Kitchen designers who work at larger cabinet dealers can sell millions of dollars in cabinetry a year and are paid well because of it. They are usually very experienced and good at their jobs. Designers that work for design and build firms or at home centers, such as Lowes and The Home Depot, are usually paid less than half what better cabinet dealerships pay.
With design and build firms like Garner Fox, the kitchen designer is one of the lowest paid professionals on the project. Often the owners, the project manager, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and other trade professionals are earning more than the kitchen designer. This is how little these firms respect our profession. Not surprisingly, the overpriced kitchens this design and build firms create look silly and amateurish to the better paid and more experienced kitchen designers working at cabinet dealerships.
Home Centers also don’t respect kitchen designers.
For example, Lowes has reduced the amount they pay their most experienced kitchen designers by 50% in the last 10 years.
Home builders are the worst of all! Companies like Toll Brothers don’t consult with kitchen designers at all during the design of their homes or even in ordering the cabinetry. This creates absolutely ridiculous kitchens. In fact, twice in the last year, Main Line Kitchen Design has sold better designed replacement kitchens to new home buyers days after they closed on their brand new Toll Brothers Home.
Why do so few of these companies value kitchen designers? Ignorance and greed is the overwhelming answer.
How can you value good kitchen design when you don’t understand it? When you don’t understand the complexities of cabinetry, how can you understand that the people that who are selling it are doing more than simply ordering boxes? How do you even select quality cabinets to sell when you don’t know anything about them? Unfortunately, when you want to maximize your profit without any of the knowledge and experience that creates good kitchen design – you both ignore it and underfund it.
The best kitchen design firms / cabinet dealers understand the value and importance of the kitchen designer. The kitchen designers that work at these companies often make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and are worth it! Experienced and knowledgeable designers can sell millions of dollars in cabinetry a year BECAUSE they are so good at their jobs. Paying them well is a no-brainer. Undervaluing them is foolish and will also compromise the success of your kitchen renovation.
Main Line Kitchen Design embraces this concept.
Our kitchen designers are paid better than at most other dealers. AND, because we compensate our designers for their experience and ability, we can sell cabinetry for less than every one of these short-sighted competitors. We are also committed to eliminating many of the other wasteful expenses that don’t create great kitchens.
Whether your kitchen and your budget are tiny, or lavish, good kitchen designers help you get a better kitchen at a better price. It’s one of the most important parts of what we do.
Call us and have one of our experienced designers measure your kitchen and show you what’s possible. Our initial deposit of $150 for the first several appointments cost a tiny fraction of the value you get. We have the deposit not to make money but to make sure our customers place a value on working with a qualified kitchen design professional. Because valuing what we do is needed to get a great kitchen.
