The cabinets arrive!
The day that the kitchen cabinets are delivered is always a revelation. We’ve planned for weeks or months, selected finsihes, colors and door-styles, had samples made and approved, and yet … The client’s reaction can range from”Wow, it’s even better than I thought” to “Oh no have I made a huge mistake”. Of course no designer ever wants to hear that second response, but if it does happen, what can you do?
The reality is, on delivery day the client is looking at cabinets, not the finished kitchen. You are out on the driveway or in a garage, surrounded by shipping blankets or packing material, there are so many parts, trim pieces, etc., it looks like chaos to the uninitiated. The color you carefully chose looks different out here, it is not lit by your artfully designed lighting plan, you do not have the materials you have chosen for countertops and backsplashes that will compliment the cabinets and make them look their best. So you can compare the finish and color with the approved sample – see how they look the same in this light? Remember how great it looked with the stone and tile samples in the studio? Think how wonderful the finished kitchen is going to be when everything is together, when the counters are there to balance the cabinet color, when the backsplash that marries all the colors together is completed.
I don’t know how many people have these doubts – I’ve encountered them a few times, and I suspect that other clients share the worry but do not express it. But every one of them loved the kitchen when it was finished. It really is just a matter of having trust in the design process you’ve been through – the end result is worth it!
