Buying your kitchen in Birmingham – avoid the pitfalls part2Kitchens Birmingham

Buying your kitchen in Birmingham – avoid the pitfalls part2
Posted August 23, 2010 By rob.warner in Kitchens Birmingham With | Comments Off
For part 1 of this guide on buying your kitchen in Birmingham.

Badly placed services

A good kitchen designer will design your kitchen to your everyday needs, taking into account what you use your kitchen for and how you need it to work for you. I often come across kitchens that have been designed around the services that already exist. Too many designers are reluctant to relocate dish washers or washing machines, this is either lazy design or because they know that their installers do not have the skills to relocate waste pipes or water connections. Make sure that your kitchen designers have fitters and installers who are qualified and competent to carry out the work.

Work Surfaces

It is well worth your while taking time to consider what type of work surface will work for you. There has been a tendency in recent years to move towards granite work tops, which can be expensive and those with heavily detailed edges can be vulnerable to chipping. Your design consultant ant should be able to offer a range of worktop solutions, based upon your own requirements and budget.

Carcase Construction

This area of your kitchen construction is widely underestimated by many clients and kitchen retailers alike. Designers and retailers will often go for a flat pack 15 millimetre carcase in either white or mottled effect. You need to clarify this with your kitchen designer. The best carcases are solid built 18 millimetres and are built colour coded to suit your new kitchen. You should also check that the drawers have a solid base and back panel, it is important to note that drawers are often the first things to fail in a kitchen and I have seen many cases where this has happened after a very short period of time.

Overall Design Concept

Some of my clients have a fixed view of the type of kitchen that they would like to create, either because they have seen something similar at a friend’s house or in a show home or magazine. In most cases these ideas provide for concepts which can be realised through our design and installation service. Sometimes it is necessary to work with the client to adjust their expectations based around the overall construction of their properties. Kitchen designers have a responsibility to recommend a design and overall kitchen concept that adds value, both to the house and to the living environment, but also that will prove to be a medium term investment. We use the latest computer aided design software to give you the best representation possible of your new kitchen. This allows you to view different angles of your kitchen from different parts of the room, giving you a better feel of space even before your kitchen is installed. We are also able to produce high quality plans and photo realistic images of your design, it is important that your designer is able to do this for you as they are asking you to make a big commitment in what for many is the most important room of the house.

Summary

There are lots of kitchen retailers and designers in Birmingham, it is important that you choose one that you feel that you can work well with, who you are comfortable with and whom you are convinced has the necessary skills to deliver your new kitchen in a competent and efficient manner. Make sure that you have given some thought to how you would want your kitchen to look and have a key list of important things you need included. Most importantly of all, don’t put up with hard sell tactics or designers who want you to sign up front. Good quality design is all about function, not profit, which is why at Design Time we pride ourselves on being designers, not salespeople.

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