There are many ways to approach a kitchen design. From DIY projects that you spread out over time to the full-service option where the designer-builder yields from the same firm in order to create an all-encompassing kitchen and bath design and build out and the myriad of options in between, it can be difficult to decide which option is the best for your Chicago home.
Full-Service Chicago Kitchen and Bath Design Is the Way to Go
The reality is that full-service kitchen and bath design firms are the only option for a uniquely designed and professional executed remodel or renovation.It guarantees that your project is completed in a timely manner, with each design element flowing seamlessly into the next. In order to appreciate what a full-service design firm is, you need to understand what a partial design and build project ends up looking and feeling like.
DIY Projects. We love the enthusiasm that home design TV shows and websites inspire, however, we're less fond of the way they make it appear as if anyone can be a designer or general contractor. This is simply not the case. For one thing, professional designers and builders have special talents, skills and abilities. For another, those talents and abilities are honed over years - and decades.
Do-It-Yourself projects typically look like the homeowners did it themselves. Design elements aren't cohesive, lines aren't plumb, sinks and appliances are installed a bit off kilter, and the final product (assuming it can even be finalized) looks rough. That's a lot of time and money spent on something you aren't 100% satisfied with. Or, even worse, for something you end up paying a full-service team to re-do for you.
Half-way Projects. In this scenario, a homeowner decides to "save money" by hiring a designer to draw up the plans. Then, the homeowner uses these plans and begins taking bids from contractors to finish the remodel. Or, the homeowner might even become the general contractor him/herself, hiring subcontractors to come in and do individual portions or phases of the remodel. Here are just a handful of reasons why this is rarely successful:
- Do you have the know-how to solve problems when the designer's plans don't work with the actual architectural plans?
- Have you built solid relationships with a myriad of contractors and vendors in your area to get first priority service and optimal pricing tiers?
- Are you prepared to be held up for weeks when a particular sink, appliance, structural amendment, etc., doesn't work and you have to go back to the drawing and ordering board?
- Have you become fluent in local building department codes, and do you know exactly which permits to pull when so your remodel is legal and a future resale isn't hindered when it turns out the inspections weren't done to par?
Many of our clients found us when their half-way projects became too much of a nightmare to complete on their own, causing them to make a 9-1-1 call to Kitchens & Baths Unlimited.
