What is a design fee?
In life, you get what you pay for. If you visited a doctor, lawyer, accountant, architect, etc., and they worked for free, you probably wouldn’t have much faith in them. Why should you entrust your most valuable asset to an unqualified person who has so little respect for themselves that they work for free?
When you get a “Free Design & Quote” for a kitchen, do you ever think about, what that means to you?
Nothing is free in this life, everything worth having has a price.
The person offering a Free Design & Quote is NEVER a qualified person, they are commission salespeople who are there for one reason only………. To SELL you a kitchen. It’s never about your needs, it’s always about their need to make a sale, (they are commission only sales people, so if they don’t sell they don’t get paid), as a result the design is rarely good, as they have had a week to 10 days training, most of it on selling, not on designing, and they design to keep it cheap, not to give you a good result. Their theory being, “if I keep it cheap, they might buy it”, because the salesperson knows we are all price conscious to some degree or other.
Conversely, at Let’s Talk Kitchens our designs are never the cheapest, but we will promise to be designing to give you the best result possible in the first instance. Sure, as we go down the track we might have to compromise a bit, (who was it that said “life wasn’t meant to be easy”?), but you/we should always start from the best design solution we can find, and then work from there. Any other approach would be compromising your amenity, the value of your home and the capital you are about to invest in the renovation.
What do I get for my design fee?
Our design fee is currently $1000 plus GST. For a full kitchen or bathroom.
After 38 years in business, we know fairly accurately how long it will take to design and specify a kitchen or bathroom, so we’ve been able to give our clients a set figure, rather than an hourly rate, where you never quite know where the finish line will be. This fee is not revenue generating in it’s own right, it’s simply a raw cost recovery device.
Your Design Fee covers the following:
- As many meetings with your designer as is needed. (we just hope is doesn’t stretch to 6 or 7, or we’ll go broke).
- Complete detailed floor plans
- Complete elevations for each wall
- Full benchtop layouts
- Comprehensive written specification, detailing the complete cabinetry costing in the finishes selected.
- Comprehensive trades costing for all onsite trades work as required.
- We will cost the trades work for you, even if you have your own favorite tradesman you wish to use etc., so you know what to expect these services might cost you privately.
- Whilst we don’t sell or supply appliances, we will advise you on appropriate products for your project, on an unbiased basis.
What is involved in renovating a kitchen and how much will it cost?
There are a number of major elements involved, below are some typical spends which will vary depending on your material and finishes selection.
Cabinets - there is a lot of choice available. Laminate with ABS edge or hardform, Standard or New Age Veneer, High Pressure Laminate w ABS, Solid Timber, Textured Vinyl or Paint, Gloss Vinyl or 2 Pak Paint Range from $15,000 – 30,000
Benchtops - are you happy with laminate or would you prefer a solid surface like Corian or stone benchtop such as Caesar Stone or Granite. Typically benchtop spends are from $ 5,000 – 8,000
Trades - a group of tradesmen are required for all the onsite work. Including removal of the old kitchen, cart away rubbish, install new cabinets, disconnect and reconnect the taps, oven & hotplate, dishwasher, duct the hood externally, plumb and ice maker fridge if necessary, provide power points to microwave, dw, h/p, fridge and r/hood etc, wire the oven, repair the plaster and re-cornice as necessary, glass splashbacks or tiling and anything else that needs doing to reinstate your home $ 5,500 - 8,000
You will need to buy some appliances $ 4,000 - 15,000
Other Considerations
Sometimes, you may require some structural work
Are you considering new flooring or are you happy to work around the existing floor plan?
Internal fittings & features – types and quantity
