“Some people really like change. My sister is like that. She’s constantly redecorating her house – right now, she’s turning her guest bedroom into a home office. Where Mom will stay for visits now, I don’t know – but maybe that’s the point of the renovation.” Janet laughed. “Don’t you tell her I said that!” The Weston homeowner knows she needs to upgrade her kitchen, but she’s hesitant to get started.
“I love my kitchen the way it is,” she said. “Everything is right where I want it. I guess it’s fair to say repairs are needed – with three kids and two dogs, our cabinets are just wrecked, and the appliances are starting to fail – but I don’t want to change everything.”
Here’s the truth about kitchen design: it’s all about what you want. As kitchen designers, we’ve found that sometimes people have a lot of fears and anxiety that they’re going to wind up with the designer’s idea of a great kitchen and not their own. That’s not the case. There are a good percentage of people who come to us in Janet’s position – they love their old kitchen, but for reasons of condition, energy efficiency, or safety, upgrades and renovations are necessary.
When this happens, we are very mindful of what the homeowner loves about their kitchen and wants to hold onto. If you love your floorplan and storage set up the way Janet did, we’re not going to insist on changing that. You can absolutely find cabinetry, countertop, and fixtures that are either identical or extremely similar to what needs to be replaced. So in this situation, why do you need a kitchen designer?
The first answer is time and budget. Our team has the resources and connections to find all the items you need for your kitchen upgrade in a quick and money saving manner. Additionally, we’re also in a position to be able to suggest options that have the same visual appeal but are now available in more sustainable, durable, or otherwise attractive options.
The other reason to have a kitchen designer is we think of the things you don’t. For example, in Janet’s case, lighting was an unaddressed issue in her space. She was just used to doing things in certain spaces without realizing she did so because she couldn’t see as well in other areas. We offered a range of options to brighten the space – adding a window, putting in some task lighting – and in the end, Janet wound up gaining more usable counterspace without changing the kitchen floorplan one inch.
Kitchen renovations are seldom change for change’s sake. People upgrade the kitchen when they realize the family needs a better, safer experience in one of the busiest rooms of the house. A good kitchen designer can help you make that happen.