Posted by jsexton – October 15, 2006 12:07 PM

Many people have asked about the cost of working with a designer. For us it was $5,000. At first, this sounded like a lot money; I wasn't sure we needed to spend this much. But in hindsight, hiring Angelique has been totally worthwhile.

Without her involvement, Gretchen and I would probably be divorced by now. Okay, I'm kidding, but we would have needed to spend every spare minute (and we have very few spare minutes, with two kids, jobs, a dog, etc.) doing research, working through the details and finalizing a complex plan. Now our remodel is going to turn out much better because we have an expert on our side. Here's what we're getting for the money:

-- A design plan for the kitchen, as well as the dining room, eating area and stairway. This was a collaborative process. We pushed back and forth for several weeks, until we all were comfortable with the final plan. This process included picking cabinets, finishes and countertops.

-- A lighting plan. Ours includes can lights, under-cabinet lights, in-cabinet lights and pendant lights (which hang down over the island). Angelique mapped out the location for each light, and then worked with the electrician on the installation.

-- Angelique did all the measuring for the cabinets, and then spent hours at Home Depot working out the cabinet order.

-- Help choosing most of the products for the kitchen. Things like the faucet, sink, backsplash and paint colors. Angelique would drop by or send an email with options for each. Instead of Gretchen and I spending all day Saturday looking at faucets, Angelique showed us photos of three faucets she thought were right for our style. We would pick one or send her back to the drawing board if we didn't like any of the options.

-- Keeping to the schedule. There are dozens of decisions to make with a kitchen remodel. For us, it was easy to put off decisions when we couldn't make up our minds. Actually, Gretchen tends to be very decisive, while I like to ponder things. She calls this procrastinating! During the time we needed to finalize decisions, Angelique gave us a list of three or four items per week. She said if we were to stay on schedule we needed to decide on each by the end of the week. We did this dance for three or four weeks. It was a great process.

-- As the project has progressed, Angelique has worked through problems with the plumber and other contractors. She stood toe-to-toe with the structural engineer to keep our open floor plan on track. From experience, Angelique has a good sense of what is possible and what is not. She is doing a great job for us.

Even in the midst of a big remodel, life goes on. This evening Maggie lost her first tooth. This is a big deal for her. All the other kids in her first grade class had lost teeth, and Maggie was feeling behind. She squealed with delight when the tooth finally came out.