Can Kitchen Designers be Innovative?
It's my week for being trepidatious (although I'm not sure that's a word). I've just been reading a blog by kitchen design guru Johnny Grey. I normally hang on his every word. His book "The Art of Kitchen Design" was a revelation to me when I started out as a designer ... giving me an indication of what kitchen design should be all about ... and I heard him give a talk about his "kitchen central" concept, a few years ago, which was equally inspiring.
So why the trepidation? Well ... because I disagree with him - that's why. I didn't have the nerve to say so directly to his blog face, so I snuck away; to do my disagreeing over here, in my own territory. The blog was entitled "Why Do Most Kitchens Look The Same? Thoughts for the Industry Part II" I almost went off to look for Part I ... but noticed, just in time, that the title is not to be taken literally but is a tribute to Ian Drury.
Johnny (or that should probably be Mr Grey, to me) is chastising kitchen designers for the fact that most kitchen designs look "depressingly similar" and that we are not more original ... like fashion designers, or cutting edge architects. He thinks more originality should be possible "regardless of the size of the budget" (my italics).
Well - maybe I'm just not imaginative enough ... or not assertive enough. Or maybe I simply don't qualify as a kitchen designer ... in the exalted circles that Johnny Grey moves in ... but at my level I just don't think it's possible to be that innovative.
I do design bespoke kitchens some of the time but - on the occasions when I've come up with something vaguely original - my clients have usually smartly asked for it to be removed from the design. They want something more like the kitchens they've seen in the glossy magazines. It's one thing buying a designer dress that's very adventurous - you're only going to wear it on a few high days and holidays - it's quite another to have an eccentric, designer kitchen which you have to sit in, on a cold (hung over) winter's morning and which will affect the value of your home.
Perhaps we should be lamenting the inherent conservatism of our clients and their tendency to want what they've seen other people have ... but a kitchen has to be there for all occasions, not just when we're feeling in party mood.
I would, in any case, challenge any kitchen designer, even the esteemed Mr Grey, to be very innovative with a budget of less than £10,000 and using Howdens, or IKEA units. Perhaps he doesn't regard using that type of unit as kitchen design at all ... but, if he does, then it's the manufacturers that should be getting it in the neck, for the lack of choice and flexibility in their unit design ... not us poor designers.
Comments
Oh I entirely agree with you Laurie, about Johnny Grey's own designs. And if someone is going to chastise us - who better than him.
You're also right about the almost universal requirement of most clients just to have more storage and more worktop ... but are we (as in designers in general - not just you and me!) partly to blame for their expectations not being higher?
I'm not sure
Well - I went to the KBB trade show yesterday - choosing the day specially, so that I could go and listen to Johnny Grey's talk entitled "The Post Culinary Kitchen".
Here's a (rather out of focus) picture to prove it:
It wasn't as empty as it looks there. It was just that - as usual - nobody wanted to sit near the front.
The talk was, of course, very interesting and full of food for thought (ha! ha!). The "post culinary" part (apart from being a very good attention grabbing title) is a reference to the fact that although kitchens have, on average, got bigger over the years, apparently only 35% of the floor space is now used for cooking.
Johnny Grey is still a big fan of open plan homes ... whilst acknowledging that there has been a backlash against big impersonal spaces. He sees that as a challenge for the designer ... to introduce zoning and indications of scale, with perhaps some sound insulated areas or "quiet pods" (which could equally be used for making a lot of noise!)
He's very interested in the psychology of design and what has been called "instinct based design" or "emotionally intelligent design" (the work of John Zeisel and Daniel Goldman)... which involves more of a connection between people and the buildings they live in. That very much requires that the designer knows the clients and how they live ... before a truly tailored kitchen can be designed.
At the end, I did pluck up courage and ask my question ... about the size and budget allowed for a kitchen. Are Johnny Grey's sociable kitchens just for the affluent?
In answer he said that he hated the trend for very small kitchens and that, apparently, Boris Johnson (Mayor of London) is doing some work on trying to increase the minimum space required - under building standards.
He also made a very good point about conservatories. A high proportion of UK houses have had conservatories built on (a result of the basic human/emotional need for light and sunlight) ... and yet very many of them are under-used and have no proper function. Combining a conservatory extension with a re-design of the kitchen space, to make a bigger living kitchen area, would indeed make a lot of sense (if we could get to see the clients at the right stage of the planning process!).
There was no concession to my point about price, either. Johnny Grey thinks that a small budget only needs more design imagination and flair ... and he'd also noticed that there were a lot more curved doors available from mainstream kitchen suppliers these days. I do take his point ... to a certain extent ... whilst doubting whether he's ever contemplated designing a kitchen from the IKEA catalogue!
Hi Majjie - nice to meet you from across the pond.
