A Kitchen Designer?

So Tim says upfront I am not an interior designer. He says that you can call a custom cabinet shop and they will help you lay out a kitchen. But I have a client whose wife is a Certified Kitchen Designer, so I call her instead. Her name is Suzi Brock and she is in Tallahassee Florida. I contact her first through Linked In. And that's how our long distance relationship begins. I had contact Suzi several months earlier but I wasn't in any hurry so we really hadn't made any progress until I contact her again this month.

I now have a pretty solid idea of the space we have to work with and I have my dream list ready to share with anyone willing to listen. I have collected pictures from kitchen design magazines for nearly three years. I don't know what I can afford but I know what I want.

The wish list I share with Suzi is pretty long:

• Commercial Grade Stove;
• A warming oven;
• A double drawer dishwasher and maybe a regular dishwasher;
• Two Islands;
• Two sinks;
• Lots of storage; and
• A wine captain.

Horace and I want to work in the kitchen together, but we have very different styles and need distinct space. We want to entertain and have plenty of seating area around the kitchen islands. I want a pizza oven but know they are prohibitively expensive, but I have seen counter height gas logs that create the same look. I want a hood over the range and a maybe a pot rack.

I think after I have shared all this with Suzi we'll have a drawing that works in no time. But Suzi is a professional and she knows there is a lot more to it than a wish list. Suzi, like Tim, proves sometimes you just need a professional.

So Suzi sends me a list of questions for homework:

• How high will the ceilings be?
• Melodie's height _______________, right or left handed
• Horace's height ________________,  right or left handed
• Grocery shopping - daily, weekly basis, in bulk
• Do you know yet what material you will use on the floor?
• Any children/others living in the house?
• Any pets __________, if so, where are they fed and do you know of any specific provisions you want/need?
• Where do you intend to eat daily meals; do you want a table in the kitchen or is bar/island seating sufficient?
• What entrance will you use to bring in groceries?
• When entertaining do you have a sit down meal or buffet? 
• Are there any physical limitations or dietary needs to accommodate?
• Do you use the microwave for cooking or simply reheating?
• Do you do any specialty cooking: baking, canning, pasta making, etc, with special equipment that needs to be considered?
• Thinking of your current kitchen, previous kitchens you've worked in and any friends kitchens:  what did you like, what did you dislike?
• Do you like symmetry or asymmetry?
• You mentioned a private garden off the kitchen ~ will that be behind the house or through the double french doors off the family room?
• Do you like having a pot rack?

The questions seem simple, we'll have to wait and see if this is simple.