Kitchen Designer:

Do You Need to Hire a Home Designer For Your Reno Project?

"The national average for a kitchen remodeling project is $23,000 and a high end kitchen will probably cost in the neighborhood of $50,000," says Peggy McGowan, a Certified Kitchen Designer and founder of Kitchen & Bath Concepts.

That makes it the most expensive room in the house. With that kind of investment, it is important to make sure you get the results you want without squandering money in the process.

To help assure that, McGowan suggests you insist on a designer who specializes in kitchens and bathrooms. There is just too much going on behind the walls and in front of them to trust your project to someone who isn't extremely experienced with kitchens.

However, before you consider hiring a designer, you ought to think about what you are looking for in a kitchen. The best way to begin that process is by gathering ideas. Look in magazines, newspapers and product brochures. Almost any source material can be grist for your mill. When you see something that interests you, put it in a binder. It will come in handy later when you get closer to turning your hopes and aspirations into reality.

By all means, visit showrooms and talk to designers. It's part of the process of getting oriented. Naturally, you are looking for someone who seems knowledgeable. But the designer you hire should also be a good listener.

Some designers may have a set look, a certain signature style. If that happens to coincide with what you want, fine. However, you are likely to be best served by a designer whose goal is to give you what you want, not one who is trying to create a monument to themselves.

Admittedly, cabinets set the tone of a kitchen and say what the style is, whether it's French Provincial or Contemporary. However, McGowan suggests that a better place to start your planning is with the appliances. After all, kitchens are for cooking, and the first question to ask is: how do you like to cook? Naturally, your lifestyle enters into this decision.

For instance, if you throw lots of catered parties, you'll definitely want ovens that comfortably accommodate the caterer¹s pans. Do you prefer gas or electric? Is gas even an option? And if your choice is electric, what type of electric appliances are you most comfortable with? To achieve this fit between your kitchen and lifestyle, your designer needs to understand your priorities and that takes an intelligent, perceptive listener.

Setting a budget should definitely be part of the planning process and is something to discuss with your designer. With a big enough budget, virtually anything can be accomplished. However, most of us have realistic limits to how much we can afford to spend or care to.

A good place to start the process is with a tour around the showroom. It's an opportunity to point out what you like and to get ballpark costs. McGowan notes that choosing a kitchen is a bit like buying a car. A Volkswagen and a Mercedes will both get you there in air conditioned comfort, but how much style do you want?

A good rule of thumb might be to plan on spending about as much as you spent for your best car. The difference, of course, is that every year your car is worth less money whereas money you put into your kitchen increases the value of your home by about that same amount.

When you hire a designer, you can expect to pay a retainer. $50 to $75 per hour would be a typical fee, and ten hours would be an average amount of time for a designer to spend doing research and working up drawings for your approval.

The next step, once the plans have been approved, is for your designer to shop. You are welcome to accompany your designer and discuss items at the time, or you may prefer to have your designer report back to you with preliminary samples.

The design is not complete until everything is specified, from paint colors or wallpaper through appliances and cabinets. Many designers, McGowan included, will credit back your design money, if you hire them as your general contractor. In that case, the money is applied to the costs of doing your kitchen.

The major advantages of hiring your designer to be your general contractor is the value of the rapport you have already established, their high degree of accountability and their commitment to closely oversee the project.

As you might suppose, scheduling is enormously important. A typical kitchen remodeling or new installation is likely to take six to eight weeks. Expect your contractor to give you a detailed, day by day schedule, so you will know when things need to be done to make your deadline. This is only for planning purposes; it is not an absolute guarantee of when things will be performed. Most contractors will try to finish ahead of schedule.

If this seems like an elaborate process to go through, keep in mind that today's kitchen is likely to be the most important room in the house. It is the place where families gather and where more and more entertaining takes place. In short, it is your comfort zone, a place of refuge in a stressful world, and that makes all this detailed planning worthwhile.

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