New To Chief As Kitchen Designer


susansdesigns
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I would personally recommend that you seriously consider just going straight to Premier.  I think its money well spent.  We do mostly kitchen and bathroom remodel projects and I love using Chief for kitchens.

 

I would however note that we use local custom cabinet shops almost exclusively so our ordering process may be different than yours.  I know there are quite a few Chief users who use standard cabinet manufacturers though and they still prefer Chief over the alternatives.  I think some still use 20/20 (or similar) as a supplemental program, but it seems that its becoming at least a little less necessary.

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Would go with Premier. I also do interior cabinetry but it is suprising how many times I need the Premier feature set to get the interiors correct and at times the exterior when say for example there is a deck or patio off of the kitchen. For the extra money it's well worth the investment. Also, if you need user support the forum for Premier is invaluable.

 

Graham

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You will almost always hear the same advice with any software program, "If you can afford it, buy the more capable package." To me, it helps to know why.

 

Will you be doing anything other than kitchen design? Will you do any structural work i.e. removing/modifying large wall sections? Will you be adding floor space for your new kitchens? Will you need to develop exterior elevations? Will you be interfacing with any other Chief user(s) perhaps one that will provide you with as-builts as you create your design?

 

If the answer is yes to any of the above (there are more) then Chief Premier will not only be a better choice but the only choice for some of the functions listed above. If not then Interiors should be fine.

 

It might also be wise to purchase interiors until you need Premier then upgrade if the cost is reasonable or try Interiors for 30 days, if it works for you, you're good. If not buy Premier.

 

Also contact MarkMc in post #3 of linked thread - he is really good with Chief and understands kitchen design.

 

https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/8490-compressing-text/#entry74766

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I've been using Chief primarily for kitchen (and bath) design for ~4 years now.
Wouldn't use anything else, love it.

 

Having said that, I did start out with Interiors and quickly moved up to Premier.  I sometimes design additions to put my new kitchens in :)

 

While I sometimes struggle with parts of the program I don't use often (complex roofs, etc) it's a very valuable part of my business and an awesome selling tool.  But I'll reiterate what everyone else says - go for the full monty, you won't be sorry.

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