“Do it yourself” kitchen renovations are becoming more and more popular thanks to HGTV and the DIY TV Network. These programs advise viewers that with a little online research, anyone can successfully refurbish a kitchen. In reality, it is the opposite. A poorly designed and executed kitchen renovation will devalue a home.
According to Google research, the number of “kitchen cabinet” searches made by US customers has grown over the previous 15 years while significantly reducing the number of times they searched for “kitchen design” and “kitchen designers.” This search data demonstrates that many consumers no longer think they require professional assistance with kitchen design. People now choose to adopt a DIY mindset with DIY kitchen risks. All they need to do is locate the cabinets.
It is cultural to blatantly undervalue knowledge, experience, and skill. Many people now think that their opinions and assessments of the data they may get online are more trustworthy than those of professionals in the topics they are researching.
Kitchen Remodel by Virginia Kitchen and Bath
Two psychological biases contribute to the misplaced confidence that customers have while remodeling a kitchen on their own:
- According to the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias, those who are less skilled at a task tend to overestimate their own skill, whereas those who are more skilled at the task tend to underestimate it. We’ve found that even when clients have good ideas of their own, those with the best spatial relations and design skills will seek input and want to defer to us. The least intelligent clients wanted their unrealistic, risky, and perhaps dangerous ideas implemented perfectly.
- Consumers place an excessively high value on what they partially make due to the IKEA effect, a cognitive bias. For instance, psychologists found that most beginners who attempted origami unreasonably evaluated their own designs higher than those of origami specialists.
Kitchen Remodel by Virginia Kitchen and Bath
During a pandemic, believing you are smarter than knowledgeable professionals might be fatal. Thankfully, thinking that you don’t need professional support while redesigning a kitchen just wastes money and results in a subpar kitchen.
Small DIY projects can be cost-effective, satisfying, and sensible for homeowners. Realistically, you can find the information you need for a one-task project online and on YouTube. It is simply ridiculous to think that you can manage a difficult kitchen renovation without much knowledge. Good kitchen designers are aware that mastering our profession requires ten years of full-time practice.
The team at Virginia Kitchen and Bath wishes for a more secure future with fewer supply chain failures. We are here to assist our clients in making design decisions that increase the appeal, usefulness, and value of their houses.
Call us to speak with a designer if you are in our service area. We promise that a 15-minute phone call will teach you more than several hours of online research.