A new kitchen build or renovation is a significant undertaking, and choosing a kitchen designer who can seamlessly handle the design, build, and installation is crucial to achieving your kitchen dreams. But how do you find the perfect kitchen designer? We’ve gathered our top tips for choosing the ideal kitchen designer to make your dream kitchen a reality.
The Importance of Design and Manufacturing
When choosing a kitchen designer, look for a company that employs fully-qualified and experienced designers or consultants. It’s important to find someone who is not only a skilful designer, but also takes the time to understand your needs. It should be a balance of listening to your ideas and providing their knowledge and expert advice. This collaborative approach ensures that you have creative input into your project while relying on professional suggestions for maximum impact and functionality. Finding a designer that ticks both boxes will provide you with the best chance to achieve a kitchen design to suit your needs and lifestyle, and within your budget.
Key Questions to Consider
When evaluating a potential kitchen designer, consider the following to help you understand their experience and approach to design and manufacturing.
Visual Examples: Do they have examples and imagery available to help you visualise potential options for your design? Can you visit a showroom or view a portfolio of completed kitchens in a range of styles?
Professional Presentation: Does their website offer helpful design information and visuals? Are design plans and quotes drafted on professional software and easy to understand?
Manufacturing: Where is their cabinetry manufactured? Are they transparent about suppliers, processes and timeframes?
Choosing a designer who locally manufactures their kitchens can result in shorter lead times as well as higher quality products and workmanship. As well as supporting local businesses, local manufacturing can also make it easier to manage last-minute changes or error corrections.
Tempting Trends
While new trends can be tempting, they aren’t always the best choice for long-term benefits and functionality. Ensure your kitchen designer is up-to-date with current design trends, materials and technology, but also has the experience to know what works best. The perfect kitchen designer will combine their knowledge together with the latest trends, and your individual style, ensuring a kitchen that delivers both pleasing aesthetics and enduring practicality.
First Impressions: Communication & Customer Service
First impressions are crucial when choosing the perfect kitchen designer. It takes more than one person to create a new kitchen. Be sure to take into account your interactions with other employees too, from the receptionist to the showroom staff, not only the designer.
Initial Enquiry: Consider how your initial enquiry was handled. Were responses timely and informative? Did you feel rushed or pressured?
A Feeling of Trust & Comfort: A kitchen project is a big investment – both financially and emotionally – so it is important that it “feels right”. Your “gut feeling” is usually a pretty good guide. Do you feel at-ease when dealing your designer? Do you trust that they are able to get the job done with the best possible outcome? Do you feel comfortable with the rest of the team?
Communication: Has there been clear and concise communication? Good communication reflects well on the company’s overall processes and helps to build your trust and comfort level with the team.
Honesty & Transparency: Honesty about lead times and other important parts of the kitchen design process is particularly important, especially if you have particular requirements, or your project needs to be completed quickly. Does your designer provide appropriate information and responses that give you a clear understanding of what to expect? Are they reluctant or unable to discuss specific details on any aspect of the project?
Established Expertise & Experience
The duration a business has been in the kitchen design and manufacturing industry can significantly impact the delivery of your project. Their learned experiences, established processes and strong relationships with suppliers and tradespeople means that a seasoned designer is more likely to deliver a smooth and successful kitchen project.
Client Testimonials
Don’t just rely on what the kitchen design company says about it itself. Check for client testimonials and a strong base of repeat clients. This is a good indication of others trust in the company and its processes, providing reassurance about their reliability and quality.
Assurance & Reassurance
Choose a kitchen designer who offers product warranties, quality after-sales service, and workmanship guarantees. This commitment to quality ensures they stand behind their work, giving you confidence in their dedication to your kitchen’s perfection now and in the future.
Ultimately, choosing a kitchen designer for your new kitchen project comes down to a combination of experience, skills, service standards, and good communication. When it comes to evaluating your options, ensure the company can deliver on a number of levels before making your final decision.
Harrington Kitchens: Your Perfect Kitchen Designer
At Harrington Kitchens, we make choosing a kitchen designer easy. With over 20 years of design, build, and installation experience, we are committed to quality products, workmanship, and exceptional customer experience. Australian-owned and operated, we offer local, on-site manufacturing of premium kitchen products, backed by a great product warranty and after-sales service.
Visit the Harrington Kitchens website to explore our gallery of kitchen projects, design tips, tools, and testimonials. We invite you to visit us at our Narellan or Bowral showroom, submit an online booking request, or call on 1300 662 112 to start your new kitchen journey with us.
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