What to Ask a Kitchen Designer?
What to Ask a Kitchen Designer:
A Showroom Checklist for Buyers
A homeowner who had just spent tens of thousands of pounds on a new kitchen once described, on a UK car forum of all places, the moment he realised something was wrong.
He had asked his kitchen supplier for a project schedule - a single document showing how the cabinetry, the structural work, the plumbing, the electrics and the worktops would dovetail together.
The supplier, he wrote, asked him what he meant. He ended up holding all the risk himself, paying for elements to be reworked, and wishing he had asked a different set of questions in the showroom three months earlier.
We have heard versions of his story from clients walking into our Glenfield showroom for years. People who chose a kitchen studio on the strength of a beautiful design and discovered, after the deposit, that nobody had taken responsibility for the project as a whole. This guide is the checklist we wish every kitchen buyer brought with them.
It works for any studio, not just ours - and the questions that matter most are not the ones about handle finishes.
Before You Visit - What to Bring
Before the questions, a short word on preparation. The first showroom visit goes much better when you arrive with these five things:
- Rough room dimensions, or photos of the space with a tape measure visible for scale
- Photos of your existing kitchen and the rooms either side
- A budget range you are genuinely comfortable with - see our kitchen cost guide if you are still working this out
- A short list of styles or images you have saved - Pinterest, magazines, or the studio's own gallery
- A list of frustrations with your current kitchen - these are more useful than a wish list
The frustrations matter most.
A good designer will design around what is not working, not just towards what looks attractive. If you can describe the moment in your current kitchen when you reach for something and it is in the wrong place, you have given the designer the most useful piece of information they will hear that day.
The Question That Matters Most: Who Owns the Whole Project?
Most kitchen companies quote for cabinetry and fitting.
They do not quote for the structural preparation, the rerouted plumbing, the new electrical circuits, the plastering, the decorating, or - sometimes - even the worktop templating. Those things sit somewhere else, and "somewhere else" is usually you, the homeowner.
The question to ask is not "will you work with my other trades?" Every studio says yes to that.
The question is: "Will you take responsibility for what they do, on the dates you have quoted, to the standard the design requires?"
A studio that hesitates here is telling you the answer. The single most damaging surprise at the premium end is not a price overrun - it is the moment the cabinetry team and the building team look at each other across an unfinished kitchen and neither one of them is in charge.
Every other question in this checklist is, in some sense, a follow-up to this one.
Questions About the Design Process
3D visualisation is now standard for any serious studio. It lets you see and adjust the design before committing to anything. A confident answer sounds like: "Yes, every kitchen is designed in 3D and signed off by you before we order the cabinetry." A weaker answer involves catalogues and standard layouts.
The most positive premium-buyer reviews specifically cite extensive pre-deposit design as the reassurance signal that earned their trust - site visits, design meetings and revisions before any money changed hands. A studio asking for a deposit before the design is fully resolved is a studio that sees the deposit as the conversion point, not the start of a relationship.
Design is iterative. Most clients want two or three revisions before sign-off, sometimes more. A studio that caps revisions or charges per round is signalling that the design phase is a transaction, not a conversation.
The best premium-buyer reviews name a single designer who was present from first meeting to handover. The worst describe being handed between a "case manager", a "field installation manager" and a "project associate" - none of whom were in the room when the design was agreed. Ask for names, not job titles.
Measurements taken from showroom photos are not enough. A site visit reveals structural quirks - waste pipe positions, uneven walls, load-bearing elements, the way light falls through a north-facing window in February - that affect what is actually buildable. Buyers who skipped this step describe discovering "additional plastering at additional cost" weeks into the project.
Questions About Materials and Specification
A studio that names its fabricators - Königstone for quartz, Neolith for sintered stone, established UK suppliers for granite - has established relationships and accountability. Vague answers usually mean the work is subcontracted to whoever is cheapest that month. One forum buyer discovered his showroom-quoted worktop was being resold at almost double the fabricator's direct price. For more detail, see our kitchen worktops guide.
