What You Need to Know About Working With a Kitchen Designer
You may decide to employ a kitchen designer to plan and co-ordinate your kitchen remodeling process. Here is the way to go about working with one to achieve a successful remodel.
Find a planner through a recommendation preferably. Or you can visit a kitchen joinery / centre. Most planners like to come and look at your home to get a feel for style and discuss your needs. You can call and ask one to do this. Alternatively, some prefer you to show your commitment by coming to the showroom and talking to them there. Ask about the company's products and services and ask to see samples of their work. They will have a folio of photographs and testimonials. As you've been gathering ideas, show him your scrapbook and magazine pictures collected. Many creators have a questionnaire for you to complete that asks about your activities in the kitchen, your family's eating and cooking habits, and what uses you want the kitchen to perform. Have this ready. Have a copy of the floor plan ready if you have one. Give him your budget range so that he has an idea of the parameters within which to work.
He will measure your kitchen space, take photos and note the style of your home to get an idea for his plans and prices. At this point, he'll give you some ideas and an estimate of cost. After an hour or two, the kitchen designer will leave having scheduled an appointment in a couple of weeks to present some preliminary plans and prices. 
Preliminary working plans may be computer generated or done by hand. Most planners will talk to you about how different choices of materials, cabinet configuration and other additional items, such as a second sink, will affect the price they have arrived at. As you discuss these details, the design will become more refined and the planner will ask for a fee before going to work on the finished plans. He will not want to progress further, and spend time and effort on your kitchen, if you are going to decide that you would rather do it all yourself anyway, now that you have some professional input!
When the fee is paid, the planner will work on the plans until he has modified them to your satisfaction. You may have to compromise on your initial choices, as much of what you discuss will be around substituting products materials to keep withing the range of your budget. The plans will include every last fixed item from splashbacks to faucets. The final cost will be arrived at. There will a payment schedule as part of the contract which you now sign. The fee that you have already paid, will probably be made part of the payment. Some companies offer the full package of project management, installing cabinetry and buying products, as well as demolition of the old kitchen and any reconstruction needs. Others simply provide the design services and the cabinets . Make sure that you know what will be included before you begin, or you will still need to find money in your budget to do the other things not provided. This is a kitchen designers forum. Take a look at it - there is some really interesting information posted.
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