When we move into a new house or decide to renovate our house, we face many organizational challenges that make the task not easy. Meetings with suppliers and professionals, visits to showrooms, price comparisons and more, all of these can be exhausting. To make the process easier, interior designer Tehila Ramati launched KitchenPlan - kitchen planning and construction management.
"As far as I'm concerned, the kitchen is the most important part of the house. We invest a lot of money in it and we need to invest a lot of thinking in it as well. In the end, an adapted and fun kitchen improves the family's standard of living, because we spend a large part of our lives in the kitchen," Ramati says. Tehila Ramati specializes in designing kitchens in a different way than you are familiar with.
"I developed a kitchen planning process, from the characterization phase to the finished plan, which was done entirely online via email or WhatsApp," she says. "The customers don't have to run and waste time between the different stores. I put together a questionnaire that helps characterize the customers' wants and needs, which they fill out and send along with the apartment plans. I give them 3D simulations and after a round of approvals, I send execution and infrastructure plans, which also go to the contractor. From here We pass the plans on to the carpenters and kitchen companies to get quotes. Throughout this phase, the client didn't waste a minute of meetings or tours between the suppliers. In fact, he didn't leave the house at all."
How does the audience react to it?
"During the recent period of the corona virus, we felt an increase in demand. People prefer not to hang out outside during this time and minimize meetings, and prefer to transfer as many things as possible online. People do not want to waste time and prefer to initiate processes quickly, and our solution is perfect for them. At the same time, we recognize in the industry the fact that customers Many understand that kitchen designers in the kitchen companies are actually sales people, and they care more about the scope of the deal and less about the customer's benefit, this is something that pushes us forward, because the customers want the plan to suit themselves - to their budget, to their needs and not to the sales person They are familiar with the materials available on the market and do not know what is suitable for them. The price of Formica can sometimes be twice as expensive and I am protecting the customer."
"After all, everyone knows today that they do not take a mortgage from the bank whose interest is to take care of the bank, but go to an external mortgage consultant who takes care of the client. I want to get to the point where someone who plans a kitchen does it with an external kitchen designer and comes with a finished plan to the carpenter or the executing company."
What happens after you pass the plan on to the customers?
"Until this stage, the customers have not even left the house. Now we contact carpenters and companies and receive price quotes for the execution. The advantage is that we will receive quotes on the same plan with identical specifications and then we can compare the quotes correctly. The customers are left to decide with whom they close and as part of the service I accompany them in a meeting with the supplier they choose. Some companies offer extra things like choosing marble cladding or sinks, and then I advise the customers on what will suit them." The installation step may be complex for the individual customer, no?
"Definitely! Installing a kitchen is a long process that you need to be prepared for and make sure that it is done in the most professional manner. People can spend whole days chasing different suppliers and my company offers them to take care of the entire installation management issue. Together with the kitchen company we are responsible for managing the installation schedule And the coordination of all professionals related to the kitchen beyond the cabinets themselves, for example measuring and installing the countertop, installing the sink and faucet, installing wall coverings and even coordinating the installation of electrical appliances. In fact, they make sure that the family enters a house with a perfect kitchen."
How is your background as an interior designer reflected in the kitchen design?
"I know how to adapt the kitchen to the apartment, its structure and the overall design. I zoom out and look at the complete apartment plan and know that sometimes a small change in the design can make a big and significant change. For example: a family that moved into a contractor's apartment and gave up a contractor's kitchen, received an offer from the designer of the kitchen company The plan came to me for inspection and when I looked at the general plan of the apartment I saw that it was possible to change the location of the dining area and gain another wall in favor of the kitchen, so in the end they got a kitchen with a length of 17 m The benefit of the client or the importance of maximum utilization of the building. As someone who is on the client's side, to me this has enormous importance."
