Top of the line Kitchen design!!

sam2610

New member
Jun 14, 2008
6
0
0
I am a very experienced kitchen designer and would love to get back into it after a short break, To start with i can work from home and can afford to pick and choose any projects that would come along, I realise that not everyone spends $$$$$$$ everyday on this kind of thing so i might get a new project every few months which is fine by me as i have another business to run, but the lack of well designed and planned kitchens here is abundant and it is the heart of a beautiful home.

What i need to know is, can good quality cabinetry, appliances and accessories be found here for someone who wants top of the range stuff as i would like to see the project through from design to fitting. Also can good, experienced fitters, plumbers, electrcians be found? This i think will be the hardest of all, as i have hired so called carpenters before and they cant even saw a piece of wood in half ha ha. I would be working mostly in the east coast.

Do you think there is a market for this with private individual clients and or developers that really want the wow factor?

Thanks
 

Lambada

Gold
Mar 4, 2004
9,478
410
0
80
www.ginniebedggood.com
We had our cabinets made by our carpenter who is really good (north coast I'm afraid, so not much good to you). The wow factor will need built in anti-muchacha-damage-control. Make sure your plumber has fitted a dishwasher before otherwise.................:ermm: (I speak from experience). Good plumbers & carpenters can be found; good electricians are almost an endangered species ;). I'll let others answer your question about how much of a market there is but I don't see why there shouldn't be.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
113
Also can good, experienced fitters, plumbers, electrcians(sic) be found?

Most of us giggle at this idea. No they are not easily found.

While you might be the greatest designer ever, if you don't have clients, you are not going anywhere is this area.

There is a person who manufactures top of the line kitchen cabinets for several projects in Punta Cana, Turks and Caicos and Costa Rica. It took him two years to get his production facility up and running to his perfectionist level....

You are facing an incredible amount difficulties. Where will you get your woods, fittings and so forth? Locally you price yourself out of the market. Importing them, you need to know a lot more about this country than you do now, plus some very deep pockets.

As incredible as it may seem, the kitchens I have seen in Punta Cana and CAp Cana have been very well built, but the owners had almost unlimited resources.

HB
 

gamana

New member
Apr 24, 2006
225
2
0
As HB mentioned, deep pockets are a must in order to get top quality in in this country. The reason is simple: you can't get it here, you need to import it. Many kitchen retailers in SD and ST will offer you Poggenpohl, Bulthaup, Subzero, Miele, ....etc but, again, the price is steep (usually double).

I have actually seen individuals spending more money on average kitchens made locally than those gorgeous imported kitchens from Germany or Italy. Experienced local labor, wood and (imported) appliances are not so cheap.

To address the last part of your question, developers will not stretched their budget to accommodate those types of items (except for appliances) but some private individuals will. We are talking about a very small market here which would require enormous efforts to capture in order to make a business venture worthwhile.

btw, I saw a store in SD in Naco that carries Nolte kitchen cabinetry. Fairly prices and extremely good quality. If more "global" products reach DR, the custom locally made kitchen market will diminish even more for the high end segment.
 
J

John Evans

Guest
something we do need is good quality bathroom cabinets and accessories- me no like plastic and tin
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
I've seen some really poorly designed kitchens in nice homes. I aksed Alida's brother-in-law, an architect, why. His answer: many Dominicans don't care, because the hired domestic is the one that uses the kitchen the most.

Interesting perspective...
 

monfongo

Bronze
Feb 10, 2005
1,202
145
63
I am a lic.plumber from the boston area and I can tell you they know nothing about plumbing ,venting, fixture units,demand factor,or anything thing else related to plumbing. the plumbers here allso call themselfs elect. carpenters,auto mechanics,floor tilers,etc. In other words they are handymen.
 

megabiteme

[ - Mute Button -] Click!
Jan 9, 2008
123
0
0
I am a very experienced kitchen designer and would love to get back into it after a short break, To start with i can work from home and can afford to pick and choose any projects that would come along, I realise that not everyone spends $$$$$$$ everyday on this kind of thing so i might get a new project every few months which is fine by me as i have another business to run, but the lack of well designed and planned kitchens here is abundant and it is the heart of a beautiful home.

