Kitchen Designer

I finally decided on my Kitchen Designer to realise my dream kitchen at The Park Residences!

My dream kitchen must feature curves, must be ergonomic and I so want a breakfast bar!

First up, I paid a visit to Signature Kitchen at Mid Valley Megamall but the kitchen planner just quoted me a lump sum amount for the kitchen although she did take the effort to draw the design in 3D. Too bad - I want the details not the drawing.....

Unsatisfied I went to another Signature Kitchen branch - this time at TTDI and received another quote but it's slightly more detailed. However, I find that Signature Kitchen's kitchen planners do not really bother to find out what you want in your kitchen and they say they can quote you a sum - without asking what type of cabinetry and other requirements. Too bad again....

I also considered Kitchen Palace TTDI - since they installed my current kitchen 6 years ago. The boss, Mr. AK Ng, handled my order last time. This time round, I was assigned a very fresh interior designer who's not very experienced plus I had to travel to their branch at Kota Damansara. So, I decided not to go ahead with Kitchen Palace this time. 

Another place I went to (since it's just along the same row of shophouses at TTDI), was Quisine Culture. Somehow, I didn't quite like their proposal but the designer did take the time (2 weeks) to complete 3D drawings of the proposed kitchen.

I went to Bofi at Solaris Dutamas too cos I saw that they had this kitchen model with round base named Milano. I went there twice but still no quotation - only a 3D drawing - even that, without the round base cabinet that I wanted. It was quite frustrating cos I had to deal with a sales person and not the kitchen designer himself. The salesperson wasn't very helpful with telling me the cost and all. They took over 2 weeks to produce the 3D drawing design but without any quotation - what's the point? I want to know how much it costs and also what materials are included in the quotation.

I was very impressed with Kuchenmatic at TTDI - they were formerly known as Hosana Kitchen. The boss, Eric attended to me very systematically and within a matter of hours I had received an email attached with the quotation (good thing it didn't cost a bomb!). He impressed me by explaining to me the features of his kitchen cabinets and he even sat down with me to discuss the design which was drawn on-the-spot. He clearly has the experience and expertise. He also didn't need a copy of my floor plan cos he copied all the dimensions into his piece of paper! Just by pressing the buttons on his calculator, he can tell me what design can work and what can't. So, at the third meet-up I paid a deposit of RM2000 as booking fee. He said to inform him as soon as I get the keys to my new condo unit and he will go over to do the measurements stat. I hope my kitchen will turn out fantastic under Eric's supervision. He has a few orders from other residents of The Park Residences too!

To summarise - here's what I would look for in a Kitchen Designer
1) Experience & expertise - you can gauge this just by talking and asking questions
2) Accountability - very prompt reply with the quotation unlike those that you have to 'chase'.
3) Personality - pleasant and polite.
4) Easy to communicate with - no language barriers.
5) Passionate about his job.