The best premium-buyer reviews name a single designer who was present from first meeting to handover. The worst describe being handed between a "case manager", a "field installation manager" and a "project associate" - none of whom were in the room when the design was agreed. Ask for names, not job titles.
Knowing whether appliances - Neff, Britannia, Quooker, Franke - are part of the quote affects how you compare studios. Some include them as standard; others list them as extras. Buying appliances separately can be cheaper, but it puts the responsibility for delivery dates and warranty claims onto you. Ask the studio how they handle it both ways.
Questions About Installation and Trades
This is the single biggest predictor of installation quality at the premium end.
The reviews of national brands are full of strong design phases followed by disappointing installations carried out by third-party fitters who had never seen the cabinetry before. The reviews of the best independent studios name fitters by first name and describe them coming back for snags without being asked. Ask whether the people fitting your kitchen are employed directly by the studio.
The answer predicts almost everything else.Paint failure is the most-cited materials disappointment in five-year-old premium kitchens. Doors that peel, base coats showing through colour, water damage near sinks. Ask whether the paint is oil-based or water-based - oil-based handles humidity better - whether it is spray-applied in a controlled environment, and whether the studio offers a touch-up visit after the cabinetry has settled. Studios that include a post-install paint visit as standard are signalling confidence in their finish.
This is the project ownership question, restated in operational terms. Who calls the electrician? Who books the plasterer? Who handles snagging on the painted walls after the units are in? At Glenfield, all of this is coordinated by the same in-house team - but the question is fair to ask of any studio, and the answer tells you exactly how the project will run.
A confident studio gives you a specific range - not "it depends". For a bespoke kitchen, expect ten to fourteen weeks from first consultation to handover, with two to three weeks of on-site installation. Buyers who didn't ask describe simple refits stretching from "two weeks" to almost six months. For more detail, see our kitchen renovation timeline guide.
Snagging is normal.
Every kitchen has small adjustments after handover - a drawer that needs realigning, a hinge that needs tightening, a piece of trim that has settled. The question is who handles it. The worst reviews describe waiting weeks for an installation manager who never calls back, and guarantees that turn out to be unenforceable because every issue is disputed. The best describe fitters who came back unprompted to take a warped piece away and repair it at no charge.
Ask for the snagging policy in writing.
Questions About Cost and Quotes
This is the single most commercially important question in the showroom.
At thirty to seventy thousand pounds, the gap between the kitchen quote and the all-in project cost regularly runs to five figures. Quotes vary in what they cover - flooring, tiling, lighting, structural alterations, plastering, decorating, waste removal, and worktop templating are sometimes included and sometimes not. Get the exclusions in writing, and watch for items quoted on a separate page at the back of the document.
One buyer in a Which? survey missed her quartz worktop entirely because it had been costed on a different page she didn't read.Paint failure is the most-cited materials disappointment in five-year-old premium kitchens. Doors that peel, base coats showing through colour, water damage near sinks. Ask whether the paint is oil-based or water-based - oil-based handles humidity better - whether it is spray-applied in a controlled environment, and whether the studio offers a touch-up visit after the cabinetry has settled. Studios that include a post-install paint visit as standard are signalling confidence in their finish.
Most premium studios charge for the design stage and credit it against the project if you commit. This is normal and a sign of a serious studio - design takes real time and the fee filters out tyre-kickers. Studios that offer "free design" often build the cost back in elsewhere, or rush the design phase to get to the deposit faster.
A reasonable schedule has staged payments tied to specific milestones - design sign-off, delivery, installation start, snagging complete. A studio asking for the full amount upfront, or for a large deposit before the design is finalised, is one to walk away from. A typical structure looks like: a deposit on design sign-off, a larger payment on delivery, the balance once snagging is complete.
Questions About Communication and After-Sales
The contrast between pre-deposit responsiveness and post-deposit silence is the most emotionally charged theme in premium-buyer reviews.
