“You do a kitchen maybe once or twice in your life.” I say this fairly frequently. A kitchen renovation is filled with pressure - pressure to find and commit to the best design, find the best products, select the right colors and then, find the best tradespeople you can to put all the pieces together. And hope it all falls into place.
But first you have to find the right designer who can deliver a functional and aesthetically pleasing design, right? The traditional way to start the kitchen project is to look at local kitchen showrooms, find a product you like and hopefully there will be a designer on staff who you feel comfortable with. These steps are not always in sync with each other.
kitchen design rendering by susan serra, ckd
There is a better way. Actually, there are several, but today I’ll talk about the value of beginning with a one hour consultation.
ONE HOUR CONSULTATION
I’ve been working with clients via a one hour video consultation for over ten years. It’s a wonderful way, like speed dating in a sense, that clients can get great solutions for the major issues they bring to me. I take a deep dive and become fully familiar with the client’s space and issues prior to our consultation. It may be a one hour consultation, but it amounts to 2-3 hours that I devote to every client.
Sometimes, I’ll mark up plans that clients send me to remind myself to discuss a variety of issues. I do my own analysis in addition to addressing clients’ questions.
Big functional and aesthetic solutions are very often presented to my clients - solutions they have not considered and which open up fresh, new opportunities to enhance their lifestyle in and around the kitchen. An hour’s consultation can change everything for the better and for long term use and enjoyment. I create an album of images they send, sections of their plans if they have them, share my screen and it is a super productive consultation. I’ll recommend products here and there.
I’ll talk soon about the two design services I offer that deliver intelligent designs that balance aesthetics, function, lifestyle needs and joy!
Let’s work it out.