Maye Delk: Yes you should hire an Interior Designer ASID if you want your remodel to look special. You can also figure it all out yourself and save money but obviously it will not look as nice. As for the kitchen, hire a Kitchen Designer CKD. But..DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT go to Home Depot or Lowes. They do not employ kitchen designers but mearly move a floor person to cabinet sales and give them a 3 day training course on how to use CAD. You will be cheated out of endless design possibilities because they don't know about them to tell you about them. Those big box stores also charge full list price. You would not pay full list price/MSRP/sticker price for your new car so why pay it for cabinets. This goes for most items in their stores. Instead go to your local kitchen showroom and pick one who who offers 35 to 50% off list price. Most small showrooms do. If not then keep looking A General Contractor will hire all the trades people who charge the GC and the GC tacks more mone! y on top of that. Lots of middle men you would be paying there. Instead an Interior Designer will be your GC for either an hourly fee or a fixed fee based on a % of the job. And they are far far far more skilled then any GC....Show more
Janean Guz: An honest one. There are many crooks in the home repair building trade. Talk to relatives, friends and neighbors who have had work done to find contractors who have done honest work. If you get three names, have them come in and give an estimate. There is often a clause in a building contract covering unexpected problems or unforeseen additional work. Get that covered in the contract. But - crooked contractors use the 'unforeseen additional work' clause to add big bucks to the final bill. So, you need to really check out contractors but, with all that you can still end up on the short end of the stick - so, find a friend who is sharp and have him or her help you evaluate the contractors. Two heads are better than one, as th! e old saying goes. Good luck, you'll need it. When I used to b! e in the trade, at least half of the contractors in the yellow pages were crooks. I finally made more money consulting for home owners....Show more
Keneth Mailhot: I think you should do your interior designing by yourself and save money. You can get creative by getting inspiration from sites such as:http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/index.htmlhttp://www.interiordezine.comIf you want to save money, you can buy your cabinets online and have them shipped to your house. Ready to assemble cabinets will cost less to be installed. Many contractors work in partnership with major home improvement stores so they're reputable. If your house is old or the layout is special you may want to invest in specialists so that everything gets done right. Good luck on your remodeling and kitchen design!...Show more
Caterina Yeargan: Whew! That's a big list. I think you need to figure out your priorities and budget. Then call contractors for estimates. Try going on to Service Magic.com o! r a similar site. They get you in contact with reputable, licensed and insured people to do the jobs you need. Then get at least three estimates. Good contractors are honest and helpful, and understanding if you are budget conscious. You will learn a lot! Once you have gone through this process, you may have a better idea of what you are capable of doing yourself, and what is better to hire out. In my humble experience, electrical and plumbing must be hired out. Unless you know what you are doing leave it to the professional.Flooring from Lowe's or HD is a good idea, and will probably be your cheapest choice- with great results. They can remove the tile and carpet, but will charge you labor- You could probably do it. But remember your time, the right tools you will have to buy, clean up etc!!Painting isn't fun but with a little advice from the hardware store paint guy and a few evenings you can easily repaint yourself and save a lot of money, professional painters are not! cheep.Get a professional to redo your kitchen. Its the heart of the ho! me and can make or break your place. It would be a shame to screw it up- ikea has great kitchen cabinets etc- lots of design mags showing ikea kitchens, Plus they will help you design and install. As will lowes and home depot... and of course outside contractors.As far as a designer goes, if you can afford one- go for it. Most places will let you know what there fee is up front. Just find a place call and ask- if its in your budget go for it. If not go to Borders and buy some design mags, flip though and pull out what you like, then stick those in a binder and refer to it when you are decideing on things like cabinets and floor color.Good Luck- and have fun, plus take a lot of before pictures!...Show more
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