I'm just getting started on my gut renovation and I thought I'd put questions on different topics in different posts. I hope that works for everyone.

I met with the first KD yesterday and I'd like some feedback on my initial experience. This is going to be a long one. In case anyone is from the area and has things to say pro or con, it's The Kitchen Loft in Bronxville, NY.

Michael came to my house for 2 hours. He started by looking around the kitchen. He didn't ask a lot about how the kitchen is used (ie, what kind of cooking, how often, how many people cook at a time), although he did ask how many people in the family, how much we entertain and what the max number of people is that we're likely to have over. He started with the issue of where to put the appliances, which makes sense to me. Over the course of the discussion, I volunteered a great deal of information that seemed relevant to me but that he didn't ask about off the bat, for instance, that I want two ovens, that I want desk space, that I've been planning on an island but don't care about seating at it, the way certain current cabinet configurations weren't working for me, that I want the lower cabs to be mostly or all drawers (thank you GW!)and that I'm planning on taking down the wall between the kitchen and the DR. I assured him that two different contractors told me it's not a load bearing wall. This didn't seem to be something he could tell for himself.

For most of the time, we talked about various possible configurations in a general way, how we could fit in the things I wanted, why certain things would or wouldn't work, etc. He had some useful ideas and insights, but nothing that made gasp in gratitude at his brilliance. Then he sat down with me and did me a very preliminary, ball park, just giving me an idea of things estimate of the cost of cabinetry using Craftmaid, the custom line he carries. He gave me the custom line, not his less expensive Embassy/Omega line, because that's what I asked for.

I didn't love him. I didn't hate him. He'll probably be an interesting baseline for comparing my meetings with other people.

The way the process would work if I continue with him is that he'd come out to the house again, I'd pay him a $750 retainer (to be used against the cost of cabinets if I order from him, if not the designs he draws are mine to use as I wish and the $750 amounts to a design fee) and we'd have more conversations about what I want. I assume there'd be a lot more detail about exactly what's working for me, what's not, what should go where etc, etc. at those meetings and then he'd do plans, estimates, etc.

Do you think that was a good start or should he have been asking much more detailed questions from the very beginning? Should he have been asking about aesthetics at this meeting or, given that we only had two hours, was this not the time to be discussing my vision for the kitchen from the looks rather than function pov? We did discuss aesthetics to the extent that it was relevant in pricing cabs (ie, door style, inset vs. full overlay)

Right now, my follow up questions for him would be:

1. What's your training and what certifications do you have? Nothing about either is mentioned on his website or in his materials, so I've got a pretty good guess about the answer.

2. What's involved in the process of figuring out which cabinets I need? How do we figure out size and number of drawers, pull-outs, etc?

3. What the differences, financial and otherwise, between using Craftmaid and using Omega?

4. Do your plans and advice include things like lighting, placement of outlets, flooring ideas and vendors (he only sells cabs), appliance ideas and vendors, etc, etc, or does he stick purely to figuring out the cabinets, countertops and accessories (which is what his contract seems to imply)? Obviously appliances have to be selected before final cab plans can be made.

Those seem like the fundamental things I need to know before I can even begin to think about whether I'd want to hire him. Of course, I'd check licenses, insurance etc etc before actually hiring anyone.

I suspect he's offering a limited scope of advice (and being clear on that) in return for a limited cost. Most likely I want more advice and will pay more money for it, but you've got to start somewhere.