When we wrote "Kitchens That Work" we included a questionnaire in the beginning. The purpose of this was to get people started in the right direction in thinking about their project. If I am working directly with customers, it gives me a feel for how they use their kitchen and a little insight into their personalities. Some people will write a single line answer to each question, while a few seem to be starting their own book. What follows is an abbreviated and slightly modified version of the original:
- What is the largest group that you have ever cooked for in your kitchen?
- What is the largest group that you would like to cook for?
- What do you dislike the most about your existing kitchen?
- What one luxury item do you have to have in your new kitchen?
The list goes on along these somewhat unconventional lines. It intentionally focuses on the functional side of things. At this point most people have gotten a head start on how they want the room to look or what kind of countertops they want. These things are important, but how you use your kitchen through the course of the day is the place to begin. If the answers to the first two questions about how many you cook for are very different that tells me that you are being held back from entertaining more by some flaw in your existing kitchen. If the answers to both questions are two people, then that tells me that entertaining others is not a priority. The third question about what you dislike seems obvious, but as a designer I know that I had better get rid of this problem or you're not going to be very happy with me. And the forth question about a luxury item is very important as part of the budget end of things. Unless you have unlimited funds, at some point you are going to have to make some compromises. It's good to prioritize things; we'll give up the $7000 refrigerator but we have to have granite tops.
All of this is the working, blue-collar end of the kitchen plan. It may not always be glamorous, but attention to detail here will pay off in big ways at the end.
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