Yes, absolutely! There are interior designers who design kitchens and will do the measuring and budget development. Some have their own installation team/contractors they work with. It's an ideal situation to have a designer/contractor team that have a good working relationship with each other.

Great advice Helen. Spot on.

You might want to do a reevaluation of that budget. As a DIY project, it’s probably doable, with some budget choice materials.

It’s darn low, even without taking down a wall, to have any paid labor involved. That’s an assessment to make before spending 5K on a design plan.

Contractors who specialize in kitchens and baths usually have a designer on staff.

The great thing about an experienced designer is that he or she will be able to advise you what is feasible within whatever your budget it and then can achieve what is feasible within your budget.

If moving a wall is an absolute deal breaker in terms of your even doing any kind of remodel, then get a quote just for removing the wall. There is some dispute as to who to hire to tell you whether and how to remove a wall but for peace of mind, I would hire a structural engineer who could advise and would also be able to give you a fairly good idea of costs for removing and reinforcing to the extent structurally necessary.

I would never use a contractors KD this is a job best done by an independant KD. I would say your budget is a bit small with the removal of a wall and that that entails things like flooring in both the kitchen and the adjoining room and often that leads into new flooring everywhere. There will bea cost for an engineer to evaluate the wall removal and indicating whether the wall is load bearing or not that cost alone can be pretty pricey. Yes you eed a plan before getting a price from a contractor and your KD will need to be on site often in the process.