Majjie's Blog

The design services we provide have changed slightly over the four years that Advanced Kitchen Design has been up and running (the vast majority are now produced by CAD, rather than hand drawn - and a lot more are done entirely on-line) ... but up until now our prices haven't changed at all.

We try to keep the prices as low as possible, so that an independent kitchen design is feasible for any kitchen buyer ... even those wanting to use the cheapest units, such as IKEA or Wickes (where arguably there is the most need for a good design).

Unfortunately, not everything else has stayed the same - notably the cost of a train fare to London - and the cost of glossy paper (the cheap stuff just doesn't show up the colours well). It has also become obvious that the kitchens you ask us to design are never the very simple ones. When Marion decided to become a freelance kitchen designer and set the business up, she fondly imagined a mix of kitchen types would come her way ... both simple and horribly complicated.  Turns out, though, that most of our clients have the horribly complicated ones ... or the ones where everything you want just won't fit in ... or the extra large ones that go round corners. Those of you with easy kitchens are obviously still taking advantage of the "free" designs of the kitchen suppliers.

In order to make allowances for these developments, we have changed our pricing structure slightly and have also spelled out when extra charges become payable. The BASIC FEES REMAIN THE SAME ... so, if you have an average sized kitchen and want standard type units, and you're nearish to Nottingham, or you're happy to communicate entirely on-line ... then NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

Additional charges will now be made for the following:

• a hard copy of the final plan and specification, with the visualisations printed onto glossy paper ... sent by post ... will now cost an extra £25 (you wouldn't believe how much we spend on ink and paper!).
• travelling to LONDON (within the M25) will now cost an extra £50 (the train fares and parking are, on average, about £80 per trip ... and travelling by car often takes much longer than the equivalent distance outside of London).
• travelling times of more than 3 hours by car from Nottingham will incur an extra £50 charge ... sorry but it does make for a very tiring day when nothing else gets done ... and we don't normally undertake journeys of more than about 4 hours.
• you will always get at least one design (and a few tweaks ... like changing colours ... or altering one or two units) within the basic price but for larger kitchens, kitchens with additional areas (like garden or utility rooms) and for kitchens requiring bespoke, inset-framed, handmade units ... there are likely to be additional charges for further designs/plans. These kitchens tend to be much more time consuming. Extra work will be charged at £25 per hour and you can specify a maximum spend, if you like ... or we can just keep you updated as to how much time has been charged.

Additional charges have always been payable for large and complicated kitchens - and kitchens which need a lot of plan changes - but this is the first time we've tried to spell out exactly which kitchens will require extra time.

All the charges are now specified within the description of each Design Service we provide; whether that be Bronze, Silver or Gold (the Platinum Service is an add-on to the others).

This is an example of a kitchen plan that incurred extra charges:

This was the first of several versions of the plan ... for a kitchen which was going to be the result of knocking four rooms into one ... and there was more than one possibility for the siting of the kitchen.

 Although this plan (Plan A) fitted into the space well, it wasn't ideal. There was only room for two perching stools - very near the hob - and the American fridge-freezer was outside of the main kitchen area.

 By the time we got to Plan D, things were looking very different ... and changes had been made to the planned building work ... a very good example of why you should think about the kitchen before the building work actually starts!