Canberra Kitchen DESIGN SERVICES
A qualified kitchen designer, apart from
developing detailed specifications from innovative ideas, can pull all the tasks
of your kitchen project together whilst meeting your budget. The designer will keep you from getting bogged
down in details that can throw your planning off track.
You'll be free to dream,
while the designer thinks through all the measurements, material coordination,
and construction logistics that will make your dream a reality.
A recent report from the Housing Industry Association (HIA Research Group 2004) reported as follows:
"Sophisticated and knowledgeable consumers have created a whole new set of
challenges for kitchen designers. Many commented on how the industry was
beginning to share similarities with the wider fashion industry with TV personality name
brand cookware and signature series kitchen designs. Designers also reported that
consumers continue to gravitate towards the quality end of the scale rather than
buying on price alone.
Most designers reported that in general terms, three categories of kitchen design had emerged.
- First and foremost is the flamboyant fashion statement with a number of different surfaces, bench heights, and the work triangle (sink, refrigerator and oven/cooktop) expanding into additional zones such as coffee zones, breakfast zones and wine zones.
- Second is the influence of commercial or restaurant style kitchens with respect to stainless steel benches and cabinets, under-bench glass fronted fridges, multiple ovens, wider ovens, multiple sinks, and large ducted stainless rangehoods with strong sculptural features.
- Thirdly is the kitchen that recedes into the background in particular in smaller spaces such as apartments and smaller lot housing developments. Unimposing and minimalistic and is seen as more of a food preparation area rather than a cooks ‘stage’".
Another interesting outcome from the designer’s point of view has been the emigration of the kitchen into other areas of the home; that is, basement kitchens, outdoor kitchens and even media room kitchens.
Clearly this trend has a considerable impact on use of materials in that the one-kitchen-per-home rule used in our forecasts and estimates of activity could well become less valid over the next 5 years.
A number of common threads were reported among kitchen designers that will continue to fundamentally change the respective use of materials in kitchen design over the coming years.
These include:
- The ongoing desire to integrate the kitchen with the rest of the house. Just as cabinets and benchtops are making their way out into the living area to house books, videos and DVD’s, artwork and sculptural elements are making their way into the kitchen space in an effort to create a feeling of one seamless room.
- The explosion of the on-line revolution has seen internet and computer alcoves being added in kitchen design, the inclusion of which allows for easy supervision of children when accessing the internet in addition to providing easier access to on-line resources such as recipes and shopping networks.
- The breakfast bar has become the centre of the home, accommodating everything from chairs for easy sit down meals, to multiple storage areas for knives, place mats, wine, paper towels etc. Design has moved rapidly toward the square box shape with very chunky benchtop profiles.
- Alternative materials and finishes are gaining more and more acceptance including solid surface benchtops (from reconstituted materials such as quartz or granite granules, marble dust or glass chips right through to blend of polyester and/or acrylic resins with mineral fillers), lighter wood veneers with horizontal grains, etched glass tops and cabinets, pewter and concrete benchtops, and glass splashbacks.
- Smarter storage solutions are more prevalent in kitchen design including pull out pantries, 1200mm wide drawers with full extension, and deeper drawers with superior load bearing properties to house heavy cooking utensils and appliances.
In other words, a good designer will help you do it right the first time, see possibilities where you could not, and make the entire experience go smoothly.
What process should you expect a designer to follow?
When you work with a kitchen designer, you don't have to give up control of your plans or turn all the remodeling work over to other craftsmen. Think of yourself as the project director and of the kitchen designer as the project manager. You can be intimately involved in every detail of the project and even do some of the hands-on work. But when you do need someone to handle logistics, whether it's ordering products or coordinating contractors' schedules, the designer or her/his colleagues can step in.
The designer will:
Visit your home to take
measurements.
Create a the design perspectives, elevations and floor plan.
Develop a detailed quotation.
Discuss the design reasons with you and apply modifications.
Assist with colour and materials options.
Review modifications to meet changing requirements/budgets.
Formalises agreed plans and specifications into a contract.
Schedule your job into the production.
Assist in coordinating of plumbing, electrical, etc. contractors.
Oversee the construction and installation of all design elements. Be sure to clarify up front who will be responsible for the sub-contractors.
Some design firms will coordinate the contractors' work only after you have selected and come to
separate agreement with each sub-contractor.
Aneka Kitchens however, prefers to
contract the Plumber, Electrician and other sub-contractors that they have
quoted for, to ensure all the work is carried out on schedule and that the work is carried out as per
contract
