How To Become A Kitchen Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a kitchen designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Bill Darcy

A kitchen designer plans and serves kitchen layouts and concepts. Also considered interior designers, they collaborate with architects and contractors to deliver practical and comfortable kitchen designs while following specific timelines, building codes, and the clients' project goals.

The kitchen designer shoulders the responsibility of choosing the appropriate colors, counters, lighting fixtures, flooring, and other kitchen appliances that may be in a residential property or parts of commercial establishments such as restaurants and cafeterias. They pay considerable attention to the area's space and the workflow for its use. They may work independently or take part-time or full-time positions in companies or teams.

Aside from a bachelor's degree in interior design, an aspiring kitchen designer must obtain the mandatory certification to pursue this career. Knowledge and exposure to the design trend are also necessary to meet client specifications and expectations. The average salary of a kitchen designer is $24.01 an hour, which amounts to $49,932 a year.

What general advice would you give to a Kitchen Designer?

Bill Darcy

CEO, National Kitchen & Bath Association

This year has thrown curveballs at us like never before, and the job market is just one of the areas that has been upended," said Bill Darcy, NKBA CEO. "One thing the pandemic has proven is that our homes are multitasking more than ever - like home office, home school, gym, spa - and our kitchens are getting quite a workout, as the family's central hub and gathering space. People are anxious to remodel, so they may customize their spaces to accommodate these new needs. This is one sector where business is robust, and many of our NKBA designer and remodeler members can't keep up with the volume of work. So, entering the workforce in a design or remodeling capacity holds a great deal of promise. Work and jobs are plentiful - and our research shows that design, construction and remodeling activity is likely to continue well into next year and beyond. Of course, no one can predict the course the pandemic might take or other factors might affect the economy, but I would suggest that this is an excellent time to explore internships and apprenticeships in the skilled trades, because these professional pathways, as well as kitchen, bath and interior design, are likely to yield solid opportunities for the foreseeable future.

ScoreKitchen DesignerUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $55,942

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.7

Growth Rate 1%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.14%

Asian 4.57%

Black or African American 1.48%

Hispanic or Latino 7.59%

Unknown 4.08%

White 82.14%

Gender

female 57.95%

male 42.05%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress Level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.7

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.4

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a kitchen designer

Explore kitchen designer education requirements

Most common kitchen designer degrees

Bachelor's

49.3 %

Associate

31.0 %

High School Diploma

9.2 %

Start to develop specific kitchen designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Math	9.97%
Laundry Room	8.51%
Design Projects	8.25%
Product Knowledge	8.15%
Project Management	7.02%

Complete relevant kitchen designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New kitchen designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a kitchen designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real kitchen designer resumes.

Research kitchen designer duties and responsibilities

Project manage by effectively communicating client's ideas to vendors and subcontractors from design through installation.
Manage multiple residential kitchen and bath projects simultaneously from design inception to delivery in a fast pace energetic environment.
Provide courteous and interactive support to customers by offering kitchen design according to their requirements.
Design, modele and render graphically intensive exteriors and interior environments and animations utilizing the latest in visualization technology.

Prepare your kitchen designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your kitchen designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a kitchen designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Kitchen Designer Resume templates

Build a professional Kitchen Designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Kitchen Designer resume.

Apply for kitchen designer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a kitchen designer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do kitchen designers rate their job?

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Kitchen Designer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020

Pros

Each project has its own set of requirements to suite the owner’s style and needs.

Cons

Marketing our services to attract new clientele.

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019