Myers Constructs, Inc. Our design build remodeling company handles kitchen design and construction in house. We also work with outside designers on occasion. I will make a few observations which I hope he readers will find helpful.

A cabinet plan is not a kitchen design. Some prospects contact us with a cabinet layout they get from a showroom designer or even a certified kitchen designer. But major elements of the kitchen are typically missing from these cabinet plans. This can pose a big risk to home owners, and it puts their contractor in the position of having to either fill in the information and charge the customer to do so, wing it and guess, or eat the corrections later.

A proper complete kitchen design deals with intended space use, existing conditions, lighting and electrical plans, elevations, structural changes, and complete product selections. Sometimes it will include a framing plan and HVAC plan. The drawings will be to scale and have measurements and room dimensions on them. All this is required to pull a construction permit for a kitchen project. If you don't pull a permit, your house won't appraise to include the value of your remodeling investment.

A kitchen project is typically a very complicated room. Tolerances on our projects are 1/8 inch or less. And most rooms are not plumb level or square (PLS) no matter what your kitchen designers drawing may suggest. An experienced installer and their subs will know how to fit the new PLS kitchen into the skewed room so you never notice. It's like great tailoring.

A lot of major systems like HVAC, electrical, plumbing, make up air, structural components, all go into a kitchen. If the pipes and electrical work are being upgraded your builder/installer needs to know exactly where they have to go. If they go in the wrong place or are forgotten, it costs a hell of a lot to fix that kind of oversight. These elements should always be on a kitchen plan.

Product selections can be very complicated. If the products are not ordered correctly, the installers won't know where to rough in correctly. So a product schedule with cut sheets is a necessary component of the kitchen plan. A large professional styled vent hood or a dimmer with multiple cans on it are sized differently from simpler product installations. Cut sheets contain this kind of information.

So all this is to say a kitchen is more than a cabinet layout. You can learn more about what I mean here http://myersconstructs.com/?p=9483

Diane Menke
Myers Constructs, Inc.
myersconstructs.com

Artisan Kitchens LLC I feel as though I need to defend my profession here; you are painting kitchen designers with a pretty broad brush. I could do the same by saying that remodeling companies typically know nothing about kitchen design (and that statement would be accurate a high percentage of the time). It's one thing to know where to run the pipes, another altogether to take all contributing factors into account to produce a final result that is beautiful AND functional for the client, which is not a general contractor's forte.

If you were given plans by a certified kitchen designer that lacked mechanical detail it is quite likely that it was an early and/or preliminary plan not intended for construction purposes that the client is using to walk around and get prices. Having said that, if you got a plan from a big box store, the lack of detail would not surprise me.

One of the major reasons to use a certified designer is because CKDs are trained and tested on every component of kitchen design, to include knowledge of codes, structural elements, etc. In addition, extensive knowledge of products, appliances and current trends are required in order to maintain certification. ALL of the drawings will be to scale, fully dimensioned, and include pertinent construction notes, as well as electrical and plumbing plans as needed. For installation purposes there will be specific detail sheets provided on all appliances, plumbing fixtures, trim details and moldings so that nothing is overlooked or improperly installed.

You're right; a cabinet layout is not a kitchen plan. But going to a dedicated kitchen specialist is going to give you a far better shot at a desirable end result than going to someone with general knowledge but no specific education in the field.

Artisan Kitchens LLC As a kitchen designer I always present my clients with a 3D rendering as part of my design service. It is extremely helpful especially if major structural changes are being made, so clients can 'see' their new space(s) before the sledgehammers arrive! It really assists in making sure that the client knows precisely what they are getting.

I've also found it useful in determining color palettes, material and lighting options. Don't honestly know how we ever lived without it.

Greg Murnock Someone mentioned "coming to the studio and putting on a helmet to walk thru"... Admitted developer going into the design on the side business here... The new Google glass (still only available to the few who went to the invite only conference)... Integration with SketchUP... Creating an actual walk thru IN your house to see the remodel... oh yeah! its going to be the best!

aimran @Google glasses & envisioning planned renovations..

and What about 3D printing? How many of you, designers have used or are thinking to employ that for your designs?

Quite an informative & interesting discussion this has been

Artisan Kitchens LLC I provided the detailed drawings and they were then made by a local cabinetmaker specifically for this project.

krissyb92603 Gorgeous Leos, Appytrails!!!

Artisan Kitchens LLC Islands are trendy right now and people *want* them, but honestly they just do not fit in every space, nor should they. I designed a space for a couple last fall who wanted an island but the dimensions of their space would not allow for one: I created a peninsula (definition: attached on one side/end) that gives the 'feel' of an island and is much more functional for them.

I'm not a believer of adding an island just for the sake of having one, which is evident in some of the pictures above.

Artisan Kitchens LLC Nora, my advice would be to call in an experienced kitchen designer. Not a decorator who says they "can do kitchens", but an actual kitchen designer, with training. Your space needs an experienced professional who can assess function, storage, traffic flow and the relationship to adjacent rooms and put together a plan that best suits you and your family's needs. The layout is the first, most important step; be sure to get it the way you want it...and then have fun with styles, colors, etc!

Scott Cook & I would argue that 12 feet wide & up aren't particularly small to begin with.

The Sky is the Limit Design Scott, don't you think you are getting a bit caught up in the term 'small'? It's a subjective term, and honestly, most of the kitchens, even a so-called small one, in North America are most likely larger than what we really need to create a healthy meal.

Artisan Kitchens LLC It is a polished marble; I'm sorry, I don't recall the name.

jaksunny It's VERY pretty!