Kitchen Design Software

Lessons Learned: Kitchen Design Debacles

Planning is free—so do a lot of it!

Many homeowners were surprised by how much time they spent planning their renovation, but the more you can visualize at the beginning, the fewer holdups there are later.

Your kitchen might have outdated appliances, tattered wallpaper, and worn flooring and you and your partner might have clear ideas of what you want to do, but completely different visions.

Spreadsheet Solves Problems
Create a spreadsheet to store ideas. Separately, you and your partner can rank each on a scale of 1 to 5; projects marked with a 5 were definites—anything with a lower number was territory for compromise.

Know what you want before you get bids
Early planning is critical when shopping for bids from contractors. Without a detailed plan, it’s hard to make apples-to-apples comparisons.

Choose contractors carefully
The first architect might not secure a building permit, another one might be able to do the structural work but not have an eye for design details:

Surface materials should be practical and pretty

Is it durable and easy to clean? ( e.g. concrete countertops are gorgeous, but spill anything on them and it’s like oil on a garage floor—if you don’t clean up a spill right away, it’ll stain)

Prepare to be displaced

Whether it’s 5 days or 15 months, a kitchen renovation is a complete gut and clean.

Design a good workflow

Kitchen designers often spend time with clients discussing their “work triangle,” the area defined by the sink, refrigerator, and range. A good designer will help you place these items in positions that make sense for your cooking habits.

Spend the most on items that can’t be easily replaced

If budget is a major concern, consider investing in projects that can’t be changed easily and saving money on pieces that can be upgraded later

Your most important choice might be your refrigerator

When talking about appliances, homeowners are often most passionate about their refrigerators—for better or worse.

Advice When Considering a Kitchen Design Renovation

Tip #1. Above all, know whom you’re dealing with. Will they give me a lot of references? Get six to eight references from recently completed jobs. Check them out. You may be surprised at what you find.

Tip #2. Get a firm that has its own employees doing the installation. The trend is to use subcontractors. The kitchen company sells you the design, cabinetry, and countertops, maybe even the appliances, but often it then turns you over to a different company to do the installation. That’s great for the renovation company, since it ducks out of responsibility for the installation, but it makes it harder for the customer to end up with a happy kitchen experience.

Tip #3. Spend lots of time on your first appointment. Describe in detail what you want in your kitchen. The contractor should listen hard and take notes. Do you want to remodel the kitchen in order to sell the home soon? Or do you plan to live in it for years? Tell him your family’s habits. How many people in your household? Do they generally eat at the table or on the run? Do you entertain?

The entire discussion should take two or three hours. The contractor should take down every dimension of the room, then return to the office to have the kitchen designed around this family’s likes and dislikes, based on the way they live.

If the contractor doesn’t ask the right questions, he can’t design the kitchen that’s best for that family. The best thing a customer tells us is “This kitchen feels right. It’s exactly what we wanted.”

Ask for an isometric sketch, a perspective drawing, which can be done by hand or with kitchen design software, and walk through it. Make sure your contractor can explain what will be inside every cabinet, how every inch of kitchen space will be used. This cuts down on, even eliminates, surprises.