Understanding the Types of Kitchen Professionals

As you think about what you want your dream kitchen to look like and come closer to beginning your renovation project, you may be ready to start looking for a kitchen professional. What you may not know is that there is a variety of professionals who can help you with all or part of your kitchen remodeling, and you might end up using several of them simultaneously. Here is a guide to their roles.

Kitchen designer – A kitchen designer’s main role is to design both the layout of your kitchen and the look. Homeowners turn to kitchen designers to take their vision and turn it into a practical design that is functional, beautiful and within budget.

Certified kitchen designers specialize in residential kitchen remodeling and are experienced in doing it. They are knowledgeable about kitchen design as well as construction, mechanical, plumbing and electrical issues. They keep up to date on the newest materials and products and on your local building codes and other relevant regulations. Kitchen designers are trained in both functional and aesthetic issues and can help you come up with design solutions you may not have considered.

The services of a kitchen designer are not a large expense, comprising only 4-10% of the total renovation budget on average. In addition to designing the kitchen, they may recommend cabinet manufacturers, electricians and other contractors to handle the actual implementation of your project.

Contractor – A general contractor specializing in kitchens will generally focus more on the implementation than the design, which is a good solo option if you are keeping the same layout and just need to upgrade your kitchen elements like the cabinets, backsplash, countertops, etc.  You can also use a combination of kitchen designer and contractor to handle both design and implementation of your project.

A general contractor will source any needed specialists like tile installers and plumbers and will both manage and pay them, so you only need to deal with one point of contact. General contractors are knowledgeable about all types of construction and building codes and should be able to quickly come up with solutions in the event of an unexpected complication. If there is construction involved like installing a window ormoving a wall, they will be able to advise you if and how that can be done.

Design/Build firm – As the name implies, a design/build firm incorporates both designers and contractors into the same company, giving you all the capabilities of both. One advantage of using a design/build firm is that there should be plenty of communication between the designer and the construction side, which may eliminate misunderstandings or design ideas that are difficult to implement.

Cabinet manufacturer – Since every kitchen needs cabinets and cabinets are such a large part of the overall budget, some homeowners opt to deal directly with a cabinet manufacturer. Many of them provide some design services to homeowners in the hopes that they will win the cabinet manufacturing and installation business. They can also be used in conjunction with a kitchen designer and/or a contractor or with a design/build firm. If the cabinet manufacturer provides only standard sizes and styles, this will limit the possible design but if they have the ability to create custom cabinets, they may be able to creatively solve design, space or access problems.

Cabinet manufacturers typically will also be able to provide countertops made of the same material as their cabinets (usually laminate or wood), so you may have to find another professional to handle the countertops if you want other kinds of materials like granite or quartz. If dealing with a cabinet manufacturer, ask what type of countertop materials they provide.

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