HOMEundone

Specializing in Kitchens and Baths and built in cabinet design. Offering consultations or full project management . We help you see the possibilities in your space before you start your project and get quotes. What is new on the market and how will your project effect the value of your property. Have an advocate for your interests manage your project and make sure all the trades do what you want within your budget.
Go to http://www.sharilyndorrdesign.com for a look at some of our past projects.
before     after    
Sharilyn Dorr

Welcome Sharilyn

Seeing as your site is still under construction and we are a Canada wide membership, let us know where you are located.

I enjoyed looking at your projects

Thanks for the suggestion about location. I use the site for people that I give the address to, I had not thought about mentioning location. I am in Port Moody, BC and work throughout the lower mainland of Vancouver.

Wow, you've designed some great rooms!! I really like the dark wood island in Project 1

Thanks,
I love what I do and that project was so much fun. Three colors in one room and it all looks like furniture.
Shari

I love what you do too!! I wish I'd known 20 years ago that decorating is so much fun -- I definitely would have studied interior design at University instead of English!!

Me too!!
In fact, I'm thinking about taking a kitchen & bath design course...
Sharilyn - any here in the lower mainland that you'd suggest?

Hi you design lovers.
There are good interior design courses at BCIT. That being said, you can take a kitchen layout course that will give you some idea of what you need to consider, but until you have made a few very costly mistakes...
Kitchen design is knowing what the code requires, what the cabinet makers are capable of, what the client may want inside and what is convenient and ergonomic. Go to NKBA ( national kitchen and bath association) website and see the courses you can take through them. Most designers I know give me the kitchens to do because it is so technical and they don't want to do it. I hand draw all my custom drawings and get kitchen company designers to do the 2020 kitchen design software on all the semi - custom kitchens from my floor plans. It is a non stop learning process, but very scary sometimes.
If you are still interested, go for it.
Shari

sharidorr Wrote:If you are still interested, go for it.

I'm very interested, thank you Shari!
I've been looking at the BCIT courses, but was also considering the VCC ones (they're transferable to BCIT and cost less money ). I'll definitely check out the NKBA website, too.

To date I've "designed" 2 complete kitchens, 1 complete bathroom and 1 partial bathroom. Both kitchens were my own design/concept however with both I had cabinet layout assistance from Home Depot (they had the computer and product codes ). I've heard horror stories about HD and kitchens, but I've had good luck with the people I worked with at our store.. they've treated us extremely well. The bathrooms were completey my design (I'm also the tile setter in the family) - with muscle (and constructive input, I must admit) from my husband!

That's not to say I didn't have problems/issues that had to be solve!!
- Installer - big time, several issues! (1st kitchen)
- Cabinet company going out of business, affecting part of my order (1st kitchen)... because the order came through HD I had to rely on them to resolve when I would rather have taken it on myself.
- Plumbing (tub drain) unexpectedly in the wrong place for Kerdi shower kit (1 bathroom)
- Challenging layouts (2nd kitchen)
- Bringing things to code (2nd kitchen & whole house [knob& tube!])
- Damaged cabinet (2nd kitchen)... hardly an issue, we had a great installer and super help from HD who handled this.

I also had lots of coordinating to do - you know all about that!

Through all the challenges... I loved it!!
And it would be a dream if I could do this (project managing/coordinating and designing home renovations, specializing in kitchens & baths) for a living!!! :

Again... thanks for the input!