. His 30 years of experience designing spaces that not only wow, but also help make life easier lead him to join forces with his brother and open The Closet Butler over 14 years ago. Since then, The Closet Butler has become the largest independent family-owned
closet company in Utah.
What services do you offer?
Beginning with a design consultation, we offer home organiza-tion solutions such as master closets, secondary closets, pantries, home offices, murphy beds, complete garage organization, and more.
What Geographic area do you serve?
The areas we generally serve are Salt Lake, Summit, Davis, Weber, and Cache Counties.
How do you see your field changing in the next five to ten years and what technologies will play a part in that?
This field is constantly changing because design trends are constantly changing. From new and improved material options to more convenient accessories. Part of our expertise includes staying up on these trends, making sure that our clients have access to the best the market has to offer. As for technology, recently we have held more online and no-contact consultations and provide clients with 3D CAD images to help visualize their design. Our website, theclosetbutler.com, will continue to play a crucial role in our client’s experience providing on-trend material and accessory options and, in the future, virtual showroom tours.
Describe your process: how do you work with clients, contractors, and others involved in your project?
We have an industry-recognized certified design team that meets with clients such as builders, interior designers, and homeowners. Once the designer completes the customer’s design, it moves to our CAD department, and they produce a high-quality 3D rendering of that space. This 3D image allows the homeowner to visualize their custom space before we manufacture or install. Upon homeowner approval, the design goes to our state-of-the-art CNC manufacturing facility. A member of our team, not a subcontractor, comes out to install the project according to the approved plans. Then a follow-up is done by our designers to ensure quality and satisfaction. We are an independent locally-owned and-operated family company, so we take pride in each project we do.
Do you have favorite materials to use or a style you prefer or are known for?
Although we have worked with real wood and metal finishes, most of our projects are built out of melamine, from white and wood grain to a high-end textured finish. All products from material to accessories are the highest quality available in the market today including Cleaf, Stevenswood, and Prism.
What makes the difference between a good closet and a great closet?
Design. 30 years in the closet and custom organ-ization industry means that our clients get the benefit of all that experience. Taking the space you have, and making the most of every inch is what we do. The satisfaction of seeing how much our clients love what we do is what keeps us going.
“We provide a product that changes people’s lives for the better. It adds beauty, order, convenience, and value to our client’s living and workspaces. It is the ultimate gift.”
–Brian Saddler, Co-Owner
What do you enjoy most about your work and why?
We provide a product that changes people’s lives for the better. It adds beauty, order, convenience, and value to our clients’ living and work spaces. It alleviates stress and makes people happy! It is the ultimate gift.
How did you get your start here?
The story begins much like most good tales. Boy falls in love with a girl, girl’s father says, “Hey, would you like to start a closet company with me?” Over 27 years, two states, and a lifetime of experience later, Brian has worked his way through every job in the industry to bring him home, working with his brother to make their shared vision come true. That vision? To make The Closet Butler an industry leader, and the premier closet company in Utah. And yes, that girl is still around, cheering him on.
What places in the world do you find the most inspirational and why?
Italy. My grandmother immigrated to Utah from Italy in the early 1900s, so I’ve always had an emotional tie to it. My dad took my mom there last year to see her ancestral home. It was the trip of a lifetime for her. I’d love to travel there and see some of the places and architecture that have shaped world history.
What’s on the top of your list as a great getaway?
Alaska! I love fishing and anything to do with the outdoors. The wild beauty and vastness of Alaska fascinate me. I’ve been there before and would go again in a heartbeat!
What do you enjoy most about living and working where you do?
Again, I love the outdoors, so the beautiful mountains, landscape, and different seasons of Utah is top on my list. I love to hunt, fish, camp, and ATV with my family within minutes of my home. I also love the culture of kindness and service. As I’ve traveled to different areas of the country, others have remarked about the friend-liness of people here. I agree, and it makes me grateful to call it home.
Cosentino
Nick Vargas, Salt Lake City’s, General Manager
Cosentino is the world’s leading producer of quartz. Its signature products include Silestone Quartz, Dekton Ultracompact, and natural stone materials. Western Home Journal sat down with Nick Vargas, the General Manager of Cosentino Salt Lake City, to learn more about the business of custom surfaces.
