These "Pros" on this forum regularly advise finding an "independent kitchen designer". So much of the comments here are for if you lived in an ideal world, or if you live in a HCOL area with plenty of design showrooms catering to $100k+ kitchens, or if Architectural Digest was a real place where everyone employs multiple designers returning their calls instantly. Another thing that is true for every profession, whether it is kitchen design, doctors, lawyers, teachers, anything, is that there are good ones and bad ones, and just cause you have a KD certification does not mean you will be good.
The budget issues though are real. I would increase to $60k which will get you a nice middle-of-the-road kitchen for the work you described, and if you are careful about your choices of materials.
Most "independent kitchen designers" do not work on the kind of kitchen the OP is talking about. Furthermore, most kitchen designers are not independent, but work within a kitchen showroom or cabinet showroom. Depending on where you are located, it can be difficult to drum up enough business independently as a kitchen designer, so most are aligned with a showroom. While it could happen that a kitchen showroom could pad the budget by designing cabinets and extras you don't need, the good ones will not. They want repeat business, they want word-of-mouth business, and they don't want negative reviews online. And oh yeah, the good ones are ethical.
If you feel your design is padded, you can always come on this forum and get opinions on whether it is.
What you need to do is visit several kitchen showrooms and/or look at cabinet lines you like, and find their local showrooms, then sit down with people there, and get a feel for which ones you "gel" with, and also which ones are willing to help you given your budget. So, you've got some homework and legwork to do. It is only after that legwork and homework that you can choose which designer you want to go with, and yes, pay them a design fee.
I went to a cabinet showroom (that would be "oh no!" according to this forum), and got a wonderful kitchen design from their representative. But I came armed with rough measurements of my kitchen, what look I wanted (photos from magazines and online), what type of appliances I wanted (e.g., a range vs separate cooktop/wall ovens), and most of all, my budget. If you expect to be spoon-fed every detail of your kitchen, that would be a mistake. You need to come armed with some basis to go by, or they will politely tell you they can't help you, or even will ghost you.
I would not go to a Home Depot or any big box store though. Anyway, we went over the kitchen plans several times, they came to the house and measured, and were very on top of the cabinet shipping and delivery. They recommended several contractors they work with, and I chose one of them. I chose on my own the appliances, counters, backsplash, sink, faucet, and lighting.
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Old desk as vanity
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