We like Lowe’s — it offers low prices, friendly service, and a solid product selection. For the most part it meets our needs. There have only been a couple of times when Lowe’s couldn’t help and Home Depot came through instead: vinyl floor tile options and a special-sized toilet tank for our tiny half-bath.
Recently we discovered a third area where Home Depot stood out: kitchen design.
While browsing cabinet options one evening, we struck up a conversation with a young woman in Lowe’s kitchen design department. She was friendly, in a similar stage of life to us (recently married and renovating her first home), and immediately easy to talk to. She listened carefully to our ideas, encouraged our creative concepts, and promised to prepare a few kitchen layouts for us to review later that week.
To be thorough, we scheduled an appointment with Home Depot as well. That meeting started off a little rough. We didn’t click right away with the designer, who opened with practical questions about budget and timeline. She also began pointing out which ideas wouldn’t work — not the most enjoyable conversation at first. But then she described her extensive experience and explained she is Richmond’s only CKD (Certified Kitchen Designer) among the two big-box stores. That reassured us we had found someone who could guide our project professionally.
There’s a difference between being accommodating and managing a renovation. The Lowe’s designer clearly wanted to please, but we needed someone to tell us what we didn’t know: what wasn’t realistic, what would exceed our budget, and what might fail to meet code. The Home Depot designer offered that guidance — the kind of practical, experienced counsel that can prevent costly mistakes.
So thank you, Nancy Kulik, C.K.D., for taking excellent care of our kitchen project. Home Depot earns our vote this time.
And don’t worry — we ended things with the Lowe’s designer on good terms.