Replacing your kitchen is more than likely one of the most expensive upgrades you will do to your home especially if you are considering a bespoke handmade kitchen, which means you will have a lot of questions you will want answers to before you proceed.
‘Owning a handbuilt kitchen is one of life’s great pleasures. We’ve always believed that the process of creating it should be just as enjoyable. It’s creative. It’s fun. And we should probably add, it can be just a little addictive’. Guy Cheeseman, Owner Dowers Kitchens.
There are many elements to our design service and a few things that we need from you at the start of the project so we have popped together a short guide on how we at Dowers work and the processes taken before, during and after your bespoke handmade kitchen has been fitted.
Planning
This is a really important stage. Have a think about the kitchen you want, the styles and colours you like – we would recommend getting inspiration from online resources or home magazines. Feeling creative? You can always create a mood board to help you identify what you do and don’t want. it is very important to think about anything that you want to change or that doesn’t work ergonomically and how you can overcome the problem. It would be very helpful for you to visit our showroom where you can see our beautiful kitchens on display – touch the materials and discuss options. Once this stage is complete we move on to the next stage….
Initial Site Visit
We will make an appointment to come and visit your home to get a feel for the space you have, how you use it, and what you want from your new kitchen in terms of both aesthetics and ergonomics. At this point, we will take measurements and photos, identify any structural work that may be required and discuss with you how you want the kitchen laid out. We will then create initial plans and a detailed quotation.
Showroom meeting
Once we have the above we ask you to come into our showroom where, we’ll go through the initial drawings, discuss any alterations or amendments (if there are any!) We will show you all the features that have been included in the initial drawings and we will also discuss the practicalities and construction plans.
Whats next….?
Final quote and completed designs
Once we have everything we need and you are completely happy we will finalise the design and create a quotation for the kitchen design which will be supplied to enable you to move forward with placing your order.
Timeline: 1-2 weeks
Contracts agreed and signed
Even at this stage, the design, specification and budget are flexible; you can make changes right up to the final survey, which is conducted approximately one week before we start the build of your brand new kitchen!!
Timeline: 1-2 weeks
The build and installation
Once we have made a start we will invite you to our workshop so you can see the progress of your kitchen. Cutlery drawers and spice racks, can only really be decided once the installation is underway and you get a feel for where you are going to store things.
Aftercare
Our job doesn’t end here we help you care for your kitchen throughout its (very long) life. Whether it’s cosmetic, mechanical or structural, breakage or failure, repairs or replacements, or just dealing with the inevitable wear and tear, at Dowers, we are always here for you, and just a phone call or email away.
Why do we charge for our design service?
We never build our design service into the price of our kitchens, we prefer to be as transparent as possible with you. We ask for payment for the design service separately to subsidise designer time which is then offset against the cost of your kitchen once it has been ordered. Our design service is £250 + VAT
