Koehler was highly respected for sharing his wealth of knowledge with colleagues across the industry. By Dianne M. Pogoda
Scott Koehler, a designer, builder, writer, entrepreneur and K&B innovator, died July 23 after a battle with pancreatic cancer at his home in Pinehurst, N.C. He was 69.
Koehler, owner and president of Dream Kitchen Builders, was on the leading edge of technology in kitchen and smart design. His Pinehurst-based kitchen design and build firm operated without a showroom, using mobile devices and apps to market and manage his business. The strategy, which seemed radical when he launched it nearly a decade ago, was quite prescient and became a thriving business model. He informed and educated the industry about the convergence of design and technology.
Scott David Koehler was born in Butler, Pa., and attended Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. He moved to North Carolina where he started his career in industrial and computer sales. He changed paths and became a licensed general contractor, kitchen and bath designer, and member of NKBA, earning his CKD in 2000. He worked with his brother Tim Koehler as co-owner and general manager at My Dream Kitchen in Greensboro, N.C., from 1989 to 2010. While in Greensboro, Scott was president of the Greensboro Builders Association, chairman of its Remodelers Council and a founder of the Tour of Remodeled Homes. He designed and produced more than 500 kitchens and bathrooms during his career, and his work includes projects for some of the most exclusive properties in North Carolina.
“As I watched Scott reinvent his career, he was so open to conversations, to mentoring… When he could have rested on his laurels, he didn’t.” —Veronika Miller, CEO, Modenus Media
“Scott took a break from the kitchen and bath industry and acquired new knowledge and expertise in emerging technologies, including cloud computing and mobile business solutions,” said Gwen Ensley Koehler, his wife of 40 years. “In 2013, he relaunched his design career and applied the technology to his new business, Dream Kitchen Builders. But the most remarkable thing about Scott was his family life. He devoted countless hours to his children, accompanying his son on dozens of Boy Scout treks and never missed a single one of his daughter’s soccer games.”
During a Zoom tribute compiled last week by Modenus Media CEO Veronika Miller after Koehler came home from hospice, dozens of peers, colleagues, and friends from across the industry recounted numerous ways he helped, advised and influenced their careers and lives. He was described as generously sharing his time and knowledge.
Koehler was an industry mentor and served in numerous consulting capacities, including on the KBB magazine Editorial Advisory Board, Beko’s Healthy Kitchen Council and Signature Kitchen Suite’s Design Council. He was a featured speaker at KBIS and on NKBA webinars, a member of the Designhounds Influencer Network and wrote for numerous trade publications. “Scott Koehler was an asset to Kitchen & Bath Business as an esteemed member of our Editorial Advisory Board and as an avid writer for our publication,” said KBB executive editor Chelsie Butler. “He always had a new topic he wanted to share with our audience and our industry. He will be greatly missed by so many people.”
“Scott was a dear friend, a huge inspiration and wealth of knowledge,” said Miller, who founded the Kitchen and Bath Industry Group on Facebook and had invited Koehler to the group as technology moderator. “The sky was the limit with him. As I watched Scott reinvent his career, he was so open to conversations, to mentoring. He was never a part of the ‘old guard,’ doing things the same way just because that was the way he had always done them. When he could have rested on his laurels, he didn’t.”
He was not only generous with his time to the kitchen and bath industry, but also volunteered for other organizations. He served as Leadership Secretary for Troop 139 of the Boy Scouts of America in North Carolina from 2000 to 2003, and also served on the board of directors for the Greensboro Urban Ministry for Poverty Alleviation from 1991 to 1992. In 2003, he was president of the Greensboro Builders Association, a professional non-profit association with some 2,000 members.
In its May/June 2022 issue, KBB magazine published a “Last Word” column featuring a Q&A with Koehler where he said: “In business, design and in life, I believe it is important to always be thinking and evolving.”
In addition to his wife, Koehler is survived by his son, Jeffrey Scott Koehler and wife Claire; daughter, Laura Gwen Martin and fiancé Joseph Rosario; grandsons Finn Martin and Luke Koehler; his father Lawrence Robert Koehler and stepmother Jean; brothers Timothy Koehler and wife Sonya, Mark Koehler and wife Sveta; sister Mary Pat Whaley and husband Bob; stepbrother Alan Mierke and wife Linda; as well as a large extended family. He was predeceased by his mother, Patricia Murphy Koehler.
Memorial contributions can be made to The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network through its website at PanCAN.org.
