Kitchen Design Service: What To Expect & How It Works

If it’s your first time using a professional kitchen design service and you’re wondering what to expect at every stage of the process, this guide is going to tell you everything you need to know.

If it’s not your first time and you’re looking to book a consultation, click here. Otherwise, let’s jump right in…

Tip: Many people bookmark this page by holding Ctrl and pressing the B button so they can come back to it after each stage.

What Are Kitchen Design Services?

Before we get started, it’s worth clearing up what we’re actually talking about in this article, as the term “kitchen design services” can be a little bit confusing. Some companies refer to this as just the design process, whereas others refer to it as the full service (design and installation).

We will be referring in this article to the full design and installation service, as that is what most kitchen companies offer (and most customers want).

Getting Your Ideas Together

Before using a kitchen design service, most people start off by taking a look around the internet at different kitchen pictures to get a feel of what they do and don’t like.

The old adage “The first secret of getting what you want is knowing what you want” couldn’t be more true.

Generally speaking, there are 3 styles of kitchen design: Contemporary, Traditional and Shaker – figuring out which style you like most is a good first step.

We have put together a page for each of these you can take a look through below to take inspiration from. We have also put together a specific page for modern and handleless kitchens. Feel free to check them out now by clicking on the boxes below (clicking on them opens in a new tab).

Booking A Design Appointment

Now that you have a general idea of what you’re looking for, your next step is to book an appointment with your kitchen company of choice.

If you’re interested in using our services and you register your interest here, you can get a free dishwasher if you decide to buy your kitchen from us in the future (awesome, right?)

After you book an appointment, the company will usually phone you back to let you know they’ve received your request and let you know the dates they have available.

Kitchen appointments are almost always free so you shouldn’t expect to have to pay for anything at this point or feel obligated in any way shape or form. If you do – you might want to consider finding another kitchen company.

Creating Pinterest Boards (optional step)

This step isn’t 100% necessary, and we’ve helped hundreds of families get the kitchen of their dreams without one, but it does help if you put together a Pinterest board while you’re waiting for your appointment.

Pinterest has kitchen images from all over the world and if you’re using a decent company – almost anything you see there will be possible. We have uploaded hundreds of kitchen images on our Pinterest account that should get you started, but don’t feel limited to what we’ve shared.

By going through images of great kitchens on Pinterest, you’ll be able to show your designer all the points you do and don’t like about different kitchen elements and styles, which will give them a great basis to work from.

Learning The Terminology (optional step)

Another step that isn’t required, but may be be beneficial, is for you to familiarise yourself with the kitchen design terminology to make sure there’s no language barriers at your consultation.

If you don’t and you use our services, you’ll have nothing to worry about as we’re always happy to explain anything you don’t understand. But it’s definitely worth doing if you go elsewhere as kitchen appointments can get quite technical (and some designers forget not everyone knows as much about kitchen design as they do!)

Your First Kitchen Design Appointment

When the day finally comes around and you attend your first kitchen design appointment, you can expect a relaxed atmosphere where you sit down with an expert designer and explain what you do and do not like when it comes to kitchen designs.

This will be the correct time to show the designer any kitchen images you like, whether that’s on Pinterest, saved on your phone or even ones you’ve printed off to show them.

The designer will then dig a little deeper to find out more about how to best design your kitchen, paying close attention to how your family uses the kitchen, what you want it to look like, your budget, a rough idea of your kitchen size and more.

It’s also very likely that you’ll be taken around the kitchen showroom to take an in person look at some of the different kitchens as well. We personally think you get a much better understanding of how it’d be in your home when you see it in person.

Towards The End Of Your First Appointment

Some people will be ready to move forward straight away after their first appointment, whereas others prefer to take a bit of time to think over what’s been discussed – you’ll know where abouts you are on the day. But it is very common that customers come back for a second appointment after giving it some more thought and researching some of the ideas the designer has shared.

Your Follow Up Kitchen Appointments

Although some people decide after just one appointment, it’s very common for people to have multiple appointments before deciding whether or not to use the kitchen company.

Your follow up appointments will be as informal and friendly as the last appointment and will pick right back up from where you left off, or explore new ideas if you’re not really feeling the current direction.

Once you feel like you and your designer have got a strong idea of what you’re looking for, you’ll be offered a site survey to take accurate measurements of your available kitchen space. This is critical for the future steps.

Kitchen Measurements Survey

The next step is where we take measurements of your kitchen area. This will usually take 1 – 2 hours (depending on the kitchen size) as it’s crucial to get the exact dimensions right.

This part of the service is also free of cost or obligation if you use us.

Kitchen Design & Planning (3D CAD)

Now that the designer has your ideas, preferences, must-have’s and kitchen dimensions – they will now start work creating a 3d CAD representation of how your kitchen will look in your actual house.

These can be quite realistic if your kitchen designer is using the latest software and can give you a true feel of how the kitchen will look in your home without any construction taking place.

Here’s an example of one of our recent CAD designs for a client in Ipswich:

Though our client wanted to change a few things after that initial CAD kitchen design, you can see how realistic the image on the left looks!

You can learn more about this kitchen by reading the case study here.

Again, if you’re using us for your kitchen, this part of the service is also free of charge or obligation.

Viewing & Amending The Design

Now that you’ve shared your ideas with the designer, had the measurements taken and the designer has had time to create a 3D design, you’ll then be invited back in to take a look through the kitchen design and make any amendments you’d like to make.

This is when you can get into the small little details and really nail down exactly how your dream kitchen will look once installed. This part of our service is also included free of charge or obligation.

It’s very common that customers at this stage notice those handles they thought would look amazing actually don’t work as well as they thought on this design. Or that the original layout could fit more storage space then they originally imagined.

And it’s only when you’re 100% happy with the CAD design that we’ll move onto the next stage…

Kitchen Installation

Now comes the part you’ve been most excited for – getting the kitchen of your dreams out of the computer and into your home! This process is actually quite simple as all the planning has already been done.

We now pass this over to our expert kitchen installation team who’ll strip out your old kitchen and start installing your new one. This can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on a variety of factors – but one thing that’s certain is it’ll be worth the wait!

Looking To Get Started With A New Kitchen For Your Home?

If you’re looking for a kitchen design company to help with the design and install company, feel free to get in touch with us at Bentons Kitchens.

We do currently have limited appointment spaces at our kitchen showrooms, but as we mentioned earlier, if you register your appointment interest with us now, you’ll get a free Dishwasher if you decide to buy your kitchen from us in the future, so it’s worth reaching out even if just to get in for the offer.

You can submit your interest for an appointment here.

We hope this guide has helped you understand what to expect, if you have any questions feel free to give your nearest showroom a call today.