A Powell kitchen and bath designer is using some of the skills she learned at Northwest College to help people design the cabinets of their dreams.

In fact, Sydnie Stambaugh said it’s made it hard for her to ever think she’ll be able to decide on what cabinets she’d want in her dream home.

Stambaugh, a Cody High School and NWC grad, sells semi custom cabinets and countertops at Bloedorn Lumber in Powell.

To help customers visualize the cabinets they want in their kitchens or bathrooms — even laundry rooms — she uses the  program 2020 Design Live, which allows her to build a digital replica of the space.

“It helps people who can’t really visualize what they want,” she said. “I do a 3D rendering of all my kitchens … it pretty much builds it in 3D for you and you can put your colors in and appliances and everything.”

Stambaugh also learned the finer details of drafting at NWC and, while she handles design on her cabinets and countertops, she also boasts the skills to read a construction blueprint — her desk on a recent afternoon sported a large home blueprint she was working with.

The Drafting Technology Program at Northwest College provides students with a comprehensive education that focuses on the correct use of state-of-the-art Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) software.

“Jumping into this it was fairly easy to pick up,” she said.

For those who are looking to shop outside of the digital realm, her corner of the Bloedorn store includes a number of full size cabinet designs, which include some of the more popular new features, Stambagh said, such as slide out utensil cabinets and lazy Susans with a pull out shelf.

A trend around Powell has homeowners coming in to get a new set of cabinets to replace old orange oak cabinets ripped out during a renovation.

The new trend is a rustic look, but with new luxuries, such as butler’s pantries that include space not just for standard pantry staples such as flour and other dry goods, but maybe a toaster and other appliances, which keeps the kitchen counters less cluttered.

Homeowners are also opting more often for a two color scheme, using a kitchen island as an accent color to contrast with the main color of the cabinets. Stambaugh said a kitchen renovation can add roughly $40,000 to the value of home on average, not to mention making it a more enjoyable room to spend time in.

“It can add a lot of value and practicality to your home,” she said. “There’s a lot of older homes around Powell that I’ve seen putting new cabinets in. You get a lot of extra add ons — people like to hide their trash now. You tend to see pull outs — the fancy things that make your life easier. It just kind of adds a little more luxury to your life I suppose.”

And if you can’t visualize that new look in your mind? Stambaugh’s got a program for that.