WORKING WITH YOUR KITCHEN CONSULTANT : An Important Team Member In Designing Your New Dream Kitchen

How To  Work With A Kitchen Design Consultant

A Kitchen Design Consultant differs from an Interior Designer in that they are focused on ONE SPACE (and its relationship to the adjacent spaces). As a result, their understanding of the function and unique opportunities in the Kitchen is likely more in depth - as a specialist might be to a generalist.

For that reason, if you find the right person, they’ll be a knowledgeable addition to a team that could include an Architect or Interior Designer, or they’ll be all you need in a renovation that is all about the Kitchen.

When to Hire a Kitchen Designer for Your Dream Kitchen

‘The sooner the better’ is the best way to think of bringing on your Kitchen Design Consultant. On projects that are still mere thoughts for the near future, having an early ‘ideas’ meeting gives you design ideas you can consider over time while still moving about and living with your current space, even (and especially!) if your project is a year out.

Sometimes the right design solution will require moving some walls, plumbing, or electrical in an existing space. Working early on with the Contractor and having a solid plan in place will help avoid costly delays once Construction begins.

WHO to Hire as Your Kitchen Design Consultant

When looking into options for Kitchen Design Consultants to work with, find someone you feel like you communicate well with - and definitely someone whose expertise and opinions you trust. Any project will have its ups and downs, and working with a Design Consultant who you feel will always have your best interest at heart, while also listening to your unique needs and wishes will help get you through some of the more chaotic times.

Your Design Consultant should be learning from you - who you are, how you cook, what your unique style is - and incorporating ideas from that into your new Kitchen space. They should understand the motions and processes of working in a home Kitchen (and NO, it’s NOT in a ‘kitchen triangle’ fashion!), the difference between designing for one or two Cooks, how to incorporate adaptable design for flowing between small to large gatherings, or for aging in place. But most of all, they should understand HOW PEOPLE COOK.

A Kitchen Designer AND a Passionate Home Cook

WHY is it so important to be a Designer who cooks? The processes of cooking - even at home - can be really technical. We do not - and never have - cooked in an equally important triangle fashion inside of the Kitchen. A passionate home cook who designs understands that up to 80% of our time spent in the Kitchen is actually in the Prep Zone. We slice, dice and mise-en-place sometimes for hours before we cook. Within this Prep, we’ll visit the Clean Zone (sink) and the Food Storage Zone (pantry, fridge/freezer), but rarely in equal balance as we will the Cook Zone once our Prep is completed. 

Meet Alison Kent, Kitchen Design Consultant at the Home Kitchen

As someone who has spent decades in residential Architectural design AND as a very passionate home cook (even incorporating canning/pickling, fermenting, dry aging, smoking …), Alison Kent is a Kitchen Design Consultant that takes the task very seriously. She has spent hours studying commercial restaurant kitchens to bring the best of those efficiencies back into the home Kitchen.

A Passion for Gathering Friends and Family

The Kitchen remains the single most important space in the home to gather with friends and family. It’s warm, it’s nourishing, it smells amazing, it’s memories, it’s creativity, it’s a practice, it’s meditation … We’re drawn to it and it draws in our most cherished humans.

Beyond all the passion for the Kitchen space as the heart of your home, it needs to work well for gatherings of all kinds. Your Kitchen should feel intimate whether there are 2 or 20 people for dinner. Work with your Kitchen Design Consultant to make sure the Kitchen functions for all your gatherings.

Working with the Home Kitchen - Design Services as You Need Them

It’s important to have the right team with expertise you can rely on, but it’s equally important to remember that ultimately it is YOUR Kitchen. Your voice needs to be heard and respected, so make sure you find people who will listen as well as they advise.

Working with Contractors

Your Contractor is the great  ‘get it done’ team member. They will coordinate all the Trades, interpret the various drawing sets, provide schedules and budgets, and work with your suppliers and millworker or cabinet maker. It’s a big job, but part of it is working with the whole team, so hiring a team player is key!

Working with Arch/ID’s

Sometimes your project is bigger than *just* a Kitchen and your team might include Architects and/or Interior Designers to design structure and develop personality in your various spaces. Often, however, designing the Kitchen can be left to junior staff or created with a ‘plug and play’ approach of just placing cabinets where they fit. Finding Designers who are willing to work closely with your Kitchen Design Consultant is important.

Working with Millworkers

Millwork - or cabinetry building - is a huge component in Kitchen Design. For home cooks who have unique spaces, work in complex ways, or are open to out of the box solutions, finding a cabinet maker who is also a problem solver will help you achieve the best project possible. Whether working with standard box sizes or fully customized cabinetry, hopefully your cabinetry person is willing to hear and implement you and your Kitchen Design Consultants personalized ideas.

Working with Showrooms

Too often trips to Showrooms for Appliances or specialty finishes leave us with more questions than answers. Knowing how - and who - to ask will help you get answers. Some Showrooms rely on sales staff to sell what ‘isn’t moving’ vs what you need. It can be hard to get straight answers on whether an Appliance or finish  is the right one for YOUR cooking style. Gather as much information as possible, do online research, and rely on the expertise of your Kitchen Design Consultant. Whenever possible, contact separate Repair companies and find out which brands have problems that won’t work with your needs (every Appliance and brand has SOMETHING to fix eventually, but talking to Repair people is a great way to sort out whats what).

Working with Trades

Kitchens involve a lot of experts - including Plumbing, Electrical, sometimes HVAC and Structural. You may have Finishing or Carpentry trades and/or Flooring and Tiling people. Your Contractor, Architect/Interior Designer, and Kitchen Design Consultant can help you navigate working with Trades, but it helps to be mindful as you contribute to the Design process of their expertise and involvement.