YELLOWKNIFE - People looking to create a sparkling new kitchen or just fix up dingy cupboards and appliances can look forward to a new kitchen centre opening up in Yellowknife.

Shane Clark is the manager of the soon-to-be-revealed kitchen centre at Corothers Home Building Centre. The choices are plenty, he said, showing off the number of cupboard handles available. - Erika Sherk/NNSL photo

"Kitchens... are the number one room to do nice things to in your home," said Shane Clark, manager of the soon-to-open kitchen centre.

The centre is located in a building of its own next to Corothers Home Building Centre on Old Airport Road.

Home Building Centre owner Chuck Corothers said he decided to open a space dedicated just to kitchens after the kitchen displays were slowly getting crowded out in the main store.

"Our display space got eaten up and we noticed a significant drop in sales in those categories," he said.

The idea became reality when PCL Construction, the company leasing a building on the Home Building lot, decided to pull out.

"It was an excellent opportunity," he said

The kitchen centre is 1,600 square feet, of which 1,000 square feet will be dedicated to the display kitchens, said Clark.

The displays will have "all the bells and whistles so people can touch and feel and try out."

The centre is having a "sneak peek" opening on July 7, and preparations were going full-tilt late last week.

In one corner, a massive cherry wood kitchen with crown molding and wicker baskets sat gleaming. All the kitchens were designed by Clark and Corothers themselves, said Clark.

"This one's worth about $30,000 to $35,000," said Clark, patting the Bordeaux-finished cherry wood.

Kitchens at the centre will go for anything from $5,000 to $35,000, said Clark, and the sky is the limit when it comes to different options.

With wood alone, there are more than 2,000 choices of wood species and finish, he said.

The pre-created kitchens are there to get people thinking, he said, and "inspire creativity."

By July 7, there will be over $100,000 of kitchens displayed in the centre, said Clark.

People just need to come in with the measurements of their kitchen space and the window and door openings, he said.

Then Clark can punch them into his computer. Using a special home decorating software, he can show people 3-D images of what their kitchen plans would look like in real life - down to the colour of the wood or the finish of the countertop.

Even though the outlet isn't officially open, it's proving popular, he said, with nine kitchens already underway.

The whole process ends up taking about two months, from the planning stage to the arrival of the ordered kitchen pieces, he said.

Clark, a long-time Yellowknifer, will be a familiar face to many from his years with Homelife Real Estate.

The real estate business was becoming too hectic, he said, and the move to kitchen planning will give him more time to spend with his family.

People will still need to find a contractor to install their kitchens, but soon that should be a part of the package as well, according to Clark.

"We're looking to establish relationships with local contractors," he said. "Towards the end of the summer we should be a one-stop shop."

The store will have an official grand opening in September, but the public will get a chance to check it out this Saturday, said Clark.