Today we remember those who died while in active military service. We took our kids to the Omaha National Cemetary and read the numerous headstones. We noticed what branch they served in. What war(s) they fought in. We noticed if they were buried with their spouse. We noticed the somber man who went to visit a grave. We noticed the pennies/coins left on headstones. We took it all in. It’s humbling.
I hope we teach our children to be thankful for the freedoms we have in America. We have these freedoms because of brave military men and women. We remember those who fought and served.
“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.”- Eleanor Roosevelt
ARLINGTON, VA – MAY 27: Mary McHugh mourns her slain fiance Sgt. James Regan at “Section 60” of the Arlington National Cemetery May 27, 2007. Regan, a US Army Ranger, was killed by an IED explosion in Iraq in February of this year, and this was the first time McHugh had visited the grave since the funeral. Section 60, the newest portion of the vast national cemetery on the outskirts of Washington D.C, contains hundreds of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Family members of slain American soldiers have flown in from across the country for Memorial Day. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
As a Midwesterner, you quickly realize we enjoy all four seasons. Each season brings it’s own set of amazingness and challenges. In the summer, we enjoy the outdoors with swimming, boating, camping, gardening and grilling! We also realize the hottest part of the day is sometimes needing to enjoy a few hours indoors cooling off. In the winter, we sled and snowboard and snowplow, ice fish, take winter walks or hikes. We also need a warm place to congregate when the wind is brutal. In the spring we have tornado warnings and in the fall we have Husker football parties!
What do all those activities have in common? They all call for a functional space in your home to serve a variety of needs. Guess what? A great basement fits the bill on ALL those needs. So your next question might be, what does a great basement have in it?
A good basement has these qualities.
Excellent storage
A half bathroom…even better, a 3/4 shower
An inviting gathering place, such as a bar area that includes a sink, seating and a frig.
Proper lighting
Proper Drainage
A focus on functionality
Proper air circulation
A good layout
Proper “exits”
Enough ceiling height
Is there a basement quality that you would add? If we missed something, let us know. It might be worth adding to this inexhaustible list. For if we’ve learned anything. It’s that us Midwesterners, really need a solid basement!
Phillips Tile & Stone has worked on a few basements in since we opened our business doors in 2010. Sometimes, we don’t get a photo. Sometimes, homeowners send us photos. We then turn around and share what amazing clients we have but showing off their new spaces!
Below is a photo of LVP installed by Phillips Tile & Stone. Here is the reel you can see the entire basement transformation!
If you follow our Instagram account, you’ll see me sharing a lot about the prep work that Trevor and our small crew put into projects. I don’t think I can emphasis just how much Trevor focuses on installing a project properly. You can differentiate an excellent contractor from the subpar contractors by the way they back up their work. Keep that in mind as you search and get estimates.
Our company is finishing up a project that other companies wouldn’t touch because it required building up and leveling out a floor in several different areas. If you follow us on Instagram you can see our current projects. After Trevor and the guys demolished, built, poured and prepped they were ready to install LVP. Now that the floors are all the same height not only is it safer but it’s more pleasing to the eye.
I cannot tell you how many times we’ve gotten calls to have our crew come and fix something another contractor started. Please, do your due diligence and make sure you are hiring a reputable company! When you’re ready, we offer FREE estimates, and we can’t wait to install the space you’ve always wanted!
This family business is once again sending our Christmas card on the blog. Our clients become friends. So it only makes sense to send our Christmas greetings out this way. To our friends that sent cards and letters. We adore displaying them in our home. Please don’t ever stop sending your Christmas love.
I will tell our 2022 story by photos. This year has been one of growth and stretching. In our family and business.
Our kids played a lot of sports (soccer, baseball, basketball and flag football), they learned new instruments (saxophone and trumpet), they went on field trips, tried summer camp for the first time, swam a bunch and learned more as we homeschooled together. They performed in plays. Our kids also grew in entrepreneurship. We are thankful they enjoy working hard and seeing the fruits of their labor.
As a family, we went on a couple trips.
Phillips Tile & Stone kept busy! We installed for a new business opening in Bennington called Cup & Cone, it’s a super cute new coffee and ice cream shop, be sure to check them out! We installed and designed spaces for homeowners. Our crew learned new skills as we shifted the business a bit. We were once again humbled by your votes for Best of Omaha.
As Christmas quickly approaches and then a New Year is set to arrive, we want to take a minute and thank you for using Phillips Tile & Stone. Thank you from our family and our crew’s families. We enjoy serving you with exceptional craftsmanship and design assistance.
We hope you are finding many reasons to be thankful for this year. Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving. As much as I tried, I couldn’t slip away to write a Thanksgiving blog post. We have so much to be thankful for this year. So with a grateful heart, I will still write because a thankful heart is good year-round.
This year our sixth baby was born. Birth is a miracle and we thank God for the blessing of children. We celebrated our third consecutive Best of Omaha Tile Installer win! We are so grateful for the clients, family and friends who take the time to vote for Phillips Tile & Stone! We thank God for renewed health, provision and another year of memories.
Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday. We strive to give our clients the best installation price, while also installing quality. We don’t play a number game, so there won’t be any glitzy sales or promos. We’d rather spend our time installing amazing spaces for our clients. So even though we aren’t having a discount day, please continue to show support to local, small businesses. Your referrals, likes, comments, and continued support help provide a purposeful living for several local families. Thank you for trusting Phillips Tile & Stone with your construction needs!
Trevor & Michelle Phillips and the Phillips Tile & Stone Team
How is your summer going? Have you been swimming yet? Have you cooked burgers on the grill? Vacation? I’m amazed how quickly these months pass.
For the past two years, starting in July, our company has participated in Best of Omaha. It’s a fun competition amongst local businesses to earn the people’s vote as BEST in our awesome city. There are categories of all sorts. YOU, as the consumer, have the ability to recognize these hard working small businesses by voting every single day (or just once) for them!
Phillips Tile & Stone would absolutely adore your vote for Best Tile Installer in Omaha! If there are other categories you think we fall under, by all means, type in Phillips Tile & Stone in that additional category!!
Basically, this is telling the company you appreciate them without spending any money.
Here is our quick voting code. The link might go to your spam box, so check there and then vote!
In the meantime, Phillips Tile & Stone will continue to install amazing spaces! We love ya, Omaha.
As you would celebrate anything that you’ve put years of hard work into…today we celebrate Phillips Tile & Stone’s preteen era!
For the past 12 years, we have been installing beautiful spaces either locally, in small towns nearby or a few times our crew as even traveled to install masterpieces in residential or commercial spaces.
The timeline of Phillips Tile & Stone will always blow my mind. We were married in 2009. The economy was terrible and after much looking Trevor decided to start his own business after the company he was with couldn’t survive. Phillips Tile & Stone was created in 2010. In 2011, we had our first baby! Those first years of marriage and business owning and parenthood were HARD. We are so incredibly thankful for our clients, employees, subcontractors and referrals. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Jeremy- Phillips Tile & Stone SubcontractorWe are thankful for your votes for Best Tile Installer in Omaha! Gary- Phillips Tile & Stone Subcontractor
“It’s the best time of the year,” that’s what our 8 year old likes to say! Merry Christmas from the Phillips family. We hope you are enjoying all the coziness this season brings. Is anyone else in disbelief we are already in December? January will usher in a New Year. To us, it felt like 2021 went incredibly fast. Every year we realize how fast a year can pass. We hope you conquered personal goals and made 2021 the most successful it could possibly be despite everything going on. If we have learned anything, we’ve learned grit and determination and prayer go a long way during difficult times. If 2021 was a difficult year for you, we’d be honored to pray for you.
2021 brought some highlights for us as a family/company and those highlights are…
-Finding out about baby #6, we are due in March of 2022! We are excited and praying for a healthy baby.
-Moving. We are so thankful we found a house with the market as crazy as it was. Is? Who is keeping track. 🙂
-Squeezing in a few family trips before summer ended. It was crazy, especially after moving trying to make all the trips happen that had previously been scheduled, but so glad that we made that effort.
-Winning Best of Omaha for Phillips Tile & Stone, THANK YOU to all who voted!! It’s not lost on us that YOUR votes are what made it happen. We will continue to provide and install exceptional craftsmanship and value to YOU, our clients.
-We are thankful for the connections we’ve made here in Omaha. We are finding so much joy in deepening our roots in this wonderful city we’ve been planted.
Thank you for being our family friend or a friend of the company. We appreciate you all so incredibly much. Merry Christmas!
The Phillips Family and Phillips Tile & Stone Team
Jeremy- Phillips Tile & Stone SubcontractorThank you for voting! We are thankful for your votes for Best Tile Installer in Omaha! Gary- Phillips Tile & Stone Subcontractor Working with Big Frog of OmahaWe need to get photos of the whole team! This is really hard to get done.
Do you ever admire an individual who marches to the beat of their own drum? Do you secretly wish you had the gumption to be as confident as they were? Some types of people fit this bill might be visionaries, entrepreneurs and artists first come to mind for me. What about you? Where am I going with this?
There is freedom in being apart of the team of a small business owner. Did you know you join a work family? Where your name is known and the boss texts you instead of mass corporate email blasts. It’s a place where your ideas could lead the company to exciting places and where your hard work goes appreciated and seen!
We have this rare privilege of linking arms with some incredible craftsmen, laborers, designers and builders to create luxurious spaces our clients tell their family and friends about. It’s an honor to have these incredible people on our team, but WE NEED MORE! The projects are there, the work is there but the laborer’s to install these masterpieces are lacking. Are you ready to join a unique team of laborers and craftsmen? What we do isn’t construction, we install functionable artwork, everyday. Are you ready to join the Phillips Tile & Stone Team? If so, fill out our contact form and we will get in contact with you!
