The showroom as we know it has been the traditional centrepiece of the kitchen and bathroom buying experience for as long as we can remember but, for a small yet increasing number of experienced designers, a point has been reached where – dare we say it – the showroom simply isn’t needed.

Instead, they are operating remotely, serving both consumers and businesses as independent consultants, using technology to operate without the overheads of a showroom. 

All the commercial value, as far as they are concerned, is in their skills and the design concepts they create. But how does it work, who are the clients, and is this the future?

Northern Ireland-based designer Darren Morgan has been in the sector for 25 years and knows both sides of the fence. “I’ve had the showroom, the fitters, the logistics,” he says. “But now I work purely as a design consultant. That includes CGI, animation, specification, sales support – you name it. I’ve shifted entirely away from the retail studio model.

“Digital visualisation lets me show clients their future,” he explains. “From private homeowners to property developers, I’m offering strategic insight as well as design. I’ve become a bridge between manufacturing, retail and the end-client and I create an eco-system where everyone wins.”

Alina Tacutanu worked for over two decades as a senior designer at brands like Poggenpohl and Chalon. In 2023, she founded Kitchen Reflection, a consultancy service that acts as a cross between a personal designer and a kitchen industry go-between.

“Buying a £70,000 kitchen today requires learning the industry,” she says. “Most people don’t want that. They want someone who knows the market, who can bring the information to them and guide them through it.”

Freedom

Like Morgan, Tacutanu’s role goes way beyond just design. She positions herself as the lead adviser too on dealing and negotiating with the industry. “I design the concept and then broker the best-fit solution, based on budget, quality and logistics. But I don’t take a cut from the supplier. My fee is paid solely by the client.”

For Anna Rock, she started her eponymous company in late 2023 after 14 years of industry experience.

“A lot of clients have said to me that they find it difficult to get designers or suppliers that they would be happy with,” she says. “So they don’t really know where to go to get the outcome they want for their own specific needs. 

“There’s a lot of confusion out there and studios can often be limited to specific offerings. I’m not tied to any supplier and that gives me the freedom to build the right solution for the client – not just use what’s on the showroom floor.”

Rock also acts as an interface between disciplines, often collaborating with designers who lack the technical depth she offers, “Together, the client gets a complete vision,” she says.

The interior designer parallel is interesting as all these examples can be boiled down to kitchen designers operating with a business model interior designers have used for years and perhaps what’s really happening here is not a wholly new way of working but a real blurring of the line between the two disciplines.

But surely there must be moments when they wish they had a showroom to allow clients to physically touch and feel product?

“Absolutely not,” Morgan says. “Been there, done that. A showroom is a time-capsule, it’s something that needs to be constantly updated. I have the tools to show any client the future in terms of their project right away – CGI, digital animation and a creative imagination can create a lot of different things.

“If clients can see it, they’ll believe it, they’ll want it and they’ll buy it. It’s as simple as that. If you can visualise something, people will imagine themselves using it and that is the key to sales.

“Our industry has forgotten that design is not a means to an end, it is actually the spark that lights the flame of sales, product development and growth.”

So this designer-for-hire model does directly link skill and a clear cost for their time. In other words, they’ve solved the constant KBB showroom debate about charging for design. As Rock says, “no other professional gives their work away for free, so why should designers? It undervalues the skill.”

Strategy

But they also perform a role above and beyond design, they are almost seen as an independent broker between the client and the wider industry, helping them through what can be a very complicated process.

Clients see them as free of constraints or influence and, as such, feel they have their – and their alone – best interests at heart.

“I qualify the client and bring them to the right suppliers,” Tacatabu explains. “But I don’t receive a commission. That way, they know my advice is always unbiased. I’m the first person that knows the budget, the real budget. And then depending on the budget, I shop around and I decide who is the best to actually fulfill that client requirement and produce that kitchen.”

Morgan has taken this concept a step further and acts not only as a design consultant for specific projects, but also brand and commercial strategy – even, yes, designing showrooms.

“I make myself available for businesses who want to up their game in terms of design and presentation, allowing them to win more high value business. Maybe they want to move into new markets, new geographical areas or just do new things.

“So I can be involved in the whole business strategy of that because of the wealth of knowledge that I can bring.”

Without a showroom of their own, clearly potential clients simply wandering in for a look around simply isn’t an option. So where do they come from?

The answer to that is, of course, the same every showroom would probably give – reputation and recommendations.

“A lot of it is word of mouth,” Morgan says. “I have worked with a lot of people in the industry so, for example, I can have a property developer come and he’ll ask me to produce a dozen rooms in CGI, digital animation – not just kitchens, the entire property. Social media brings clients from the private realm to us, but within the industry, I’m very, very grateful that some people know what I do.”

Budget clarity

Networking with local business groups and events is also a valuable seam to mine – if people are looking for the personal design service, it makes sense to meet them face-to-face.

“I do some networking,” says Tacatanu. “And most of my clients so far have been referrals. For instance, in 2024 I had two referrals from a project I’d done back in 2016! I have found that clients come to you that way because they’re looking to work with someone they trust and will look after their budget.”

Speaking of budget, where in the process does the freelance designer earn their money?  

Anna Rock works solely for the client and, as such, charges a fee based on that work:  “I don’t have specific dealings with suppliers so the client is getting the best possible advice and suggestions based on their needs.

“Funnily enough, it’s so easy now to get the budget off the client. When I worked in the kitchen studio, they were always so afraid of telling you what it was!”

Tacatanu works in a very similar way in terms of fees, but Morgans’ business model is slightly different. He does charge the upfront design fee but, as so much of his work is business-to-business, it can then branch off into other revenue streams.

“We have relationships with manufacturers all over the UK and Ireland that I have vetted to be able to deliver product of a certain standard. Now, I do kind of try to encourage the idea that in order for manufacturers and retailers to become part of our portfolio, they would be encouraged to engage us on a design footing as well and introduce our services into their business – that way we’d be getting commissions based on all of the installations as well.

“So there’s multiple layers within our business with different relationships so that depends how we get paid for it.”

The growth of the remote kitchen designer as a separate branch of the KBB industry tree  perhaps signals a broader shift in the industry. This is not a rejection of retail, it’s a reframing of value and a natural extension of the influence of technology facilitating new ways of working – particularly post-lockdown. 

Most showroom-based businesses are already offering remote-design in the sense that much of the communication with clients is done that way so it is not too much of a stretch to see why this discipline is growing. Is it foreboding the end of showrooms? Only time will tell…