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[quote=Anonymous]I would say design/build, or even just a good solo contractor with good design insight. I think they would provide the benefit of thinking about whether a wall should come down, whether you should expand a window, where you've got a pole you have to design around..... We're currently doing a full house remodel, including bumping out the kitchen -and we came up with our design/layout just between us and our contractor. He had really good ideas that he brought to the table. I assume a fancy design build group would have been more expensive?

I have had bad experiences with kitchen store design people. Their initial designs were like "did you even think about how this kitchen was going to be used"?  It was like they just threw up a kitchen template - array of cabinets in L shape in one corner, wall of cabinets on other side, island in middle -- without thinking about flow, amount of space, etc. The initial drawings were so far from what was useful to us that we decided to just go another direction entirely.

All that said, once you get someone to help you think about overall layout, I suggest looking at the "31 kitchen design guidelines"  - I think from the national kitchen and bath association?  In any event, it is so incredibly helpful to go through all 31 guidelines to get thinking about how you will use your kitchen.  You don't have to follow them to a tee, but they will help you spot major red flags or at least weigh pros and cons of certain layout issues. Like, maybe your kitchen is too big to stick firmly to the appliance triangle, but the guidelines will get you thinking about whether, if you fridge is all the way around an island from your sink, it is going to be a pain in the ass to walk from the sink to the fridge 20 times a day for a glass of water. When it comes down to it, even the best kitchen designer or contractor isn't going to spend the 3 extra hours it takes to really think through your kitchen design like this - so the ultimate design is going to fall on you. [/quote]

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