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Are you getting custom cabinetry? Episode 9
Paul talks at length with Tina about a wide range of topics. If you are considering more expensive custom cabinetry this is an especially relevant episode. Painted finishes are discussed at length. As are custom paint finishes. What types of people make good designers is discussed. Design techniques used for 10-foot-high ceilings such as stacked cabinets and moldings, and tray and coffered ceilings are compared. If you have high ceilings this is an episode you should listen to.
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This Podcast is brought to you by Brighton Custom Cabinetry. Craftmanship, quality, and customization made more affordable.
Paul’s bio from the magazine Kitchen and Bath Design News:
Paul McAlary possesses a voice that resonates far beyond the boundaries of Philadelphia’s western suburbs and the city’s prestigious Main Line. The location of his well-established Delaware Valley design firm. McAlary, president and senior designer of Bala Cynwyd, PA-based Main Line Kitchen Design, is an internationally recognized kitchen design authority who has won more than a dozen local and national design awards, including being named a 2017 Viking Appliances Designer of Distinction.
Beyond his achievements as a designer, McAlary has also forged a burgeoning reputation as the creative force behind the “Main Line Kitchen Design Blog,” a unique online forum and social media resource that is read by more than 40,000 people each month and has been honored as one of the top kitchen design blogs in the world. Main Line Kitchen Design’s videos and blogs address a wide range of kitchen/bath-related topics aimed at sparking a constructive exchange of ideas among both consumers and design professionals.
McAlary, whose kitchens and comments often appear in trade magazines and on social media sites, is sometimes at odds with the kitchen design establishment, but he maintains a distinct sense of humor and is known as a fierce advocate for design standards, ethics and transparency in the kitchen design trade.
2 Replies to “Calls with Paul: The Kitchen Design Podcast. Episode 9”
Elizabeth
How do you submit a kitchen design to be reviewed on the podcast? I am having a compete kitchen renovation involving removing three walls in a home from 1890. We have been working g with a kitchen designer for 3 months and still don’t have a design ready to order. We are concerned she is over her head in this project. We have already paid a deposit and like the cabinet line. We would appreciate any input. We are looking at QCCI or Crystal cabinets , we have not received a quote that we have been asking for for months.
pmcalary
Hi Elizabeth,
All you need to do to submit a design for review is have it ready to email the day you call in. I’ll have you email it to me at Paul@MainLineKitchenDesign.com just before I take you call. Or email me at that address just before you call in.
One problem with homes from your era is that since the houses were built without any consideration to the kitchen, in order to create a design that makes sense, you often need the floor plan for almost the whole first floor. Removing walls, relocating staircases, raising the bottoms of windows or moving windows and doorways is common with very old homes and needed to create attractive functional kitchens. So, if you send only the proposed kitchen, I can only tell you what’s wrong with the design and not how I might design the space.
Paying for custom cabinetry makes absolutely no sense until the important construction changes are made. This is because you are spending 10’s of thousands of dollars extra on cabinetry so moving a wall, or window costs nothing in comparison to the extra money you will be spending on cabinets and most likely on professional appliances.
Paying any significant deposit BEFORE getting cabinet prices, or at least a close estimate, and seeing your design in 3D sounds crazy.
People that are no good at design and have less experience are the people that require these sight unseen deposits. Good designers can accurately estimate a kitchen once they create a design. We do it instantly using 2020 CAD at a customer’s first design appointment. Chrysal uses 2020 and you should be able to guesstimate the cost for QCCI from the Chrystal prices.
I would run and not walk away from anyone that can’t give you a price estimate in the first two appointments once they have measured your space. As a designer I WANT customers to have prices ASAP, so that I don’t waste MY TIME working on designs that aren’t within a customer’s budget.
If the designer doesn’t use 2020 or ProKitchens to design a kitchen they are not professional kitchen designers.