Found a good guy

Found a good guy but I can't describe about him too much because I may put him in trouble. He is the first ID guy that I met that will criticize his own profession. He will tell you a lot of features in that kitchen cabinet do not serves its purpose, but lack of it, you are losing the sense of that kitchen design flavor. It's classical kitchen that I'm talking about. What makes a classical kitchen are hood, small drawers, distinctive carving, wine tray, etc. If you are trying to get rid of these features, it will not be classical design anymore.

I'm not a qualified professional but just sharing from a user perspective. If you fall in love with this kitchen when you step into a showroom and ask them to make a copy exact, then I think you will be in big trouble. Here the why(click on the image to see my comments)



If I really like it, I will make a few modifications. First, I will ask the designer to add enough task lights(build into the cabinet), lighting that is bright enough for me to work(washing plate, preparing food, boiling water, etc). Then I need to ask myself do I have anything that I want to showcase. Let's say I've a big vase of Ming dynasty(it's out context anyway to put it in a kitchen cabinet), then I'll need some kind of accent light -- lighting to highlight the features of that Ming dynasty vase. My point is, make a list before I see my designer or else you probably I'll ended up spending money for nothing. Or if I've Picasso, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Ibrahim Hussein, Syed Ahmad Jamal, Chua Teng Teng, Yong Mun Shen, etc, it's time to show off. It's time bring it out. You can't work backward, so got to do shopping on all the big items before talking to plaster ceiling and lighting guys.



Then I will get rid of that restaurant or lobby entrance of night club feel lighting. When comes to lighting, I probably will talk to somebody who can give me enough advice on how much brightness or illumination I need for the general lighting(ambient light). Those lighting specialist will be able to tell you what is the lighting coverage a specific light. A good guy will tell you how many sq feet a particular light can give you. From there, you can decide how many lights you need without throwing the whole ambient off balance. I'll go for LED lighting as it requires less maintenance, lower power consumption and less heat being generated but the initial investment is higher.