When and Why You Should Consider Hiring a Kitchen Designer
Specific kitchen designers’ services vary, but generally these professionals guide the homeowner through the kitchen design process, from initial consultation to installation. Not every upgrade necessarily calls for a kitchen designer. Paula Greer, senior designer at Bilotta Kitchen & Home in New York, says an interior designer or other design pro can help with minor changes such as replacing a countertop or backsplash. It’s when new cabinets and other big-picture elements come into play that a kitchen designer can really make life easier.
“A kitchen designer is going to have a background that other people — architects, interior designers — aren’t going to have because they specialize in kitchen cabinetry and the functionality of the kitchen cabinetry and how everything fits together,“ Greer says.
Kitchen designers also can help homeowners look at their kitchens with fresh eyes, suggesting new layouts, appliance configurations and room plans the homeowner may not have considered. Kitchen designers typically are familiar with the latest products and trends, can recommend (and potentially later manage) reputable subcontractors and suppliers and often can even help with details such as product warranties, Jennifer Gilmer of Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath and the author of kitchen design book The Kitchen Bible, says.
While investing in an independent kitchen designer’s services instead of going it alone or working with a customer rep at a big-box store can be pricier, a good kitchen designer also will be well versed in spending where it counts and making your dollars go further.
“Regardless of who designs the kitchen, it’s an expensive undertaking,” Gilmer says. “If a client is going to spend the money to remodel the kitchen, then using a kitchen designer will ensure that it’s done as well as possible, both in form and function.”
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Where both runs are roughly equal in length, we would typically locate any tall cabinets on the same run as the cooktop. This frees up working space around the sink area on the adjacent wall.
For example, for 10- or 12-foot walls, we would site tall fridge housing on the far end of one wall, possibly with oven housing next to it. The height would then drop to countertop level, with a cooktop centered over generous drawer space (or an oven if this is not within the tall housing). There would be countertop space on either side of this, and upper cabinets would continue above the length of this run.
On the adjacent leg, the sink area would typically house a pullout trash container underneath the counter on the left, and a dishwasher to the right, beneath the sink’s draining grooves (if you are right-handed). Of course, these arrangements can vary according to personal taste, and also because there’s often a window on one of the walls.