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Kitchen Designers who don’t care about kitchen safety.

Main Line Kitchen Design Takes Kitchen Safety & Satisfaction Seriously

During a past discussion on LinkedIn kitchen designers disagreed vehemently with each other concerning a surprisingly simple question.  The question that got everyone up in arms?

Would you allow or have you EVER allowed a customer to make a HUGE mistake?

As a kitchen professional I found it disheartening that not all designers could even agree that selling a dangerous kitchen was unethical. One designer stated:

“If someone comes in ONLY to buy cabinets.  I don’t interrogate them; I sell them exactly what they asked for.  If they kill themselves with them, that’s their problem.”

What I found the most distressing of all was that some CKD’s and even a MCKD (Master Certified Kitchen Designer) felt that cabinets not fitting or placed at mistaken heights was not their responsibility. One said: “Bad design pays the same commission as good design. If a client is hell-bent on buying a bad design, they might as well buy it from you, as long as the bad design does not include safety concerns.”

One designer told a near tragic story that ended as follows:

“Within six months, the whole house was lost due to a fire that began on the top of the indoor gas grill. The occupants were not home and there were no injuries.” This story is an extreme example of what can happen when advice is ignored. It also shows how important it is to not order a kitchen without weighing the possible consequences.

Dangerous kitchen breaking building code.
Dangerous kitchen breaking building code.

As a kitchen designer, it is our job to help our customers create a kitchen that they will enjoy for many years.  That job includes gaining an understanding of what they like and how much they have to spend in order to help them get the best kitchen available within their budget.

I strongly believe that our job also includes protecting potential customers sometimes even from themselves.

Certainly, if a design is dangerous Main Line Kitchen Design will not sell that design. Just last week a customer insisted on keeping her kitchen plan as is. Her design included a refrigerator that when you opened the door you stepped back into a gas range without any countertop to protect you from possibly setting yourself on fire should the burner flames ignite loose clothing. We refunded this customer her deposit and told her we could not work with her on the design she wanted. We also will not sell a kitchen with known design errors, such as cabinets not fitting.

I believe all professionals should be held to the same ethical code they use in medicine: “first do no harm.” And I want my doctor, my lawyer, my accountant, and my auto mechanic all to care more about protecting me then they care about making a buck. 

It was after I posted this comment in the design forum that the sparks started flying and a past fourth of July was off to a bang in the small world of kitchens.

Below are two past blogs on kitchen safety issues:

Flush Mounted Ovens: The New Appliance Danger.

Is Your Kitchen Designer Going to Kill You?

Hoping your kitchen designer has your best interests and safety at heart!   And of course, as Julia said…

Bon Appetite,

Paul

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