ABOUT THE KITCHEN PLACE

This is where our story begins - in a sleepy farming town called Gladstone, Manitoba (Canada). Founders, Alec Osvath and Betty Carefoot met at a town dance and began their courtship.  

Betty was a school teacher for a one-room schoolhouse. Here she is teaching her students how to write cursive.

Alec managed the family farm, growing and harvesting wheat, until his late 20's. The son of Hungarian immigrants, Alec was born with a pioneer spirit and dreamed of moving to the states and becoming an American citizen.

A long-time bachelor, Alec realized he'd found his dream girl. He proposed to Betty.

Alec married the love of his life on a perfect day in July 1962. They quickly settled into married life planning their next move - to the United States.

Alec and Betty immigrated to the United States. They became naturalized citizens in 1970.

Alec and Betty's first daughter, Karla, was born in the summer of 1963. Baby sister, Kelly, was born less than a year after Karla in 1964.

Alec Osvath joined the PK Lumber Company in the mid-60s as a kitchen salesman. Alec was a star performer, selling cabinets to homeowners and contractors alike. He loved his new profession and it would become his destiny in the years to come!

Here's a photo of Karla sitting on top of a kitchen display from one of the first kitchen showrooms that Alec worked in.

Alec and Betty built a warehouse to stock kitchen and bath cabinets for his sister, who was also in the kitchen design business.

With her two daughters in high school, Betty re-entered the workforce. After years of watching (and helping) Alec design kitchens, she took a job with a small cabinet outlet shop east of Xenia.

After years of working for other design firms, Alec and Betty Osvath opened The Kitchen Place in 1983. They had finally realized their dream of owning their own business!

In 1984, daughters, Karla and Kelly, joined the company while attending college. Karla designed kitchens, while Kelly created hand-drawn 3D kitchen illustrations.

Our amazing install crew, Steve Belickis and Russ Charlton, partnered with us to manage the remodeling process for kitchen and bath projects. They're known for meticulous attention to detail. Russ left in 2015, but Steve is still installing kitchens to this day.

Tom Detty joined the team in 1986 as a designer. Tom stepped in to help during a critical time when Alec underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery.

Betty, Kelly, Karla, Tom, and Alec participate in their first Dayton Home Show at the Dayton Convention Center.

After nearly 10 years with The Kitchen Place, Karla moved to Chicago to begin a new chapter in her life and pursue a career in web design and online marketing. (L-R: Karla Osvath Shelton, installer Steve Belickis, and Doug Bennett from Shurform Laminates)

Work was beginning on our new warehouse so we could double our showroom and office space.

In 1994, Betty became ill and only worked occasionally. Then, in 2000, tragedy struck. Alec died of a heart attack. Betty passed away five months later from a terminal illness. Tom and Kelly kept the business going and became the new owners in 2001.

The Kitchen Place has been in business almost four decades now. Tom, Kelly, and Justin have seen trends go from white goose decor and pickled cabinets in the 1980's to Tuscan glazed maple and high ornate wooden moldings in the 1990's to the start of simpler styles such as cherry Shaker cabinets and Uba Tuba granite in the early 2000's. We invite you to visit our showroom where you can see all the possibilities.

Now, the trends lean to transitional, vintage with a twist of modern, and shaker white farmhouse with contrasting islands. No matter the trends and style, Tom, Kelly, and Justin are here to create a kitchen just for you.

Alec and Betty, we hope you're proud of us. We've worked hard through the years to carry on the legacy you've left behind. We miss you very much.