Why NKBA Design Certifications Matter Alot, Until They Don’t

As a former President of the National Kitchen and Bath Association, it won’t come as a surprise that not only do I think earning certifications from the NKBA is important for kitchen and bath designers, but I think the certifications should also be a pre-requisite that every consumer requires when narrowing the field of designers and design firms for their project.

First, if you’re not familiar with NKBA certification programs, you can find out more about them .">here. While the steps required to receive various certifications are relevant mostly to the candidates, the importance to consumers is manifest. Here are some key reasons that I believe every designer you interview – with rare exceptions – should have earned at a minimum the CKBD certification.

First, the profession of kitchen and bath design is continually evolving with new tools, rules and techniques constantly being introduced. For example, even a few years ago the state of the art for in kitchen phone charging convenience was a bulky transformer and outlets stuffed in a cabinet drawer! Now it’s not uncommon to include pop-up inductive charging stations into the kitchen countertops and islands. To maintain an NKBA certification, designers must earn continuing education credits every year, ensuring that they have exposure to the rapidly changing kitchen design information and technology that will benefit you and your dream kitchen.

Second, taking a page from the guilds of the past, there are minimum experience requirements for a candidate to earn their certifications. While it’s certainly true that you can be bad at something for a very long time and still be in business, it’s the exception rather than the rule. To be a successful kitchen and bath designer you need to generate referrals, and sub-par designers just don’t last long because they can’t generate referrals. NKBA certifications require a minimum time in the industry and that a designer has active, concurrent time in the profession.

Finally, and perhaps most important, earning and maintaining NKBA design certifications takes time – a lot of time. You know, the time that a designer might otherwise spend with their family, meeting with prospects, or having a bit of time off? Earning and maintaining a CKBD or CMKBD certification requires sacrifice. It’s an investment in continuous learning and professional education that I think speaks volumes.

So, my biased advice is to use an NKBA certification as a screening device, a first cut, if you will, to narrow the field. There are exceptions, of course. If you’re interviewing Joanna Gaines, she’s likely not going to have an NKBA certification. In situations like this, you might give her a pass!

Every designer at Mother Hubbard’s has an NKBA certification. It’s important to us and I hope it’s important to you.

WHAT AN NKBA CERTIFICATION WON’T TELL YOU

While an NKBA certification demonstrates that a designer values and invests in continuing education, what it won’t tell you is how many wildly satisfied clients that designer has, how well he or she listens, or of their unique ability to transform your imagination into a space that brings joy to you and your loved ones.

There’s no appellation that will attest to a designer’s ability and eagerness to listen as you share the years of experiences you’ve had in your old kitchen, standing in front of a chipped cast iron sink, wrestling with a sticky window and looking out fondly into a back yard filled with cherished memories. All of the stories you tell, the laughter and frustrations you share, are part of the tapestry from which the perfect kitchen for you emerges.

Great kitchen design is the integration of technical skill and knowledge with artistry and imagination. The goal is not to create the perfect kitchen. There is no such thing.

The goal – our goal – is to work with you to create a kitchen that’s perfect for you! That’s the perfection that we strive for.

A competent designer will always ensure that the floorplan of a kitchen is safe and efficient. The new kitchen will almost certainly function better than the one it replaced. But, if you’ve waited for years renovate your kitchen, if you’ve imagined yourself in that kitchen through the seasons, then start your search for a designer by checking for certifications, but don’t make that the only criteria.

So how do you find the designer that’s perfect for you? We’ll share our thoughts on that in our next blog post.

Author
Recent Posts

John Petrie