13 years ago, Angela Poirrier brought her education, experience, and expertise to her parents’ residential renovation firm. Founded in 1979 by Kathy and Mike Simoneaux, Acadian House Kitchen + Bath became the premier provider of custom kitchen and bath design in the Baton Rouge area. Their daughter Angela came on as vice president, eventually taking over the company with her husband Joey in 2017. Five short years later many things have changed, while many have remained the same, all propelling Acadian House successfully into the future.

One of the considerable changes over the past five years has been the demand for “whole home” renovations. “Before 2020 whole home renovations made up about 20% of our projects, now it’s over 50%,” remarks Poirrier on the changing demand and scope of projects. These larger scale projects have not interfered with Acadian House’s sterling track record of performance and customer satisfaction. “Clients are more often asking for more and we’re keeping our timelines and satisfaction on pace.”

Priorly serving as the company’s vice president for eight years made for a smooth transition. This time spent leading budgeting, cashflow, hiring, and process improvements has yielded few if any challenges. “I was able to see potential issues and get in front of them.” Then 2020 happened. “2020 forced us to move forward with other aspects of the business. Offering virtual services like consultations, and even looking at new services like speaking engagements.” 

With the majority of homes in the Baton Rouge area being over 40 years old, Poirrier is looking forward to the future of the industry and the need for renovation in her hometown. “We want to be ready for the demand. No matter the growth that Acadian House might experience, it is most important to us to maintain the excellence that we’ve had from the very beginning.”

This growth has recently changed to a higher demand for luxury products, designs, and renovation. “Clients are doing more of what they used to seldomly do. We are creating more detailed, ‘staycation’ concepts, providing more luxury products and designs than ever before.”

Owning the company that she’s known inside and out for years has made it possible to make decisions and implement changes faster. “Tracking what has worked and what hasn’t worked makes it possible to implement the best processes moving forward. Making adjustments at job sites allows us to fix things faster. The process changes yearly based on what we’ve learned before.” 

Looking into the next five years and beyond, Acadian House Design + Renovation looks to grow and evolve by sharing their tried-and-true renovation process. “Through speaking engagements, virtual learning, consulting through Lightspeed, and even a potential book to share the right way to do a renovation based on years of experience, we want to share the right way to renovate a space.”