Remodeling your kitchen can take a toll on your budget, and selections can easily get out of hand. Working with a designer can actually save you money in the long run as we can help you from making costly mistakes! Most designers will offer you their discounts on the finishing selections. For example, we save our clients 15-20% on cabinets alone! These savings offset the investment made in working with a professional designer. Being in business for over 17 years, I have collected a few tips that can help!
Tip Number 1: Gather inspiration photos to help guide your remodel journey. This will keep you centered as you head to stores looking for actual product. It will also assist in communicating with your designer. And as a rule of thumb, do not contact a contractor yet!
Tip Number 2: Work with a designer or think things through on your own to come up with a plan A and a plan B. For example, maybe your upper cabinets have dated arches, but the lower cabinets are a flat panel – which is more desirable. Maybe plan A is all new cabinets and plan B is new upper cabinets and painting the lower cabinets an accent color!
Tip Number 3: Select your appliances. You will need the specifications for you appliances before you head to the cabinet designer. You don’t need to purchase them, but you will need to have them selected.
Tip Number 4: Work with a designer in some aspect to assist you in get your design and all selections sourced. I’m talking down to the detail of backsplash grout color, installation, cabinet hardware and installation location, where you want outlets, electrical needs/notes, edge profiles for your counter tops etc…leave no stone unturned. All information needs to be located in an easy to read sourcing document. We call this the EED Process, or Ensured Ease Design Process. Once you have all that information….
Tip Number 5: Now you can finally contact a contractor for bids! Send them the PDFs of the selections/sourcing documents. Show them the plans, all the selections, cabinet designs and what you are wanting to do plan A and plan B – depending upon budget. You can do this, because remember, you have not purchased ANYTHING yet for your remodel, anything can be tweaked! These documents will assist your contractor in obtaining bids for the design and product you actually want instead of working off of allowances. Working off of allowances is setting yourself up for a not-so-great customer experience.
Working with a professional designer can save you money and give you a better customer experience. Remember to use the EED Process for the best customer experience! If you want more information on residential design services visit our website here. Also, please email us if you have a topic you would like us to cover in our blogs. If you are enticed by our EED Process, check out our Blog for more information! But don’t stop there! Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with all the latest tips and tricks. We love share our ideas with you! Have a beautiful week and remember to never stop striving to achieve your vision!