What i need to know is, can good quality cabinetry, appliances and accessories be found here for someone who wants top of the range stuff as i would like to see the project through from design to fitting. Also can good, experienced fitters, plumbers, electrcians be found? This i think will be the hardest of all, as i have hired so called carpenters before and they cant even saw a piece of wood in half ha ha. I would be working mostly in the east coast.

Do you think there is a market for this with private individual clients and or developers that really want the wow factor?

Thanks

You need to market your stuff here in the DR. Perhaps go to some of the local stores and team up with them as some contractors did with home depot back in the states. If a client is at a local store buying cabinets, sinks, etc, they must need somebody to install them. So while they are looking at the stores products, perhaps you can have some samples of your stuff set up in a photo album or something. If you can get your stuff out to the eyes of the consumers needs, you should have some great success in getting them as your customer. Just a thought... Anthony

Another thought... get with the store manager and perhaps you can display some of your products with there stuff. If a customer wants your stuff, split the proceeds and you get the job as well for the install.
 
Last edited:

jaguarbob

Bronze
Mar 2, 2004
1,427
60
48
kitchen design

As HB mentioned, deep pockets are a must in order to get top quality in in this country. The reason is simple: you can't get it here, you need to import it. Many kitchen retailers in SD and ST will offer you Poggenpohl, Bulthaup, Subzero, Miele, ....etc but, again, the price is steep (usually double).

I have actually seen individuals spending more money on average kitchens made locally than those gorgeous imported kitchens from Germany or Italy. Experienced local labor, wood and (imported) appliances are not so cheap.

To address the last part of your question, developers will not stretched their budget to accommodate those types of items (except for appliances) but some private individuals will. We are talking about a very small market here which would require enormous efforts to capture in order to make a business venture worthwhile.

btw, I saw a store in SD in Naco that carries Nolte kitchen cabinetry. Fairly prices and extremely good quality. If more "global" products reach DR, the custom locally made kitchen market will diminish even more for the high end segment.


where in NACO
bob
 

suarezn

Gold
Feb 3, 2002
5,823
290
0
55
I've seen some really poorly designed kitchens in nice homes. I aksed Alida's brother-in-law, an architect, why. His answer: many Dominicans don't care, because the hired domestic is the one that uses the kitchen the most.

Interesting perspective...

That is completely correct. Very few homes in The DR have nice spacious kitchens and you can forget about open kitchens like the ones you see in newer homes in The US.

In my house I tried to design a decent kitchen. I even took a bunch of catalogs from Lowes and Home Depot to try to recreate some of that, but unfortunately I wasn't there when it was being built and the carpenter did a very crappy job. I got tired of dealing with them and just left it as is. I figured I would change it when / If I go back to live permanently. Right now the help does all the cooking...
 

sam2610

New member
Jun 14, 2008
6
0
0
Hi there

Maybe i will just contact a few places that sell the goods and just offer my design service to people who really want to utilise their space well from a planning point of view and also a well designed beautiful kitchen. I can create and plan computerized drawrings and a create a photo quality picture of what the kitchen could look like. Maybe through them i would meet some good fitters allthough i dont it very much. Thank you all for your input on this.
 

megabiteme

[ - Mute Button -] Click!
Jan 9, 2008
123
0
0
Hi there

Maybe i will just contact a few places that sell the goods and just offer my design service to people who really want to utilise their space well from a planning point of view and also a well designed beautiful kitchen. I can create and plan computerized drawrings and a create a photo quality picture of what the kitchen could look like. Maybe through them i would meet some good fitters allthough i dont it very much. Thank you all for your input on this.

