Kitchen Ideas Faqs

What degree do kitchen designers have that work at Lowes/Home Depot?

I'm a graphic design student at the moment and work at Lowes minimum hours at the moment as a cashier. I heard one (maybe more) of the kitchen designers has a graphic design degree though. This confuses me but I'm interested in learning more about this since I've been given the opportunity to work in that area. I thought they would have needed some sort of interior design degree? I just wanted to find out some info before I go into work next time so I appreciate any help.

Public Comments

1. they don't!! their certified by the store and don't have a clue what they're doing just following the sales pitch program i'm a designer and went to one to find out for myself -but they're selling to people who have know idea(home depots was worse) Keep up your schooling and don't get stuck there,good luck
2. I am absolutely not an expert, but I do know someone who has worked in kitchen design for Home Depot for years and years. She only has a high school diploma, and she started out at Home Depot in the paint department. She got moved to working with the cabinetry people because she was able to suggest paint colors for people who wanted to redo their kitchens, but didn't have the budget to redo the cabinets along with everything else. At that point, her only experience was the fact that she had worked with the paints and knew which kinds of paints and stains you use in a kitchen (and also how to give instructions for stripping existing finishes on cabinets), and the fact that she had installed some cabinets in her own kitchen. After a couple of years of doing only cabinets, she was promoted to kitchen design, and she's been doing that for a long time. She did tell me once that there were two people at her store who had degrees in design: one an Associates in graphic design, and the other an Associates in interior design. The person who had the degree in interior design ended up being let go because she was completely unable to stick to a budget. People would show her what they wanted, and tell her their maximum allowable budget, and she always came in over budget in her designs. Apparently, when the people tried to work with her, and tried looking for places where they could cut out some of the elements to bring the entire project back into line with their budgets, she would act like a diva and say that the kitchen had to be EXACTLY as she had designed it, and that messing with even one element was not an option. I guess that sometimes people finally bowed to her demands and came up with the extra money, but most people got so upset they left and went elsewhere. My acquaintance said that the main goal in her job is helping people get as close to what they want without going over budget. For example, sometimes people want cherry cabinets, while they happen to have oak. She said in a case like that, where their budget doesn't allow for cherry, what they do is change the cabinet doors and drawer fronts only. Then they strip and restain the other parts of the cabinets to look like cherry. Another common one that she told me about is that people will want special countertops, but not have the budget for what they want. For example, slate is very popular and looks good, but several really large whole pieces of slate for countertops is extremely expensive. In a case like that, she told me that they often suggest people go with slate flooring tiles, which are not as expensive when you buy the same amount of square footage. She said the individual tiles look just as nice, but it saves a lot of money to do tiles instead of huge slabs. I would imagine that if you want to work in that department, and you have been offered the opportunity to do so, you can pretty much learn as you go. Your studies will already have given you some great background on the fundamental elements of design, and you can pick up the rest of what you need to know from your co-workers and by trial and error. I know that one thing my acquaintance does is subscribe to home design magazines. She takes several, and she told me once that one of the things she does is she takes pictures out of the magazines, and then practices putting together the same look with items in the store. She said she will do like three versions of the same design: one a low-price version, one a mid-price version, and one a top-of-the-line version. She just does that to stay on top of her game. I don't know if any of this is of any help at all, but I do encourage you, since you've been given the opportunity, to take your employer up on the offer to work in that area. As I said, your background will be a huge bonus, and you can continue to educate yourself once in that department by learning from the others there, and reading magazines or watching home design shows. My guess is that you'll enjoy it, and that you'll do well, even if you are a tiny bit wobbly at first. Best of luck!!
3. they don't or they would be working elsewhere making more money. and so can you.