Nick Vanderhovel, CMKBD
Design Galleria
Nashville, Tenn.
Tennessee Chapter
Nick Vanderhovel, CMKBD, believes luxury is experiential as much as it is about selecting quality materials. “I want my clients to be confident that I will be there to guide them through their journey and help them obtain the incredible spaces they deserve.”
Vanderhovel, a second-generation kitchen designer and licensed builder, was one of the youngest NKBA members to earn a CMKBD, at age 32. He spent 11 years at his family’s business, Dream Kitchens, in Michigan before starting his own enterprise, Kitchen NV. While building his own business, he tapped the professional expertise of Matthew Quinn, owner of Design Galleria in Nashville and Atlanta. After a meeting in which Quinn told him the new Nashville showroom was starting to take off, Vanderhovel accepted a design position and moved to Nashville.
“It’s been a whirlwind couple of years. I had just broken seven figures in sales in my first year on my own, working from my house in Michigan,” recalls Vanderhovel. “I had been looking for a place to plant roots and open my physical showroom. At the same time, I had been emailing Matthew every now and then, picking his brain about business-related topics.”
While he never thought he’d leave his own company, he says the decision wasn’t that hard. “Working with Matthew was the equivalent of climbing a staircase three steps at a time.” Vanderhovel is still finishing some projects under Kitchen NV, but they’re nowl under the Design Galleria umbrella. He’s one of five designers working alongside Quinn, serving as interior architectural designers, engineers, mechanical planners, therapists — and when needed, he says, arbitrators.
Vanderhovel prides himself on his mathematical approach to design. “I love finding ways to make the numbers work. I solve issues of symmetry, functionality and proportion by just paying attention to the numbers,” he says. “I plan out the storage while I am designing the floorplan… where to store the Saran Wrap and the Tupperware while planning my walls. Every cabinet has a curated purpose, based on its mathematical proximity to its specific work zone.”
He says the most important thing he’s learned from Quinn so far is “our value as professionals…Our time is valuable. Our knowledge is valuable. Our creativity is valuable. They are the reasons why clients travel across the country, or even further, to work with us.”
When it comes to traveling, Vanderhovel holds his share of frequent-flyer miles. He speaks Japanese, having studied it while living in Tokyo and Yokohama for several months. “I love going back to Japan and just getting lost in its majesty…I want to go there to study Wabi Sabi design, which is based around the idea of beauty in imperfection and impermanence.”
Meanwhile, he guides his life in part from a quote from Czech politician Konstantin Josef Jireček, shared by his dad, who learned it serving in the Navy: “‘We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.’ These words encapsulate who I am, and how I find a way to adapt to any obstacle that finds its way to my path.”
Design Galleria: https://designgalleria.net/
Nick Vanderhovel on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kitchennv
