#Kitchen Design: Job Description and Career Information

Job Description

Kitchen designers create kitchens for clients, including cabinets, flooring, counters, and appliances. They use their skills to determine a client's project goals, prepare final plans and create a timeline for the project. Kitchen designers must make sure the kitchens are functional, convenient, comfortable, and up to building code. They can design residential kitchens, as well as those found in restaurants, hospitals, or cafeterias.

Become a Kitchen Designer

Required Education

Since kitchen design is a specialized form of interior design, kitchen designers must obtain certification in addition to a bachelor's degree in interior design. The National Kitchen and Bath Association awards three levels of certification based on the certified person's amount of experience in the field. Students will have to take courses in computer-aided drafting, basic design principles, business ethics, plumbing, and construction in order to receive their certification.

Job Skills

Kitchen designers must have strong active listening skills so that they can make sure their designs meet their clients' needs. They will also need to know the building codes for their area, have computer-aided drafting experience, possess a keen eye for detail, and be up to date on current kitchen design trends.

Career and Economic Outlook

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the median annual salary of interior designers, including kitchen designers, as $47,600 in May 2012. Like with most design professions, job growth is expected over the next decade; specialty interior designers, such as kitchen designers, are predicted to have more opportunities than most.

Interior designers were to see a 19% increase in employment from 2010 to 2020. Generally, kitchen designers can find work wherever large numbers of homes or restaurants are being built. According to the BLS, the highest employment levels for interior designers were in California, Texas, and New York in 2012.

Alternative Career Options

Industrial Designer

A job growth of 10% was projected for industrial designers for the 2010-2020 reporting period, per the BLS. These types of designers sketch blueprints and develop models for products like cars, toys and home appliances. Entry-level design jobs usually require a bachelor's degree in a related field. Commercial and industrial designers had a median salary of $59,610 in 2012.