I met Mr. Grey in New York in February, and attended his Post Culinary Kitchen seminar here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Plenty of food for thought!
You pose the question whether we designers are in part responsible for the "sameness" of most kitchens? I don't know about us as designers, but definitely the way our industry is structured has a lot to do with it - if you make a living selling product, then you are not evil if you concentrate on doing just that.
And if you make a living designing for a flat rate, unless that rate is extremely generous it seems to me you will inevitably find ways to design more efficiently, by using what you already know - and that's not evil either, it's economic common sense. And if you don't do it, you will probably end up feeling used and abused by your clients if the job grows and grows but your rate does not.
It seems to me that the interesting stuff is taking place right at the top of the market, with clients who can afford to hire the Johnny Greys of this world and pay the real cost of design time, and right at the bottom, where the budget is zero and thrift store finds and ingenuity are the rule of the day, and people do the design themselves.
In the middle the marketing message of the K+B industry and the big cabinet companies dominates, and it's all about efficiency and maximizing profits - innovation is about competition, not individualization.
Wow, I wrote more than I usually do in a blog post. Love your blog, BTW!
SarahHi Sarah
Thanks for your kind comments about my blog ... it's good to meet you too.
I agree with you that the structure of the industry tends to encourage selling of product with little regard for design innovation. In fact I'd go further and say that sometimes there is little regard for design at all.
I don't know what it's like over in your neck of the woods but here, in the UK, the vast majority of kitchen suppliers provide "free" designs which are very rarely given out to the customers - until they've paid a deposit - because, of course, they're not really free (designers have to eat!) - and good designers are reluctant to provide designs for cheaper competitors. The few places that do give their designs away often don't put much effort or thought into them.
I could go on for hours. I'm sure you can imagine, that as one of a handful of independent kitchen designers in this country, the subject is one of my hobby horses!
I also agree about the flat design fee. I started off working that way - but it just isn't viable. Some kitchens require too much work and an average fee that's economic for the designer isn't fair on those who have very small or simple kitchens. I still have a flat basic rate fee ... but with increases for extra large or extra complicated kitchens. That seems fair to me.
People pay their accountants and their solicitors and lawyers a variable fee, depending on how much work they require to be done ... why not their kitchen designers?
In the sort of circles I move in, though, I'm expected to come up with a kitchen that the clients want. I can't see me arguing with them and telling them they should be having a more cutting edge design ... and I can't see people paying me to do that. I think I'll just aim for good design ... not cutting edge, innovation.
Hi Johnboy, and welcome. Sorry to hear that you're between jobs ... and good luck with the job hunting!
Yes, you're right a good CAD system does speed up the process of offering alternatives ... I don't often do any hand drawings these days.
I do sometimes do a quick draft of a radical plan - and see what the response is - before doing the plan proper. But doing a really good CAD presentation with pots and pans and lots of accessories still takes me quite a while ... and I then export the pictures and enhance them with a photo-editor. I don't want to be doing all that with two separate plans all the time. There wouldn't be enough hours in the day!
If you present pictures of one beautifully accessoried kitchen and one basic layout - won't it always be the pretty one that gets chosen?
Well Majjie! Theres nothing like provoking a debate!
'Won't it always be the pretty one that gets chosen.'
I hope it's the innovative AND well presented design that wins the day.
The innovative designer (salesperson) will stand out immediately from the crowd and take their rivals out of the running.
As you say, time is scarce! Why not invest a little more to make sure you do justice to yourself, your client and the materials being used?
I like a good debate Johnboy! And I'm always delighted when I get some feedback on my blogs ... so thank you for that.
I think we're possibly talking about two different levels of innovation here. I entirely agree that a good kitchen design will stand out from the crowd ... but then the quality of the crowd often isn't very high. I would expect a good design to stand out in comparison to the majority of B&Q, Magnet, IKEA, Wickes or Howdens designs (in the UK) ... or many designs from smaller showrooms come to that.
I wouldn't expect a good kitchen design, necessarily, to be so innovative that it would stand out in the way that Johnny Grey is talking about. In the way that a designer frock might ... or a startling piece of architecture. I tend to agree with Sarah that innovation of that sort only occurs at the very top of the market ... and that's the sort of innovation that would be too time consuming to do for every client (and would be impossible - I contend - with many of the less expensive furniture ranges).
Far better, I think (for most kitchens), to spend more time in the initial discussion with the client and find out whether or not they're open to different ideas. Even then, it's not always straightforward. One of my clients recently said to me that they had "come to the conclusion that we're a bit more conservative than we thought we were!"; after they'd looked at my initial plan. I wouldn't have called that plan particularly daring - although I was, of course, quite happy to change it.
Innovation is, perhaps, in the eye of the beholder!
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