My landscaping guy told me that during the local lockdown, he and his wife contemplated doing a kitchen renovation and headed to Home Depot for advice. He’s not alone. For my kitchen project, I’m working with an ace designer whom I met at Home Depot. Why did I go with a big box store? The reason is simple: when we bought our home seventeen years ago, I went to a local kitchen and bath design shop to support a small local business. I spent a good 20 minutes in the smallish showroom and got the cold shoulder. (I made sure to dress well and even carry a lady-ish handbag that day!) Consequently, I went to Lowes and people were helpful, plus they helped me install an affordable kitchen.
Last summer, for what I hope will be my “forever kitchen”, we started researching at Home Depot. (The nearest Lowes is about 45 minutes away and HD is 10 minutes away.) We fortunately connected with Kimberly "Kim" Cole, a youthful woman with over 40 years of experience in interior and kitchen design, plus real estate. As a child growing up in the Bay Area, she regularly rearranged her family’s furniture while her mom was at work. Kim dug that creative process and stuck with it; she took many classes but mostly taught herself.
The depth of her professional experience shines. Kim helped us filter our options to design a kitchen that fits my needs and wants. I got Cadillac service with Honda affordability. More importantly, I found a true collaborator.
I’ve learned so much from working with Kim and asked her to share her professional insights. Hopefully, these kitchen renovation pro tips will help you with your future projects!
This Q&A has been edited for clarity. This is not an advertisement. Kim's advice applies to anywhere you may shop, to any kitchen renovation project you may have.
DEVELOPING A CUSTOMER/DESIGNER RELATIONSHIP
When you meet with a new customer, what should the person(s) be sharing with you to make things go smoothly?
You need to find out what their budget truly is, plus their timeframe. You also want to hone in on the customers’ true desires. There's the dream kitchen and then there's the-space-that-you-have kitchen. I work a lot with finding out what that space is.
How it is used? How many people are in the family? Do they cook? If they’re a couple, do they eat out a lot and just want a nice kitchen to look at?
I also like to get new customers thinking about sizes of appliance that will work in their space, who they're going to get to install it, and if that person is going to do the work of taking that wall out or moving a window or just replacing cabinets. There are different contractors and installers for every job.
It’s super helpful if the client has the space measured out so that I get a sense of what the space is like. Photos are good too. [Below is the rough measure I made for the first meeting with Kim.]
All that that helps me to determine what cabinet line works best in their budget and how it will layout. Not every cabinet line offers every bell or whistle or modification.
I also want to make sure they have a qualified installer. If not, I have people I recommend.
Kitchen designing sounds like dating and therapy. How does the customer-designer relationship work?
Kitchens don’t happen overnight. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart. The relationship is complex.
First, there needs to be a meeting of minds between the customers. If a couple or group is at odds, I try to help them to figure out how to get out of that situation. Oftentimes, a disagreement between customers is just miscommunication. I can settle it by drawing it on my software. Working with individuals and their personalities can be very challenging but also very rewarding. I’ve met the most fun couples.
What should people expect from a kitchen designer?
What I can do for customers is use my state-of-the-art software and then we start tweaking and modifying and making it more their kitchen. I love meeting new people that are excited about redoing their kitchen, even if it is stressful beyond anything. Somebody said it's like giving birth. I don't know because I’ve never had children, but it makes sense.
Customers have to kind of get their brains around the fact that their house is going to be torn up for a while, but it's going to be amazing and worth it. I help to guide people through the process. I give people homework assignments, like go check out a paint color or flooring materials. At Home Depot, we have all this stuff under one roof so it’s really convenient, and if I have time, I’ll walk around with the customer to help them. If they want to bring samples to me to check out, that works too.
UNDERSTANDING TRENDS VS PERSONAL STYLE
Does timeless design exist? When is following a trend good?
I think that it can be to some extent. I mean if you lock yourself into the latest trend then it's going to be the trend that everybody remembers from say, the 2020s, or the 1960s or 1970s.
With regard to kitchen cabinets, white Shaker has been very popular for years now, and it is kind of going away slowly. Very slowly.
Nowadays, you can choose a painted cabinet door, too. The blue tones are trending and they’re great contrasts with wood. Warmer tones are coming in too while whites and greys are going away.
Wood-wise, maple is coming back around. Walnut and the brown tones are coming back too. It's tricky to pick a trend that’s going to stick around forever. But if I had to choose a couple door styles and finishes right now that I think has the best chance of staying around, it would typically be a wood stain on a recessed panel door with a bit of detail.
What other kitchen design trends do you see nowadays? We’ve chatted about white Shaker cabinets to death, plus subway tiles and open shelving. Now there’s farmhouse chic. What do you make of them?
I actually kind of like open shelving in certain designs. If you don't mind a little extra cleaning and have some pretty things you want to show, it’s fun and different. With farmhouse chic, you can mix that up with other things like a little modern in with the with the rustic farmhouse look.
Eclectic, that's my absolute favorite style. I don't have one specific style. I like to mix things up.
People often select white Shaker because it goes with many things. I definitely recommend doing some research and looking at HOUZZ and Pinterest, picking what looks good to you and then keep going back to it to identify a pattern. [Below is my Pinterest board for the kitchen island.]
I know when I looked through my idea book on Pinterest or HOUZZ, there's continuity there, and I am drawn to certain feeling or mood.
How may you create your own kitchen style?
I want my customers to answer questions like these. What kind of lifestyle do you have? Do you have kids? How do you shop? How do you pick out things? Do you want to follow a trend or do you want to do something that shows off your personal style?
I gauge my customers and nudge them in certain directions to get them to understand what they like or dislike. If I sense that they're just doing it because they don't know what else to do, I might get them to think outside the box a little bit.
KITCHEN RENOVATION COSTS
Is there a smart(ish) way to estimate the cost of a kitchen remodel?
It depends on the project’s scope. Are you doing flooring, lighting, moving walls, putting in a bigger window? There are so many variables, but just to replace basic cabinets and countertops and maybe the appliances, $30,000 is about enough for that kind of thing but that's on the low-end for a small kitchen that’s roughly 80 to 100 square feet.
You can spend more if you go for Sub-Zero appliances for a $80,000 remodel. At the high end, you could be spending $150,000 to move walls, redo lighting, replacing cabinets, countertops, and appliances.
When redoing cabinets, you can refresh them by getting a painter out there to refinish them and it's less expensive. But, it won't last forever. There’s also refacing where they take all the doors and the drawers off, then they replace the drawer boxes. They skin everything and that's about as much as new cabinets. It’s not an inexpensive option but your kitchen will look brand new and your downtime for the job is three days.
Replacing cabinets is remodeling and that takes three months minimum.
And, finally, is there anything people can do to keep costs down?
Yes, of course. Actually, you can do your own demo. You don’t want to damage your walls too much when you take those cabinets and tile off, but you can do that. If you can patch and repair your own drywall, then you can save money. Painting too. Those are the two things that can save you thousands of dollars. [This is my level of sweat equity.]
Do you have any kitchen renovation tips or experiences to share? Leave a comment so we may learn more!
