This content was created by Debra Dobbs. This content was uploaded by Debra Dobbs. This is a YouTube video titled "Luxury Custom Homes in Chicago - The Collection by Centaur Interiors" (created 2016-06-26). The excerpt is a multi-speaker presentation/interview featuring three participants labeled SPEAKER A, SPEAKER B, and SPEAKER C—members of Centaur Interiors or their design/renovation team—describing "The Collection," a gut-renovation program that produces turnkey, high-end residential units. They discuss identifying up-and-coming buildings, comprehensive overhauls, custom finishes and cabinetry, moving plumbing and fixtures when needed, solving ceiling/HVAC/sprinkler constraints, and creating distinctive, move-in-ready units that appeal to visual-minded clients.
Chapters
The Collection is a concept where we identify buildings that I believe are up-and-coming or trending up in value. The folks at Centaur come in and do a complete overhaul, usually a gut renovation of the property.
Here we're creating something completely unique for somebody's lifestyle. We're taking properties, I would say, more sought-after buildings, areas, and making them a top-tier residence for a move-in or a turnkey property. We are selling a product instead of a service. Every project we start, everything gets gutted, and you kind of see what you have in a raw space, and you take what you have and you're trying to make a plan of this is what we can do to make this space amazing.
A lot of people will look at something and say, "Oh, well, you're stuck with this," and we'll look at it and say, "How can we make this better?" Where plumbing is located, for instance, where toilets were originally, where we're going to need sprinklers and HVAC in the ceiling, and we're dealing with ceiling height issues, these are all things that, you know, we have to kind of find creative solutions, you know, as a design team to work around and try to maximize heights where we can, figure out layouts for bathrooms that are more modern from when the building was originally, like, set with that plumbing there. And come up with some creative solutions.
We can move things around in the concrete that people don't want to do, and that's kind of that extra step we'll take to move, you know, for example, the light fixture that's right by your head got moved 2.5 feet, and it was in the concrete. We moved that to get that right in the perfect spot that we wanted in the space. A lot of people won't take into account and just say, "You're stuck with that location," where we'll say, "We're going to move that, and we're going to make that right where it needs to be." The clients want a particular type of finish.
They want something that has a bit of a custom flair They want the latest in design, and this can be anything from traditional, transitional, to contemporary. Across the board, what they're looking for is something that is turnkey. They want a unit that reflects somewhat of their personality, has some custom finishes, but they don't want to hire the contractor, hire the designer, pick out all the finishes, wait 1 year, and then move in.
The collection is unique because I don't think a lot of people have such a wide or a broad, I would say, spectrum of projects that they complete. It's kind of everyone has their own little niche and this is what we do, and we kind of take that, but we really expand it and we really make a unique project each time that's different from the last.
When a buyer comes in, they get to see a unit that doesn't look like the builder cookie cutter. He uses custom stones, custom handcrafted cabinetry. They buy individual light fixtures that work for that product. Or that unit.
Clients are very visual people, so once they walk in and get a feeling for a space, I think they could gravitate towards it and know they want to live in it right away.
All the people that touch this, you know, all of our consultants, every finish carpenter, the electrician, we all walk away like proud when we finish a project and can see it finished.
