Take It For a Spin

New educational showrooms are popping up everywhere, and the more helpful dont just hold the products, but include live vignettes in which visitors can roll up their sleeves and bake cookies, wash laundry and saut?? shrimp. Showrooms come in all sizesfrom 3,000 square feet to 40,000 square feetand provide a place for homeowners to see the working products, from appliances to cabinets to flooring, to help them more easily make decisions about what will best suit their needs at home.

In addition to the cooking that takes place during the tours, Insperience also hosts events like cooking classes and demonstrations such as pasta-rolling so guests can get an idea of how to make the most of their new equipment. Insperience recently appointed Executive Chef Joel Saxon, formerly of Cherokee Town and Country Club, who will be leading a collection of hands-on classes.

Opened in the summer of 2003, the Sub-Zero/Wolf Showroom and Culinary Center in Duluth includes a live demonstration kitchen, wine-storage gallery, laundry room, billiard room and outdoor barbeque area. In addition, eight kitchen stations, fully functional and decorated in a variety of styles from traditional to contemporary feature Sub-Zero refrigeration and wine storage, Wolf cooking appliances, Asko dishwashers and laundry appliances and Independent and Best range hoods. More recently, Sub-Zero/Wolf Showroom has added KWC water appliances, bath and shower systems, which are high-end products manufactured in Switzerland. The addition of the new line has sparked the addition of a new roomone dedicated to KWC.

Culinary enthusiasts will feel right at home in a HADCO showroom. The Suwanee location has been open eight years, and a showroom in Roswell opened in April 2004. HADCO began in 1952, as an appliance service provider; those roots are still present in the events that take place at the showroom, particularly in the care and use classes, which instruct appliance owners on how to care for appliances: techniques for cleaning stainless steel and grills and the best cookware for appliances. HADCO showrooms are dedicated to kitchens and have an entire wall of ovens with more than 150 appliances on display in each location.

In addition to seeing cabinets, homeowners can test a variety of countertop options at G&L Marble on Armour Drive. Relocated from their well-known Miami Circle showroom, which they outgrewthe new showroom boasts 40,000 square feetG&L Marble includes vignettes like a kitchen area for countertop viewing; a waterfall with onyx, lights and slate that can substitute for a fireplace; arched doorway openings and a conference room with a blue sodalite table. For peace of mind during browsing, G&L Marble also has a childrens play area (not made with marble!).

In addition to translating design, showrooms can be especially helpful for anyone who has a hard time imagining space. At Southern Styles showroom, its easy to decide whether to choose between a standard 42-inch walkway, or a more narrow one. The primary function of the showroom is to aid clients in making decisions about everything from tiles and carpet to countertops and paint. Usually, a homeowner would have to visit many different stores, but the showroom provides a one-stop shop.

It seems the days of simple paint wheels and squares of carpet might be coming to an end. With the variety of showrooms open in Atlanta, homeowners today can make educated choices about what will work best for them and their homes.