Exactly!!! This reminds me of the kitchen and bathroom stores in the states. its good to see what happens when you get other ideas and pow! you got your plan. This i think would be the best approach and it works as the proof from how we shop in the states. Just because most here do not speak english, the people who have the money want nice things as well. I would try to create a Kitchen module design, so hit the web and get your ideas and images created and market it in as many stores that are willing to have it.
If you don't try something you will never know what could have been ;)
 

Lambada

Gold
Mar 4, 2004
9,478
410
0
80
www.ginniebedggood.com
That is completely correct. Very few homes in The DR have nice spacious kitchens and you can forget about open kitchens like the ones you see in newer homes in The US.

In my house I tried to design a decent kitchen. I even took a bunch of catalogs from Lowes and Home Depot to try to recreate some of that, but unfortunately I wasn't there when it was being built and the carpenter did a very crappy job. I got tired of dealing with them and just left it as is. I figured I would change it when / If I go back to live permanently. Right now the help does all the cooking...

It is possible -we designed our own kitchen which is very open (some on this board have seen it). BushBaby transposed the design to a computer programme & armed with that we used it as a testing device when we were selecting architects. The one who completely ignored our open design & produced plans hiding the kitchen in a little back room did NOT get the job :) - he had been told that it would be me doing the cooking & not a muchacha but the conceptuo-cultural leap was too great for him. But, with persistence, we found a splendid architect who produced plans of the house exactly the way we wanted it and so we ended up with a kitchen exactly the way we wanted it.

Of course we had to supervise closely, stiflingly closely at times ;) and you have to be physically present (& alert!) but if you work at it, it IS possible.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
It is possible -we designed our own kitchen which is very open (some on this board have seen it). BushBaby transposed the design to a computer programme & armed with that we used it as a testing device when we were selecting architects. The one who completely ignored our open design & produced plans hiding the kitchen in a little back room did NOT get the job :) - he had been told that it would be me doing the cooking & not a muchacha but the conceptuo-cultural leap was too great for him. But, with persistence, we found a splendid architect who produced plans of the house exactly the way we wanted it and so we ended up with a kitchen exactly the way we wanted it.

Of course we had to supervise closely, stiflingly closely at times ;) and you have to be physically present (& alert!) but if you work at it, it IS possible.
Your kitchen is awesome. But YOU designed it for YOU (a custom job), and had to search for an architect who'd go by what YOU wanted.

But go into the newer developments, homes, apartments and condos designed by Dominicans for Dominicans. It's almost like the kitchen is an afterthought.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
113
I came to the same conclusion several years ago when I visited a friend's US$3,000 per month penthouse in Bella Vista: although the kitchen was large, the appliances and cabinets were dismally low-end.

Some places have two kitchens, following the logic described by cobraboy even further: one for everyday use by the muchacha, and one for show. Still, I get the impression that there is a growing demand for top end quality kitchens - evidenced by the presence of places like Porcelanosa on Lope de Vega, Ferrara on Lincoln and the really good kitchen equipment shop in Plaza Catalu?a (Piantini). Cooking being the new rock'n'roll and all that. :)

As for brand new developments, the kitchen in our apartment in a brand new complex in Punta Cana is much too small, and I have my doubts the IKEA-style cabinets which although nice looking are probably likely to warp in the humid climate. If I can't adapt to such a small kitchen we will have to extend it through the cuarto de servicio, which we don't need anyway.
 

J D Sauser

Silver
Nov 20, 2004
2,940
390
83
www.hispanosuizainvest.com
There are several companies which import quality and high grade modular bath room and kitchen cabinets and accessories. My personal approach to it would be to get in touch with them, see what they have (on site), design based on that, buy from them and install myself... but then, I understand not everybody is handy with a screw driver of wishes to trade their Caribbean lifestyle for a week of cabinet fitting at home.
Anyway, it can be done and has been done. Just check out some of the upper scale homes and apartments in Santiago, Santo Domingo, Casa de Campo and Punta Cana.

... J-D.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
113
You were not reading. There is a guy here,already, Free Zone Santiago, making very high end kitchens....the kind I dream about. And yes, you can get access to them..

Appliances are a whole nuther story...Everything is available here, everything! You pay for what you get.