By Nina Patel. A new Web site provides a forum for professional kitchen and bath designers to share knowledge and information. The site, www.kitchenbathpros.com, is the brainchild of designer Susan Serra of Long Island, N.Y. She says that, like most designers, her typical day includes measuring and estimating, managing employees, managing clients, writing detailed contracts, ordering cabinetry, and scheduling subcontractors and suppliers. She often had questions but nowhere to turn for answers. "It's my experience that local competitors don't share that easily," she says.
She was a member of a buying group and often solicited advice from fellow members. With her Web site, her goal was to create a similar non-competitive atmosphere to ask questions. "There is no level of status on the Web site. You can be anonymous," she says. "A high-end dealer at a fancy showroom can ask a basic question."
Designers can upload a photo or drawings and ask other designers for help on how to solve a problem. So far, the Web site is being financed by Serra, though she hopes to find sponsors. She charges a membership fee for the business owners' forums. Besides participating in forums, she encourages designers to submit articles.
