Kitchen design

I'm planning on renovating the galley kitchen in my one bedroom on the UWS. The galley is roughly 9ft long and 7 ft from wall to wall. The current cabinetry layout is perfectly fine, and I am debating whether to go directly to a high-end millworker and have him replicate the current layout and just replace cabinets (and appliances of course), or whether to re-design the kitchen with a firm such as... [more]

I'm planning on renovating the galley kitchen in my one bedroom on the UWS. The galley is roughly 9ft long and 7 ft from wall to wall. The current cabinetry layout is perfectly fine, and I am debating whether to go directly to a high-end millworker and have him replicate the current layout and just replace cabinets (and appliances of course), or whether to re-design the kitchen with a firm such as Boffi or Henrybuilt. With such a small space, is it worth it to go the route of a professional designer? They obviously will have cooler design ideas than I do. Is there a middle road I can take between having the mill guy replicate the current design and having a high-end company completely redesign the kitchen? Is there someone you can recommend that can give me design advice on an hourly basis without hiring them to completely design the kitchen from top to bottom? [less]