"When Everburn Manufacturing, a Lexington-based worldwide leader in the production of ceramic logs for gas and electric fire sets, opened the Housewarmings store, ii seemed a natural fit for President Ajay Gupta and his staff. The retail shop off Palumbo Drive sells fireplaces, stoves, and accessories, as well as the logs that have helped Everburn make a name for itself in the industry.
Now the company has taken its expertise in the hearth beyond the home with Housewarmings Outdoors, which opened three years ago, in the store's back lot. Just as the store's interior is arranged in rooms that seem like a real house, the exterior is arranged in outdoor room settings, one of the hottest national trends in home building and decorating.
Gupta and Judy Edgar, vice president for creative design, saw the growing trend for outdoor rooms when they attended national trade shows for the fireplace and home accessories industries.
"I saw it coming on HGTV, in magazines like Architectural Digest," said Edgar, who selects both the indoor and outdoor accessories that Housewarmings sells.
Despite its renewed popularity in recent years, outdoor living is nothing new. Edgar, who studies advertisements as well as editorial copy, has some women's magazines dating back to the 1930s that feature outdoor rooms. Back then, however, they were limited to the warm climates of the Southwest.
"Changes in technology in outdoor heating have extended the season for outdoor living," she said. As a result, the demand for outdoor dining and entertaining facilities has increased even in cold weather states.
Outdoor rooms offer an incredible variety of options in dècor and features. "We have never done two projects that are the same," Gupta said, but added that the rooms have certain features in common.
"An outdoor room starts with a defined space," he explained. The defining frame includes the roof and its supports. The roof is most often a pergola made of cedar planks laid on edge in a circular, square, or rectangular shape. To allow light but keep the space below dry, clear polycarbonate material covers the cedar planks.
The pergola is supported by columns and trellises that come in different colors, styles and materials and give a sense of mostly open walls. Both are perfect for hanging baskets of flowers.
The cooking islands allow separate sections for preparing, cooking, assembling and serving the food. The most elaborate ones include dual-fuel grills, refrigerators, wine or drink coolers, storage shelves, ice makers, separate bars, trash bins, working sinks and beer dispensers.
A fire area allows the space to be used in cooler temperatures. These areas range from open fire pits to outdoor fireplaces complete with mantels large enough to provide privacy.
Outdoor furniture is essential, whether cozy wicker with brightly colored weatherproof cushions, classic teak or modernistic stainless steel and glass. A water feature, such as a statuary fountain or cascading waterfall, adds to the "wow" factor.
"Our specialty is the custom design," said Bud Renfroe, director of product development at Everburn and head of outdoor creative design at Housewarmings. Renfroe's crews design, build and assemble the outdoor rooms. "Our islands far exceed, in design and cooking ability, others on the market," he added.
Renfroe can say that because he and his team have "lived and breathed islands for the last three years." This time invested has led to attention to quality, such as finishing the inside of storage cabinets instead of leaving them rough, as some competitors do. The workers learned how to install stone on fireplaces and cooking islands from an experienced dry stone mason.
Renfroe and his workers have pared down the time it takes them to install an outdoor room as well. Instead of the expected week or two, the customer's outdoor room is usually ready for use in one day.
Renfroe's crews have learned from the efficiency of the parent company. Everburn manufactures 1,500 different log sets and panel combinations, available in 58 colors and sells them worldwide.
Gupta, whose background is in engineering, installed lean manufacturing at Everburn, a concept he borrowed from Toyota. What formerly took 10 different production lines running on two shifts to accomplish is done with only four lines working on one shift. Some employees no longer needed at Everburn have moved to Renfroe's crews.
Gupta and all of his employees share a passion to be the best. "We don't worry so much about the bottom line. We worry about our team being number one," he explained. Asking themselves what else they can learn from their products, their customers and their suppliers is a constant expectation of everyone.
Believing that the outdoor room concept is best sold by experiencing it, Housewarmings entertains not only store visitors, but hosts over 50 events for Central Kentucky charities each year. One of the most popular is the Valentine's Day dinner to benefit God's Pantry.
And when a customer purchases an outdoor room, "the party's on us," Gupta said. A Housewarmings chef prepares a barbecue in the customer's new outdoor room.
Gupta, Edgar and Renfroe lead a unique and very customer-oriented company. Edgar summed things up by saying, "Ajay's a dreamer, and we want everyone who comes in here to be a dreamer."
Housewarmings is located in Woodhill Plaza, opposite Quantrell Cadillac. The store is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The phone number is (859)231-0005, or find more information at the company's Web site www.myhouseoutdoors.com.