For someone who has never planned a new kitchen, bathroom or other cabinetry project, the process of co-ordinating your project might initially seem somewhat intimidating. It really isn’t. Not only are there logical and sequential steps involved in planning your project, our design team is here to work with you all along the way. We’ve found that most people, once they’ve commenced their project, come to appreciate that it can actually be a fulfilling and fun process. Much of what is involved is related to decision making, and again we are here to assist you all along the way. Once the appropriate decisions are made, we’ll look after all of the hard work for you and bring your project to “life”!
In sequential order, here are the main steps that we will assist you with:
1) The homeowner decides to install (in a new home) or replace (in a renovation) a cabinetry based project. This project might typically be a kitchen, bathroom, entertainment centre, bar, laundry room, office or walk-in closet.
2) Based on personal preferences and perhaps some preliminary research and familiarization, the homeowner must decide on a general “theme” for the project: Is a traditional look desired? A modern or contemporary look? Will the project be simple and clean looking, or elaborate and ornate? Is it desirable to match the new project to some pre-existing aspects of the home?
3) The homeowner will typically have an initial meeting with a member of our design team. At this initial meeting the homeowner will discuss the scope of the project, his/her preferences toward the theme of the project and also any “must have” aspects of the layout of the project (for example, a requirement that a kitchen sink be placed in front of a kitchen window). It is also useful at this stage for our design team to be aware of the number and types of appliances or other 3rd party pieces of equipment that require incorporation into the project design.
4) Based on the discussion in 3) above, our expert design team will then create a preliminary set of drawings for your project. Using our CAD software, we will produce several drawings for your review including floor plans, elevation drawings and some three dimensional renderings of what the project will look like as built. At this stage we will also be able to provide you with a general budget figure.
5) Typically a second meeting is planned to discuss the preliminary drawings. After some dialogue it is not unusual that our design team make some revisions to the preliminary drawings in order to best capture the homeowner’s specific preferences — often as influenced by the advice offered by our design team.
6) Steps 3) and 4) are iterative and may be repeated as often as necessary, as a function of the complexity of the project and the decisiveness of the homeowner. It is not always necessary to meet in person as much of what needs to be done at this stage can be accomplished by phone, fax, email etc.
7) Once the layout of the project has been approved by the homeowner, some very specific choices must be made. It is usually desirable at this stage for the homeowner to visit Visions’ showroom to review samples. These choices, as applicable to each project, would typically involve items such as door type, wood species, cabinet interior colour, exterior stain colour and finish sheen, drawer type, hardware (knobs, handles and hinges), countertops (material and colour) and accessories.
8) The homeowner will also need to specifically advise our design team about any “3rd party” items, as applicable to each project that require integration by Visions into the project. These items might typically include appliances, electronics, plumbing and electrical fixtures and flooring type.
9) Once steps 7) and 8) have been completed Visions will be able to provide the precise pricing related to the project.
10) Once all of the details and pricing have been agreed, Visions will visit the work site to take final precise measurements. CAD drawings will be adjusted to those precise site measurements and the project will be scheduled for production based on the finalized drawings. Depending on the complexity of the project, Visions will typically require anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to facilitate production. The timing of installation is typically agreed as production of the project nears completion, and as the homeowner attends to other aspects of their home construction or renovation project.
