I’ve been in the cabinet industry for over 30 years. I’ve worked in custom cabinetry shops, showrooms, I’ve sold to builders, I’ve done commercial projects. And somewhere along the way, I figured out that the showroom itself was never what made the design work.What makes a kitchen design work is accurate measurements, a clear understanding of how the homeowner uses the space, and someone with enough experience to translate both of those things into a layout that actually functions. None of that requires being in the same room.
That’s the premise behind Kitchens By Remote. And in practice, it works better than most people expect when they first hear about it.
How I Got Here
When you spend enough time in this industry, you see a lot of kitchens that don’t work. Not structurally — they’re installed fine — but functionally. The workflow is wrong, the storage doesn’t match how the family lives, the island is too big or too small, the upper cabinets are the wrong height for the person who actually cooks.
A lot of these problems trace back to the same source: a salesperson in a showroom focused on moving product, not on understanding how a specific family uses a specific kitchen. The showroom experience looks impressive, but it’s not always producing better outcomes.
What I’ve found is that a focused conversation — looking at measurements together, talking through how the space gets used, building out a 3D design and reviewing it in real time — does a better job of producing a kitchen that actually fits someone’s life. And that conversation doesn’t need to happen in person.
What Prompted the Move to Remote
I’ll be direct about what pushed me to formalize the remote model: I kept getting calls from people outside my local area who had found me through word of mouth or online, and who had no access to the kind of design help I could offer. They’d been to the big-box store, gotten a basic layout, and felt like they were missing something. Or they’d found a local dealer who was more interested in selling a particular brand than in getting the design right.
The geography of cabinetry is genuinely uneven. If you live in a major metro, you have options. If you live in a smaller market, you may have one or two dealers and limited choices. Remote design levels that out. Your kitchen can have the same quality of design input regardless of your zip code.
That’s the business I set out to build.
What Surprised Me About How Well It Works
Honestly? The accuracy.
I was prepared for the remote model to work reasonably well. I wasn’t prepared for it to work as well as working in-person. But the combination of tools available now — video calls, 3D design software, digital measurement guides — closes the gap almost completely.
The one thing that requires care is measurements. In-person, I can spot a wall that’s out of square or a ceiling that’s not level. Remotely, I have to build that awareness into the process — giving customers the right measurement guide, asking the right questions, and knowing from experience which measurements to double-check.
After doing this across the US & Canada, I’ve gotten very good at knowing where measurement errors tend to happen and how to design around them.
The Tools and the Process
Here’s how a typical project actually works:
Step 1: The consultation. We get on a video call, talk through the project, look at the space together (customers often walk me through on video), and I get a sense of what they need. This call is free, and it’s where I ask the questions most people haven’t been asked before: How many people cook at the same time? Where do you store your most-used items now? Do you want a functioning pantry or do you want more counter space?
Step 2: Measurements. I send a measurement guide that’s specific to the kitchen layout we’ve discussed. It tells the customer exactly which measurements I need, how to take them, and what details to note. This isn’t a generic form — it’s built for the project. If I need to see something that’s hard to measure in writing, we do another short video call.
Step 3: The 3D design. I build a full 3D model of the kitchen using professional design software. The customer sees what their kitchen will look like from multiple angles before anything is ordered — cabinet by cabinet, countertop to ceiling. If they want something changed, we change it in the model before it becomes a purchase order.
Step 4: Review and approval. We review the design together on a video call. I walk through it, explain the decisions, and answer questions. Most designs get minor adjustments at this stage. Some go through a few rounds. Nothing ships until the customer is confident in what they’re ordering.
Step 5: The order. Once the design is approved, I manage the order. The cabinets ship direct to the customer’s address.
A Customer Story
A few years ago I worked with a couple in the Midwest — a farmhouse kitchen remodel, older home with walls that were genuinely out of square and ceiling heights that varied. They were skeptical about remote design. The husband had specifically said on our first call that he didn’t see how this could work without someone actually being in the house.
They sent me measurements. I built the 3D design. We got on a call and I walked them through it — showed them the corner filler solution I’d built in to account for the out-of-square wall, showed them how the upper cabinet heights would work with their ceiling variation.
The husband’s response was something like, “You solved problems I didn’t even know I had.”
The cabinets arrived, the installation went smoothly, and the kitchen looked like the 3D model. That’s the goal every time.
What I’ve Learned From US & Canada
Regional differences are real. Kitchen layouts in the Northeast tend to be smaller and require more creative use of space. Kitchens in the South and Southwest often have more square footage and different ceiling height standards. Midwest farmhouses have their own set of quirks — older construction, irregular framing, non-standard dimensions.
I’ve also noticed that homeowners in different regions have different default expectations about what a kitchen “should” look like. Cabinet style preferences vary. Color preferences vary. What someone in the Pacific Northwest considers neutral is not what someone in suburban Georgia considers neutral.
None of this is a problem — it’s actually one of the more interesting parts of this work. Designing for variety keeps the thinking fresh. And it means I’ve seen enough variation that very little surprises me anymore.
If You’re Skeptical, That’s the Right Place to Start
The most common thing I hear from people before their first consultation is some version of: “I think I want to do this, but I’m not sure remote design can really work for my kitchen.”
That skepticism is understandable. It’s also exactly why the free consultation exists. Come in skeptical. Bring your measurements, your questions, and your doubts. Give me 30 minutes to show you how this works.
If at the end of that conversation you don’t think remote design is the right fit for your project, I’ll tell you honestly what I think your alternatives are. I’m not here to sell you on a process that doesn’t work for your situation.
But in my experience, the skeptics become some of the most satisfied customers. Because the proof isn’t in the concept — it’s in the design.
Book your free remote consultation here.
Or visit kitchensbyremote.com to see more about how the process works and what other homeowners have experienced.
Kitchens By Remote — Remote kitchen design by a 30-year cabinet industry veteran, serving customers in the US & Canada.