IMO you are in desperate need of some help. Cabinet guy? what does that mean. I am designer I have a contractor that works for me he oversees my design and all the trades who get the work done I design the kitchen and then order the cabinets the contracto has them installed. I don’t know what it is you want done. Contractors are not designers they put together what ever the designer tells them to do. Maybe you tell us what it is you need and we can maybe help.

It's a pretty big project. Complete kitchen remodel with taking down wall, opening up a door way, french doors to outside where a window is, and removing and exterior door. If I may ask, how many hours would you typically spend with a clients job? I will pay retainer (which would be equal to 25 hours) then she would charge hourly from there. Does that sound about right?

You won't regret the money you spend on a designer. Think comprehensively please. Every player on the team has to play nice with each other, with none intimidated by the other.

I designed and acted as contractor for my $90k kitchen remodel, many years ago. I went that route because I hated every kitchen designer I interviewed. Horrible, snooty women who sniffed at my budget (it was at a time when there was lots of work for kitchen designers, and they could afford to be snooty...I hope that snobby attitude came back to bite those women). I drew up my own plans, found a semi-custom cabinet company, purchased the flooring and the counter, the appliances and the plumbing, the lighting and the transformer for the lighting, etc. Everything down to the handles on the cabinets. I was working with a building contractor I had worked with before (he acted as sub-contractor, in this case), and I trusted him. There were some glitches, but here are glitches when you work with a designer, too. This is it for the faint of heart, though! My concern in reading your post is that your contractor might be cornering you to use his buddies for every supply and service. That would raise a lot of red flags, for me.

I'm definitely not organized enough for that. However, I feel like both designer and contractor have "people" that they might corner me into using. However, I just know I need to be clear with what I want and my budget (and know I may have to sacrifice some things for budget maybe)

My contractor was absolutely thrilled to hear that I hired a designer. I’m sure she will make everyone’s life easier. She is also passing her vendor discounts on to me, so my savings are basically paying for her fees. I’m not sure if that’s common practice for designers or not?

@Whitney, about your worry that you will pay more for stuff bought through a designer: designers make their money not by charging you more for the goods they source, but by paying To the Trade rates for those goods and charging you full retail. They also charge you for their time. They get some form of referral fee from the contractors they steer you to, but that is between them and the contractors. Designer contracts vary, though.

Have you considered using a “design and build” contractor?

@P M I have heard from many that designers can get you better rates on goods. However, I also heard they make money of the goods. So, I am not sure which one is correct. I am sure it differs. I also heard that contractors can get really great rates on goods too. I mean, I think my budget is reasonable, but I havent seen a quote yet for full reno. Waiting to see from two different contractors. I think I am just worried where there does not need to be.

@Whitney, my contractor did me a favor and ordered the crazy expensive tub for me on another remodel, and passed along his discount. Saved me more than $1k on that one item. But contractors aren‘t generally going to do that for you, or not very often, anyway.

I completely a complete remodel fairly recently and I - as the professionals said - I didn't know what I didn't know when I started.

I had a designer who advised me and supported me on every aspect of the project from drawing up the plans that were submitted to the City for permits as well as submitting to GC's for their bids.

My designer was so much more than a "decorator" as you was expert on construction and space and so much stuff beyond what looked "pretty". She also acted as my project manager in terms of inspecting and finding stuff that my non-expert eyes would have missed as well as educating me in terms of what is *normal* and what needs to be corrected.

As others have posted, for a lot of the stuff, I paid less or what I would have paid because she passed on her trade discounts plus a markup. She has contacts all over Los Angeles in terms of knowing where to get the best priced sources. And whatever I paid was worth it for her expertise and support.

I am in Los Angeles too. Talking to my designer, I feel this is how she will work with me. Reading everything, I am convinced that a designer is what I need.

My designer worked strictly on a percentage of what was purchased and/or designed. She did a lot of custom designs for me. She charged me an initial design fee to draw up the plans that were used to get permits and were sent out for bids. These were equivalent to blueprints. There was also a design fee for the look of the design but that was treated as an advance against fees when or if I moved ahead with the project using her services since I couid have theoretically taken her plans and boards and attempted to do it myself And what a disaster that would have been. 😂 😆

You won't know until you talk to a few. All structure fees differently. Make certain you understand the fee, can work in harmony with whomever you select - and that does NOT mean a designer who says "yes" to every idea you have.

The thing that folks most struggle with? Getting firmly in their head that it all seems a bit abstract, UNTIL you get to final result that is all "you", but better than YOU could have ever achieved on your own.That is the point of any designer, no matter the project at hand.

Designers are travel agents, interpreters of wishes and dreams. Yours, not theirs. But to accomplish that is a dialogue and there are give up and GETS. : ) A dialogue, is not an argument........a designer isn't a dictator. Which is why it is called dialogue.

Don't be penny wise and pound foolis. Get a designer or be prepared to spend more money on errors, redos and general dissatisfaction. If you allow a contractor to drive the process the contractor will do what suits her, not you. You do not have the experience or knowledge to be fluent in discussing options and outcomes with a contractor. A designer is more money upfront in planning and less money in the end, because you planned.

@Jan Moyer - I am in the final stages and the joke between my decorator and myself at this point is to ask her why she is even bothering to ask me for input. We have a truly collaborative process and she has listened to my feedback - especially in terms of function and delivered beyond my expectations. But I lack the visual ability to *see* the final result and so there have been a few freak outs when I thought something was a design disaster but it turned out to be fabulous.

I ordered a custom rug based on Chinese Deco designs because I couldn't find one that was the size, color and contained the design elements I wanted. I accompanied her to the rug place but I was so out of my depth in terms of being able to visualize how the sample "tufts" were all going to work together that it was a standing joke between the three of us - rug man; my designer and me that whenever they asked my opinion, I would just laugh. At this point, when the miniature sample was delivered I told her that I trusted her completely in terms of making any changes necessary although obviously the designer and I had extensively discussed the main colors; the design elements including how many "borders" there would be.

I just couldn't imagine achieving my end result without my designer - it's functional and it reflects my taste and sensibilities but so beyond anything I would have put together. She also incorporated existing pieces and helped me "release" the ones that wouldn't work - we refinished my Waterfall bedroom set for example but my dining room table is new but a copy of a French Art Deco table I had fallen in love with after seeing a picture on the internet. She had the sources who were able to replicate the table for less or the same as a pedestrian version from Room & Crate would have been and I not only got the style I wanted but the exact size and shape as well.

@ Helen

You have just described the scenario that makes us all....do what we DO. A happy client: ) Good for you. The "freak out" ? That's the part and parcel of my "abstract until the end " comment . Enjoy fully, your new spaces. !!! Hire someone you trust, and then trust whomever you hired.