Over the years, I have come across many instances when a client wonders if they should hire an interior designer or kitchen cabinet company to design their new kitchen.
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| image courtesy Patricia Gray Interior Design |
Without further ado, there are several differences [hopefully unbiased] I'd like to share with you :
Value
|
Interior Designer
|
Kitchen Cabinet Company
|
|---|---|---|
Approach
|
Holistic, taking all adjacent areas, architectural features and your wish list into consideration
|
Usually limited to consideration of existing
walls to determine where the kitchen cabinets and counters will go
|
Scope
|
Turnkey design includes everything e.g. floor plan [which may include new wall and doorway locations to correct inefficient space planning], lighting,
flooring, tile locations, sizes and layout, paint colors, decor,
appliance, fixture and furniture selections, and furniture layout, etc.
Designers make it a point to keep up-to-date with all new products available. |
Design includes kitchen cabinet layout and
cabinet wall elevations. The door style, material, and finishes options
are chosen by you. Some companies may also offer tiles and plumbing
fixtures.
Cabinet companies generally do not keep up-to-date with current market offerings, except for items related to cabinets [e.g. pantry pull-out shelving] |
Service
|
Hands-on; work on and off-site.
|
Work mostly off-site. Project communications
with the client are usually done through a sales rep.
|
Needs analysis
|
In-depth, on-going dialogue with you
|
Basic understanding what your wants and needs
are
|
Experience
|
5-10 years experience is recommended for a complex
room such as a kitchen
|
Often, a junior designer [0-5 yrs experience]
will be assigned to do the design
|
Style
|
Unlimited style options, depending on your
budget, architectural features and the style of the adjacent
areas/rooms
|
Cabinet style is limited to whatever door
options and box sizes are available
|
Budget
|
Design fees are extra – around 10-15% of
the net cost, for turn-key full service.
A medium budget kitchen is between
$50,000-75,000
|
Design fees are built into the price of the
cabinets.
A ballpark price for 'semi-custom'* cabinets
in a medium size kitchen is between $20,000-25,000
|
How does it work?
|
Approved design drawings are given to the
general contractor in order for them to get quotes on
everything, including pricing from a kitchen cabinet company. The quotes are then reviewed by the designer for
accuracy and presented to you for approval
|
The kitchen cabinet company uses their own
design drawings in order to give you a quote on the cabinets and
counter
|
End Result
|
A stunning, cohesive, unique kitchen which is
tailored to suit your lifestyle, budget and the style
[or future style!] of the rest of the house
|
A nice basic kitchen which may have visual
flow with adjacent rooms
|
This option may be right for you if :
|
- you enjoy collaborating one-on-one with a
trained professional
- you have specific space planning needs
which may require walls, ceiling and doorways to be changed
- you appreciate that the time and effort put
into a project will result in an exceptional kitchen you are
delighted to be in.
|
- you are planning on moving soon and do not
want to invest in a specialized product
- you have an existing kitchen layout that
doesn't require any new construction
- you are comfortable choosing lighting,
materials, colors and styles that suit the rest of your home
- you are on a tight budget
|
* by
semi-custom, I mean that most kitchen cabinet company's products are
limited to the door styles, materials and finishes options currently
in their product offering. Unusual sizes, details such as inlay,
and materials such as metal are done by a full-custom cabinet
workshop and up-charged accordingly.
Blogatchalater.
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