What services do you offer?
Cosentino manufactures and distributes Silestone Quartz, Dekton Ultracompact, and Natural Stone materials. Our surfaces are used in kitchens, bathrooms, and also a number of architectural solutions including façades, floor coverings, sidings, and remodelings.
What Geographic area do you serve?
Cosentino Salt Lake City services the Utah, Idaho, and Jackson, Wyoming, markets. Cosentino has over 50 distribution warehouses in North America and globally services more than 80 countries.
How do you work with contractors, designers, architects and clients?
At Cosentino, and here in Salt Lake, we closely partner with architects and designers. We provide Continuing Education Courses and product knowledge classes where we discuss case studies. In these meetings, we build relationships and answer questions related to product application and testing. We share information from similar projects or installs to help architects in the planning stages. We have a beautiful showroom and warehouse here in Salt Lake City where designers can come and see products and make selections for their projects. Our team provides hands-on training for fabricators and installers so that they know how to properly cut and install our materials in their various applications.
Do you have favorite products you prefer or work that you are known for?
At Cosentino we are known for our flagship product, Silestone Quartz. Cosentino was the first to develop quartz countertops and it has proven successful in the marketplace for over 25 years. Silestone countertops come in a variety of colors and patterns, with over 70 colors and two textures. Silestone has helped us achieve the design demands for many projects locally as well as all over the world. You can read more about Silestone on their website, silestoneusa.com.
What project are you most excited about right now?
We are working on the Roy Junior High School project right now. This project is exciting to me because it involves numerous applications that have been spec’d for our products, outside of the more typical kitchen and bathroom surfaces. Our materials will go into everything from adhesive wall panels in the hallways, to flooring in the locker rooms, and even whiteboards for the classrooms. It is our largest cut to size Dekton Ultracompact project. It will feature four colors of Dekton and over 40,000 square feet of material. I am looking forward to how this project will show off the diversity of Dekton.
What tricks of the trade have you learned over the years that you’d be willing to share with us?
I don’t know that there are too many tricks to being successful in this industry. In my opinion, it is the basics that win the day. It is great to have the various products and corporate support that we enjoy here at Cosentino, but at the end of the day, it comes down to the people. I encourage my team to focus on the customer and provide exceptional service. We love to have passionate people who are genuinely concerned about their customers. Our goal is to be our clients’ expert resource. They can count on us to answer the phone and respond to their needs.
“I love that I get to be a part of helping people realize their dreams. Countertops are typically the focal point of the kitchen, which is usually the centerpiece of a home.”
–Nick Vargas, General Manager
What do you enjoy most about work?
I love that I get to be a part of helping people realize their dreams. Countertops are typically the focal point of the kitchen, which is usually the centerpiece of a home. The process of selecting countertops is hugely important. We get to work with customers who may be nervous, definitely excited, and sometimes fatigued by all the choices they have to make in the process of building their dream homes. When they finally make the countertop selection, the excitement returns. We often hear feedback from clients who are particularly grateful for our facilities and products that make this part of the process enjoyable again, which returns their focus to realizing their dream space.
What is the most exciting new product or development in your field?
Dekton has to be the most exciting new development in the countertop industry in the last five years. What makes Dekton so unique is its versatility, which is exciting for us because we can offer new services and explore new areas of business as a company. Examples of these new applications using Dekton include doing façade work, both interior and exterior. We have various thicknesses of this product, which allows us to use it for flooring, countertops, wall applications, and furniture. We’re continually finding new ways to use Dekton. The material allows us to achieve unique, beautiful looks in terms of pattern and design, and performs better than natural stone or quartz. To learn more about Dekton, I suggest visiting their site, dekton.com/usa.
What do you enjoy most about living and working where you do?
Salt Lake is a great place to live and work. I have been fortunate to live in many places in this country, so I really appreciate how Salt Lake City has a great mix of everything that you could need or want. It has great cultural activities, outdoor recreational activities, and a great sense of community.
