Kitchen and Bath Design Process

Kitchen and Bath Design Process

Our goal is to meet and surpass our customer’s expectations. We understand the importance of maximizing your investment by paying attention to details. From concept to completion, we provide personalized services for your home, offering innovative ideas and creative design solutions, and creating kitchens, bathrooms, offices, laundry rooms, mudrooms, and more that meet the demands and capture the style of those who use them – all within the budget.

Taking the time to determine the scope of what you want to do and the budget you have to complete the project is time well spent. Creating a scrapbook of ideas, either from magazines or printed material or online at a site like Pinterest or Houzz, helps both of us determine a direction and focus for the project.

Your kitchen is the heart of the home. Family and memories, laughter and more; the kitchen an intrinsic part of any home. Being the heart of the home, kitchen renovations impact the entire household and elicit opinions from everyone concerned.

The bathroom is also important. On average, we spend 30 min per day in the bathroom, that works out to 210 min per week or 7.58 days per year. So it should be a functional and beautiful space!

For some things that will make this experience easier and help to avoid mistakes. Here’s a guide to the process:

1. Prepare a Wish List

Prepare a list of what you like and dislike about the current space. Add to the list what you want to accomplish in a renovation that will make it better, even those that seem costly or unrealistic.

2. Prioritize.

Number the items in order of priority. Your kitchen designer will then know which things are must-haves and which things may be left out due to space or budget restrictions.

3. Look for Inspiration!

 Look through magazines, stop at kitchen showrooms, skim online stores, and look at design websites (Houzz, Pinterest).  Make notes about what you like to help determine the design direction.

4. Determine the Budget

 Determine a budget for the whole job so we can prioritize and think about what is feasible.Have a realistic financial limit on what you can spend and share that number with your designer BEFORE the design process begins so realistic options can be discussed. You’ll complete your renovation sooner and with less conflict if everyone is working toward the same goal.

5. Plan Time Accordingly

Plan on the design process taking a few  weeks at the very least for a simple facelift and much more for a full renovation. 

6. Define the Scope of Work

The scope of work will determine how long you are without a functional kitchen. But plan to be under construction for a couple of months, minimum.

7. Set Up a Temporary Kitchen

 Planning to eat out every day of the renovation is both expensive and tiring. Reduce your stress level and set up a temporary kitchen in another part of the house close to running water, like the laundry room.  Have an electric kettle and microwave, toaster oven, and perhaps a n electric frying pan and you’ll at least be able  to prepare basic meals a few days a week. If you’re renovating in the warmer months, plan to BBQ as often as possible

8. Have a Plan in Place Before you Start

Do NOT start to tear out your old kitchen without having a detailed plan in place of what is going to replace it!

9. There will be SNAFU's. That's a normal part of the process.

No job is ever accomplished without a little challenge. Planning can help minimize the frustration, but there is no perfect job.

10. Avoid the 'While We're At It' thinking

Try NOT make changes to the plan in the midst of construction. The four most expensive words in renovation are: ‘While we’re at it’.

11. Quality Versus Price

Be realistic on what’s possible and the trade off between quality and price. Kitchens and bathrooms are hard use area and deserve to function well and be as attractive as possible. It’s a big decision, so let’s get it right!

12. Listen to the Experts

Expert design advice is less expensive than correcting the mistakes of amateurs.  Remodeling nightmares can be the result of poor planning by those that think they know what they are doing.