Posted by jsexton – October 7, 2006 10:00 PM
Early on when Gretchen and I were thinking about this kitchen remodel, we decided we needed help from a designer. We had a basic game plan in mind, but since we wanted to change the floor plan, we weren't confident that all our ideas would play out successfully. It seemed risky to hand our loose plans to a contractor and say "go for it."
We had never worked with a designer, and didn't know any in Knoxville. In my job I've met some terrific HGTV designers, like Candice Olson, so I loved the idea of what a designer could do for us. But I wasn't sure that folks like us used designers. In other words, I wasn't convinced we needed to shell out the bucks for something we might be able to do ourselves. Nevertheless, we moved forward with interviewing designers. We found Angelique Medow through a friend and liked her right away. We also talked to other designers, but ultimately decided Angelique was the best fit for us. Here's how the process worked:
Over two meetings we laid out our vision for the remodel. Angelique asked a lot of questions, and worked on getting to know us and our lifestyle. She challenged us on a few things, and left us with some questions to ponder. Gretchen and I didn't agree on everything, so this process wasn't easy. We spent several late nights looking at websites, magazines and books to make decisions about the kind of kitchen we wanted. We argued. I tried to check out once or twice, but Gretchen kept sticking pictures in front of me.
This is Angelique. Cool, calm and professional, even
when walls are coming down around her.
At the beginning, Angelique had one requirement: We had to meet with her together, as a couple. She wanted both of us to weigh in on key decisions. I can see the wisdom in this, although I had hoped to miss a few of the conversations. In hindsight, this was a great plan. It forced us to work out some differences that weren't clear on the surface. Gretchen wanted a more country kitchen. I liked that. I was good with it. But when it came down to specific choices, I found myself consistently leaning to more contemporary options. The surprising thing is, Gretchen eventually moved in this direction also. We will end up with a kitchen that is quite a bit different from how we initially envisioned it. And we both feel good about that.
More details to come in the next post on working with a designer.
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We are 2 months into our kitchen remodel project. We too wanted a larger kitchen and so moved the laundry room upstairs to blow out that wall and open up the area to more square footage and lots more light. Our design and floor plan has been a collaborative effort between our carpenter, the cabinetry company and my husband and me. After two major delays (a broken wrist for our carpenter and problems with the rough inspections) we are back in progress again. All the infrastructure has been completed and we will now begin the fun stuff of putting it all back together again. Only this time lots prettier than it was before. We hope this phase of the project goes faster than the first half - we are really sick of having microwaved food!
Posted by barbs – October 10, 2006 6:06 PM
Hey good luck. My kitchen project is on hold. 2 reasons, money & planning. We want to move before we were just take down a wall put cabinets here now its just put up some cabinets and lets go its a back and forth thing with my better half.
Posted by Dave G – October 10, 2006 8:40 PM
How much did it cost you for a designer?
Posted by jackie – October 10, 2006 8:45 PM
How much did it cost you for a designer?
Posted by Frances Nelson – October 11, 2006 10:51 AM
How do you go about finding a designer? How do they charge for the work that they do? Are they with you through out the whole process?
Susan
Posted by Sue B – October 11, 2006 11:37 AM
Good Morning,
We are thinking of remodeling(updating actually) to try to get a better resale price. Thinking about a designer, we are in Houston,and they are a dime a dozen. But cost?.........
looking forward to your progress.
Posted by Gloria Parrent – October 11, 2006 12:40 PM
How much did it cost for a designer?
Posted by Sue Fries – October 11, 2006 1:15 PM
My mom paid for a mid-high end designer, she paid $2500 for approx.20 hours. So far not happy, and the products she is (suggesting) are a little on the high end side.
I would recommend interviewing at least 4-6 designers to find one that understands what you want/need and how much money you can spend. Love my mom, even like some of the ideas. But the designer has not even come close to what I need though, I have to admit, I do like the color combinations for the walls and tile.
Posted by Holly – October 11, 2006 3:03 PM
My husband and I are planning on updating/renovating our kitchen ... he travels alot and leaves most of the decisions up to me .. until the last minute ... I'm very interested in your whole project, including costs.
Posted by Brenda Russell – October 11, 2006 3:07 PM
My husband and I moved from Boston to New Orleans two years ago, purchased a 140-year-old
creole cottage and proceeded to take out a few
walls and add an addition on the back. After 5
contractors (in the loosest sense of the word)
we are in limbo with no end in sight. Although
$ is the problem now, we at least have a great
floorplan figured out and competant contractor
when we do get the $ to continue.
Posted by Kathy Brown – October 11, 2006 5:27 PM
My husband and I are ready to move forward on an addition and remodel of our 20 year old, small 80's kitchen and family room. We have looked at magazines and catalogs, we know what we want and where we want it, but we have no idea where to start. Whats first? Hire a contractor, get permits? HELP!!!
Posted by Susan Moore – October 11, 2006 10:01 PM
I am the Gretchen of the blog written about above. And yes, I have compromised greatly on my original design--in my estimation, it is better to get a new kitchen, even if it is not my ideal and 'dream' kitchen. The old one was so worn, outdated and small that it was a no brainer. I still love classic country kitchens mixed with modern, but that will have to wait for another time.
Posted by Gretchen – October 11, 2006 10:32 PM
I am a Certified Kitchen & Bath designer. When remodeling a kitchen, please be careful how to choose a designer. number 1 rule is to make sure the designer listens to the homeowner's needs/wants. how can a designer design a space without any knowledge of the persons needs. Kitchen and bath remodeling can be expensive, take it as buying a car, when purchasing a car you should have a certain budget of how much you are willing to spend,do you want a CD player or 6 cd exchanger, or a navigation system, etc.,kitchens are the same thing, would you like a standard(free standing) range 30" wide, or slide in,or a cooktop with wall oven below it, or a cooktop with micro/wall oven in a tall cabinet. the more items you add the cost will go up accordingly. the designer's main objective is to give you ideas and what's available(products wise) in the market. Communication is very important in designing a kitchen or bathroom. typical hourly charge for a design consultation is $75-$125/hr. if any one has any questions please feel free to let me know.
Posted by Nab Abdulaal – October 13, 2006 5:44 PM
Barbs, good luck. Share some pictures if you can. Which microwave dinners are the best?
I got excited about eating chicken pad thai (frozen) from Ethnic Grocer. I've had it three times now, and I'm less excited...
Lots of questions about the cost of a designer. We paid $5,000. I'll do another post about what that covers. How to find a designer? I don't have a lot of advice there. We looked in the phone book, and called a few people we found there. None seemed right. Then we started asking around, and found Angelique through a friend. If there are any designers reading this. Tell us the best way to search for you.
Susan, I'll do a post at some point about how to get started. We too had lots of ideas, but weren't sure how to get started.
Posted by Jim Sexton – October 14, 2006 8:18 PM
Really wish I would have known about the oven detail before now. I love our designer, she, as unbelievable as this is, suffered a very bad concussion during the middle of our design process. As a result of this certain details got missed. One was oven size. So I am now stuck with a 24" built in oven with no real cool features, except it's self cleaning. My old oven was way cooler than that! New motto: always check out the details in advance.
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