I don't know if this is helpful or not, but a few years ago when we built a home and I was scouting kitchen showrooms for ideas (my dad built our cabinets) I met Christy (hope I got the name right, it's been while), a kitchen designer at Carriage Hill Cabinet & Millwork in Frederck, MD. They do custom work and handle several higher end lines. I did hire her to review with me our plan and to give advice. So while we didn't work with her through a lengthy process like is usualy, I can say that she was a joy to work with for that short period of time and I valued her advice. Also met the owner who also was very, very nice. They were extremely professional and a pleasure to deal with for what little I worked with them. I believe they did a lot of "down 270" work near DC, Virginia, etc. If their info is still the same, they're at 5907 Enterprise Ct., Frederick, MD, 301-228-3700. Good luck!

Designer Surfaces Unlimited (Frederick, MD) Petrafab (Baltimore, MD) Avanti (not sure but in MD) Granite Grannies (Maryland) Some have found that the NOVA prices are high compared to some of the MD granite places so it's worth a try to shop around. I am using Designer Surfaces for my soapstone and they have been wonderful to work with. I was there the other day to template my counters and they had lots of granite too. Others on here have used some of the other companies listed above and also been very pleased. I would price shop both MD and VA and see what you can find, most places are willing to drive with the slow down in the building industry, Frederick is a long way away for me (3 hours), but DSU isn't charging me anything other than their normal local delivery fee. Good luck!

The KD we had at EXPO in Columbia, MD, has become an independent KD. However, I do not have her contact information right now. As far as design is concerned, she is very good...just don't let her do the final measurements! I would definitely use her again as long as someone else did the measurements. She does her best to do what the customer wants but is not afraid to tell you why she thinks something may not work. If you want it anyway, she'll do it. When we began planning, I had insisted I had to have an island. She pointed out to me that I didn't really have the room, but I insisted. So, she drew it up for me and pointed out the 22" aisles I had b/w the corner of the islands & the window area. I realized she was right with that design so posted here asking if anyone could me come up w/a design w/an island. Everyone here worked very hard to come up with an island plan (and there were some very creative ideas!) but in the end they made me realize an island just wouldn't work... So, I asked both my KD and the folks here to start from scratch and redesign...both my KD and all of us here came up with very similar designs in the end. The main differences were (1) she had put in cabinet pantry cabinets but we had a corner pantry (which is what I stayed with) and (2) I added a "mini peninsula" that my KD didn't have and wasn't totally happy with...but she told me to mock it up and if I was OK with it she would go ahead with it in the design...I was OK with it (I loved it!) so she put it in. The problems I had with her later had more to do with EXPO policies that she had to follow and, of course, the measuring mistakes. (It took an anonymous GWer's intervention on my behalf at Home Depot Corporate to get our local EXPO to make good on the measuring mistakes without charging me.) [I just asked my DH and he agrees with me on all points!]

We are in Leesburg and are working with Kitchen Intuition in Warrenton. It's a bit of a hike, but Andrea Rexrode is the owner/designer and is fantastic! I went out to her office once and haven't had to go back again (she's so creative and works well via email if you don't want to go out their too often). I should also mention that I worked with another kitchen designer for about 6 months and was near tears. My builder recommended I contact Andrea and within 2 weeks we were done with the house. She's fantastic (and, we have the same name, so I like her even more!) ha! I'm recommending her bc she actually works with custom cabinet makers and carries a few brands. She's been able to do our entire house for a very reasonable price using a variety of them (high end kitchen with some custom items, but maybe less expensive items for mudroom, laundry, etc). She's definitely worth a call - 540-347-3871 (and, I'm glad to send you what she did for us as well)