You've been thinking for weeks, months, years or decades about re-doing your kitchen, and you're finally ready to move. There are several options available to you. You can walk into a big-box home center and work with a box/counter/appliance salesperson (oops-I meant "Kitchen Designer"). You can go to an independent kitchen and bath company, where you will probably deal with a legitimate designer who also happens to be a commissioned sales person. Or you can hire an independent designer who may or may not have any financial stake in your job beyond design fees. In my biased opinion, this can be the best option, especially when dealing with challenging rooms, but that's not the focus of this post!
Please don't do any of these things without doing some homework first. When a potential client makes an appointment with me, I am going to look for some input. I'm going to ask you what does or doesn't work about your existing kitchen. Do you have enough space in the confines of your existing room, or are you looking to expand? How many cook at the same time? If the answer is one, is that because of your lousy layout or lack of counter space? How many people have you cooked for at one time? How many would you like to cook for? What else do you use the room for, or would like to use it for? This is a very important question because the kitchen has become the center of most peoples lifestyles at home. What level of appliances, sinks, faucets, etc. are you looking to install? (If you tell me that you're going to keep your 12-year old Kenmore range I'm going to try to talk you out of it). What big changes do you want to make? (for instance, are you looking to add a seating area that doesn't exist right now). How about countertops? These are things that you can do research on before dealing with a professional.
And the big question for most customers, What do you want it to look like? As a designer, my initial focus is on traffic flow, appliance layout (especially where to put the refrigerator), etc.- the foundation of the working plan. Most clients focus first on cabinet styles, colors, counter surfaces and the like. I need you to come prepared with a working file of photos from magazines, tagged book pages and printed out web images of anything and everything that catches your eye. It doesn't have to be organized or cohesive- it's my job to help you put together the pieces into a unified whole.
Probably the most important question and the most difficult for most people is, How much do you want to spend? This can be tough especially when you're dealing with a salesperson. It's important, though, to have a realistic budget. If you tell me that all the utilities need to be upgraded and you want custom cabinetry and granite tops for $15,000, you're not being realistic. Kitchen budgets come in all shapes and sizes, but you can't get Dom Perignon for the price of Budweiser.
All of this is meant to get you started on thinking about the design process and all of the many parts of this complex room. Think about what you have and what you want. Do your homework and you'll get a good grade in the form of a great finished project.
Amen brother! And please, please, please don't arrange an initial meeting and expect a designer to give you ideas. Great new image at the top of your blog Richard, it looks familiar... You owe it to yourself to put a real room together based on that!
Posted by: Paul Anater | June 22, 2009 at 07:22 PM
Congrats on the continued success of your site and thanks for all your efforts, Paul. I'm trying to get people to understand that design is a joint effort that takes patience. Nobody's a miracle worker with a bag full of miraculous solutions. I know I'm in trouble if I ask a client for their ideas and get a blank stare.
Posted by: Richard Edic | June 22, 2009 at 08:30 PM
You've got some great info here. This should be required reading for every client!
Posted by: Jamie Goldberg, AKBD, CAPS | June 23, 2009 at 05:43 PM