I for one being an architect, and I assume most architects would put more time and get a better design if the client would be willing to pay us for the increased time and design that would go into a kitchen design. "you want to pay me an extra $4000 to design kitchen, I would love to do that...tell me about your kitchen use, yadd, yadda, yadda," I love to cook and enjoy designing kitchens. No one in this thread seemed to pick up on the extra cost of a kitchen designer. Requiring an architect to move a structural wall or rehabbing a house doesn't apply to every location, but here in Chicago it does for almost all work. So to get a kitchen designer, which people do, it cost more money. One has to realize the scope of the project you talked with your architect, if you want a great kitchen designed to your needs and wants, tell him/her and they will listen. They should charge more for the increased cost just as an extra designer is going to cost more. You get what you paid for. If a client wants me to do more work without paying, I will politely explain to them that it will not happen. I am an architect, but I am also a businessman. On contrary to what was discussed above, architects are trained in kitchen design and most learn during internships how to improve upon this and how cabinetry is built, that includes custom cabinetry. Custom is difficult to get from a kitchen designers since they want to sell their products and get more profit. (semi-custom is NOT custom) In my opinion if you are only touching the kitchen cabinets and appliances and nothing else, then get a kitchen designer. If anything else is involved get an architect and express to her/him what you want in the kitchen, if they don't seem to get it, find another one; we are not all the same.

As with any profession, there are great architects and poor architects. And there are also great designers and poor designers. I personally know architects I wouldn't trust to design a house for my dog (Here Miss Martha just got up, commenced with excessive tail wagging, put her front paws on my thighs and is trying to mightily to lick my face) "DOWN GIRL...DOWN!! No I'm not letting any of those people design your house!" And back when I had a big firm (16 people with 6 architects) we had a guy who started out as the office boy as a senior in high school but 5 years later he was our lead designer. VERY creative. Over the years encouraged him to get a degree but no interest. Here he would be called a designer. And I would have trusted him to design my own house.....(and Miss Martha just barked in agreement when she saw I typed that!). You wrote "While the designer did not show me any of his plans and I didn't even think to ask to see them, the architect did and they are SO detailed". I guess you're referring to the technical side of services which anybody can do given training while I'm talking about the CREATIVE side which requires more of an inborn ability, the reason why the simple ownership of a CAD program does not impart creative design talent. In that regard a key test is to find out in his or her process is if they do any designing right in front to you with you at the table. I've always been a believer that the best designers are fast on their feet and if a person always has to go back to their shop to design, they're probably not that good. Depending on project complexity, we all do that to a certain degree but if it's 100% of the time, find somebody else.

General contractor is a given..the rest-it largely depends on you-your funds, confidence what you can/cannot do, resilience, time and energy you can devote, etc. (And experience and passion of your contractor. He won't pick your finishes of course; but he might have an idea to put a window instead of a door for example or some other thing you didn't think of by yourself. Brainstorming is part of the process) we pulled off gut remodel plus addition plus reconfiguring stuff with the help of GC only but I'd say I longed to have a designer not once..would be easier. it's a very trying experience, long as well, you want more professional people by your side. It doesn't get done by itself-and it's a full time job, if nobody undertakes it, you do. So by all means either contact a designer, or maybe look at design-build firms. Just make sure you have a good chemistry with that person. Important with everybody of course, builder as well. You'll spend hours with these people..days..months..hopefully not years but can happen:) Minimize stuff that can go wrong by choosing right people. Some things will go wrong but the better your relationship is the more chance in overcoming obstacles. Architect, I'm not sure you need..your builder may advise with structural engineer if needed for that to be removed wall "Understand that if you are tearing out walls, finalization of the plan occurs AFTER the walls are out and you can see what is behind them"-agreed (we didn't tear down walls though, if anything we added some lol..but as we fully gutted the space-I know some stuff can't be predicted until you touch the wall and know what's there) So yes..the combo of general contractor and interior designer would be best. Whom to contact first? I'd start with a GC to get a feel of a general scope of the work, but I think both can be contacted simultaneously, or one can start with a designer too Whether people do double duty? Rarely. They might want to, but will not be best equipped for it even if passionate or simply won't have time. But you don't neccessarily need them to do double duty, in your particular case. Interior designers, for example, are trained to understand how the house works, so they are not architects but can have great vision and realize the mechanics that are required to achieve it.

If you already have an idea of what you want, a design-build firm would be able to answer most questions and, if needed, bring in the required personnel. Sometimes they might do free consultations or estimates. An architect would be expensive, and you could get the job done with less money. I've heard stories of architects designing a house that's 2x budget. I remodeled my house two years ago, and I worked with https://www.boutiquehomeplans.com/the-process. They helped me out with everything, and it turned out looking fantastic. I hope this helped, and good luck with the build!