If I Could Only Give You One Piece of Advice...
When I meet people for the first time and they find out what I do for a living, they inevitably ask me for my best advice…in a nutshell. Earlier in my career, that question would fluster me. There are so many bits and pieces of advice, it was difficult to narrow it down to which ones were the most impactful on the final design. Having done this now for over twenty years, I feel quite differently. I firmly stand behind this one tip from which all other good things will follow…
Don’t accept the kitchen that you’ve been dealt
That’s it. Pretty straight forward, right? Every bad kitchen that I’ve ever seen involved some aspect of someone simply giving up a bit too easily or not having lofty enough ambitions for the space. This may range from a homeowner accepting their architect’s poorly laid out kitchen plans to someone simply settling for functional without the fabulous. Let me give you a few scenarios that I’ve seen play out…
“We love our architect and he’s done a fabulous job designing our home…well, except for the kitchen. It’s got kind of a weird layout – it looks like the leftover bits after the rest of the home was designed. He’s a great architect, so he must know this layout will work for us.”
If you’re working with an architect, then hopefully he/she is giving you a well-thought-out design. However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes they give you an uninspired box to fill because they’re fully expecting that you will flesh that out with a design professional on your own. If you’re not planning on hiring a kitchen design specialist, make sure you communicate fully with your architect to get the best layout you can before moving on from the design stage. Paying for additional revisions to correct the problems you see on paper now will be much more cost-effective than fixing them in the field with the contractor.
“I’ve got analysis paralysis. The contractor and my husband are mad at me because I just can’t seem to commit to any decisions with our kitchen. I’m disappointed that I don’t see any better options with the design, so I’m just stuck in design limbo.”
Perhaps you’re doing a remodel and you’re feeling stuck because the limited configuration has you disappointed. Try to see past your existing walls (drawing the plan out on paper helps a lot with that). Consider re-configuring your space to re-work an attached pantry or laundry room, absorb unused adjacent space (like a sunroom), or flip the breakfast room and the kitchen entirely. Many of these options may seem expensive, but they are often less costly than making the mistake of remodeling a kitchen without addressing its poor layou
“My friend recommended this local custom shop and they seem like they make decent cabinetry, but I don’t think they’re digging very deep to give me great design. They’ve arranged everything to be functional, but…well, it doesn’t look like all of the pretty kitchens I see online.”
This is the most disappointing of outcomes…you’ve hired a professional but they’re just giving you something that is simply functional. You know that opportunities are being missed.
I’m ashamed to admit it, but there are a lot of design professionals doing kitchen design who really have little to no talent. Even worse, some of them have significant training, but they still can’t see all of the possibilities. If a showroom or cabinet vendor is designing your kitchen for free, then it probably matches the value of the design they give you. So if you’re not getting the results you expected from the design process, cut your ties quickly and walk away.
There are many designers out there who can offer you functional, but good design is that magical alchemy of form and function where it all comes together. I enjoy the space planning aspect of design more than anything else. I love discovering the shape, structure, and character of a space when everyone else missed it. That’s my art and I love it.
I also love detailing the interiors of cabinetry so that every storage space is well thought out. Does my client love to drink tea and need an amazing place to store her assortment? Does my client have an extensive collection of chafing dishes for entertaining and needs a special place to house these when not in use? Does my client have young children who need to be able to reach their dishes so that they can help set the table each night? These are the details that I love hearing about from my clients because it gives me the opportunity to engineer solutions for them through design.
We’d love to speak with you and share more about how we create elegant, beautifully appointed interiors for our clients.