You’re Not Happy:
Are you not happy with what is being presented to you by your remodeling team? Or worse, you’re not happy with the way your remodeling project turned out and you can’t figure out why. Maybe your lifestyle is the problem. More specifically, maybe you and your designer were too busy chasing an aesthetic rather than thinking through exactly how you are going to live in this kitchen.
In the past I have written about kitchen performance. Which is also very important. But now we are talking about you; your lifestyle. How this new kitchen will integrate or change how you live your life. This process is not limited to the kitchen. You can apply it to many purchases that you think will improve your life.
For instance, say you had internet only or Wi-Fi in the family room of the house. Then you decide you are bringing a hard line and Wi-Fi in every room in the house. Do you think you are going to see your teenagers as much as you did when they were forced to congregate in the family room? You may come to miss the days of watching them stare into their phones, texting each other when they were less than ten feet away. I digress.
It is extremely important that you envision what your lifestyle will look like after the renovation. Not just on the holidays or when hosting a party but 365 days a year. This is important for several reasons. Your ability to articulate your lifestyle looking forward will inform the designer how to design the space. It will help make your appliance selections; Appliances are key to performance. More on performance next month.
Other factors your envisioned Lifestyle will have an effect on are traffic flow, seating, lighting, layout and most importantly compromise. When budget or other remodeling realities cause plans or previous choices to be revisited compromises are often made. Your envisioned lifestyle; if articulated, will inform those choices.
A wise and well-respected Residential Architect in the Chicago area once told me a residential remodeling is like a ten-month pregnancy. When you get towards the end you just want it over. He is not wrong. To avoid this reality, envision your Lifestyle, articulate your vision to the design professionals you’re working with, budget accordingly and plan, plan, plan.
DDS Design Services Policy:
At DDS Design our policy has always been to offer an initial consultation, in the home at no charge. That is where we discuss the Design and Specification Development and what that will cost. I never ask for a check during that meeting. However, we do mention what the fee will be and what they can expect for it. If the client wants to move forward immediately we will go ahead and take the measurements and pictures we need to move forward. In those cases, we hold the check for three days and double check with the client before proceeding.
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The Ask the Kitchen Guy Blog by Jeff Kida is the property of DDS Design Services, LLC. All rights are reserved by the owner.
