Satisfying Homeowners’ Wish Lists

Bird Decorative Hardware & Bath showcases the latest in faucets, fixtures, and luxury upgrades for kitchens and baths

By JOE JANCSURAK

Photos by Kenny Onufrock Photography

Looking to upgrade your kitchen and/or bath? You’re in good company. According to the 2024 Houzz and Home Study, the most renovated rooms by far—kitchens, guest bathrooms, and primary bathrooms (in that order)—led a surge in renovation spending from 2020 to 2023. Median spending for that period rose by 60 percent—from $15,000 to $24,000. While the 2025 report shows a slight dip in median renovation spending in 2024, more than half of the homeowners surveyed had renovated their homes, with kitchens and bathrooms still taking center stage.

Satisfying the home-renovation wish lists of hundreds of Port City homeowners annually since opening its doors in 2003 is Bird Decorative Hardware and Bath at 5702 Oleander. With a four-person sales staff boasting 80 years of experience; a 500-square-foot showroom full of premium door/cabinet hardware and kitchen/bath fixtures and accessories; and the buying strength that comes from being part of a four-store, family-owned company headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Bird strives to elevate and transform the kitchen and bathroom experience throughout the Wilmington area.

“Our sales team works closely with homeowners, designers, and builders, collecting project details and recommending products that match the visions of homeowners. It’s truly a team effort,” says Nicholas Theiss, outside sales representative.

Theiss stresses the importance of the showroom experience. Half of the space is devoted to bathroom and kitchen plumbing products, including tub/shower systems, while the other half features door and cabinet hardware, including sophisticated cabinet and drawer pulls in a variety of finishes. Throughout the showroom floor, attractive displays make for an effective and pleasant shopping experience as customers evaluate hardware options from featured brands such as Armac Martin, Baldwin, and Classic Brass, and plumbing fixtures from brands such as Rohl, Newport Brass, and Waterworks. In all, Bird carries more than 30 hardware brands and nearly 40 plumbing fixture brands.

“We have exclusive rights partnerships with many big-name brands,” says Theiss. “A lot of the products in our showroom can’t be found at our competitors.”

“Whatever customers want, we can provide,” says Mike Wells, showroom manager and plumbing sales specialist. “In a nutshell, it’s all about listening to what customers want to accomplish with their projects and then showing them the products that will deliver what they want. It’s a process.”

As simple as it sounds, Wells says in many cases, once the customer figures out what faucets they want for the kitchen or bath, the rest follows. Picking the right faucets may take hours because they have thousands of options, but once that decision is made, it tells the team the look, style, and finish the customer desires. From there, they can match components and accessories, including lighted mirrors and towel warmers.

One of the biggest focal points of bathroom updates today is the shower. If you think having a handheld to go with your single-head shower is living large, then prepare to be blown away by the many options Bird offers.

“Many of our customers have enjoyed spa-like experiences at places where they’ve stayed, and now they want these features at home,” says Wells. These features include shower systems with multiple heads—having a main head with multiple settings, a handheld, a dual-head shower, an overhead rainfall shower head—and pressure-balanced and thermostatic valves, with the former sensing pressure between hot and cold water, and the latter sensing actual water temperature. “We also have steam showers,” Wells adds.

Continuing with a litany of shower options, Wells says Bird also sells steam showers, as well as body sprays in the shower wall that afford homeowners the luxury of multiple sprays. “If you want the spray to hit you at various points in the back and/or your chest and belt area, we can do that. At home, my system allows me to operate any combination of the handheld, rain head, and two body sprays.”

Other bathroom trends worth noting and on display at Bird: toilets with sleek styling and features such as heated seats and two-button low-volume/high-volume flush for reduced water consumption, and bidets with adjustable water temperature and pressure, self-cleaning nozzles, energy-saving features, and even feminine-wash options.

“We can basically give customers whatever they desire when it comes to their renovation project, which is why we do a great deal of repeat business,” says Wells. “Many of our customers have been with us for three or four projects. We have a lot of happy campers.”