People describe designers who replied within the hour before signing, and became unreachable after. Ask for the name of your project contact, ask for the expected response time, and ask what happens if that person is on leave. The best studios have one named person throughout. The worst hand you off to a generic case manager who has never seen your kitchen.This question is almost invisible in showroom visits, yet it is what separates premium studios from premium-priced disappointments. The best studios offer a post-installation visit a few weeks after handover - to touch up paint, adjust doors that have settled, and resolve anything you have noticed in daily use. Most do not offer this unless asked. Buyers who didn't ask describe waiting three months for missing items, or being told that paint damage from regular use isn't covered.
Questions About the studio itself
Longevity isn't everything, but a studio with a long track record of local projects has a body of work you can verify. Ask to see real installations, ideally with permission to speak to the past clients. A studio that can show you a kitchen it fitted in a Leicester home five years ago is showing you its actual quality, not its catalogue version.
Some "showrooms" display manufacturer demonstration units rather than the studio's own work. Ask whether the kitchen on display was built by the studio. Where possible, ask to see the workshop or factory - buyers in the research repeatedly cite a workshop visit as the moment they made their decision.
What a Good Answer Looks Like
You are not interrogating the studio. You are listening for a particular kind of confidence - the kind that comes from a designer who knows their own work, employs their own trades, and has answered these questions before.
A good answer tends to be:
✅ Specific over vague - named brands, named timelines, named processes, named people
✅ Confident over hedged - a studio that knows its own work answers directly
✅ Honest about trade-offs - every material has weaknesses, and a designer who pretends otherwise is selling, not advising
✅ Comfortable with the questions - a studio that bristles at being asked who installs the kitchen has told you the answer
✅ Generous with pre-deposit time - extensive design conversations before the deposit are a trust signal, not a delay
How Glenfield Answers These Questions
We've published this checklist because we are happy to be tested against it. Here is how we answer the questions that matter most:
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Project ownership. One named team coordinates cabinetry, plumbing, electrical, plastering and decorating from deposit to handover - not "we'll work with your trades".
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Pre-deposit design time. Site visit, full 3D design and physical material samples before any deposit is requested.
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Single point of contact. Hina from first consultation to final handover - same person, same notebook, same phone number.
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Employed installation team. Paul,John Brad, Steve and Lewis fit every Glenfield kitchen. No subcontractors.
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Carcass specification on the table. We tell you exactly what the carcasses, plinths and frames are made of - and you see the materials in the showroom before you commit.
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Post-installation visit as standard. We come back a few weeks after handover to touch up paint, adjust doors that have settled, and check the things you have noticed in daily use.
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Itemised quotes. Exclusions on the front page, not hidden at the back.
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Forty-eight years of Leicester projects. Happy to put you in touch with recent clients on request.
"The questions we like best are the ones a client has thought about before they walk in. It tells us they have heard the horror stories - and it means they are taking the project seriously. So are we." - Hina
Free download: The printable Showroom Evaluation Checklist
If you have made it to the bottom of this checklist, you are ready to visit a showroom in a way most homeowners are not. Bring it with you - to ours, or to anyone else's.
Free download:
The printable Showroom Evaluation Checklist
A one-page version of these 19 questions, designed to fit in your bag for showroom visits. Includes space to write down each studio's answers so you can compare them honestly afterwards.
Ready to visit our showroom?
We are at 120 Station Road, Glenfield, Leicester LE3 8BR. Contact us on the number below to book a consultation. We hope to see you with our checklist in hand.
Call: 0116 287 1551
Free download: The printable Showroom Evaluation Checklist
If you have made it to the bottom of this checklist, you are ready to visit a showroom in a way most homeowners are not. Bring it with you - to ours, or to anyone else's.
Free download:
The printable Showroom Evaluation Checklist
A one-page version of these 19 questions, designed to fit in your bag for showroom visits. Includes space to write down each studio's answers so you can compare them honestly afterwards.
Ready to visit our showroom?
We are at 120 Station Road, Glenfield, Leicester LE3 8BR. Contact us on the number below to book a consultation. We hope to see you with our checklist in hand.
Call: 0116 287 1551