I Quit a 20 Year Career as a Kitchen Designer!

I Quit a 20 Year Career as a Professional Kitchen Designer to Design Time-Saving Custom Kitchen Sinks. 

Yes, I did it cold turkey about 21 years ago. Why? I was about to blow my brains out trying to find a decent sink on the market to go with my ergonomically designed kitchens. My entire goal as a kitchen designer was to save the family time and to make that time as ergonomically comfortable as possible. My career was wildly successful. How many kitchen designers can say they lost about 1 project per year? Oh, and it was lost in the first 10 minutes. No, not because they figured out I was big-headed or self-righteous, (that takes time). It was because they could not afford my services. So why leave a great career? I saw a HUGE gaping hole in the market that needed to be filled. I even gave the opportunity to Elkay, Kohler, and others. They politely shewed me off of each phone call. Believe it or not, that is what convinced me to design my own sinks. I can see Paradigm Paralysis a mile away and these folks were deeply infected!

My first design was simple. A single bowl sink with a rear corner drain. Why? Well, apparently the other folks missed the invention of the dishwasher. Try fitting a platter, serving tray or cookie sheet in ANY double bowl sink. I supposed none of them ever had the need - too busy designing sexy sinks that made no sense. 

Early on, I had an idea that I thought was worthy of a patent or two. I invented the first apron front sink with a short apron, plus an apron front sink with a channel behind the shorter apron to allow anyone to have an apron front sink in their existing cabinet without cutting the cabinetry. I managed two patents. Well, those patents got the attention of the boys at Kohler. They quickly came out with a VERY similar design. I wrote them a nice note showing my patent and their design and sheepishly mentioned they May have stumbled on my patent, however, I had a win-win thought. I mentioned that I built copper sinks and they didn't. Perhaps we might be able to build some sinks for Kohler in copper. Their attorney response was swift and chilling. Basically, they said do not contact us again, or else... Well, I was, and still am, a tiny company and didn't want to go out of business in my second or third year trying to defend my $14,000 patents. I simply smiled with delight that they finally were breaking out of their paralysis.

Also, early on, I designed the first single bowl corner sink. That one was a no-brainer. The stupid, idiotic double bowl corner sink designs are an embarrassment to our industry. Come on folks, what were you thinking when you designed those atrocious sinks?

Years later, the big one came along. Yes, the workstation sink! I was the first in the world to offer a sink on the international market where you could prepare your meal ON the sink instead of the countertop. Well, that grabbed the attention of my friends at Kohler and many other companies. No patent here, but I sure did get a laugh at the Kohler version. They put the step so high in the sink that their cutting board, when placed on the shelf, appeared to be level or higher than the adjacent counter. So, when you rinse off the cutting board in place, better wear some rain shoes! 

My last three patents were of a dual-tier sink design. That grabbed the attention of Forbes Magazine. They did an article about us and features a photo of a 54" long dual tier copper sink. 

In the past 21 years of designing sinks, I have amassed about 10 patents, but now have stopped that nonsense and concentrate on better designs. I now offer only custom sinks, direct to the public. My goal is to design a custom sink around the lifestyle, height, handedness, food prep style, shopping style, entertaining style, and other factors with the end result of saving significant time EVERY time the sink is used. How much time is saved? It depends on how much you cook and how much food prep you do. Many of my past clients keep in touch over the years. Several have told me my design saves them a couple hours a week. If that is the case, that amounts to 13 days a year! WHAT??? Even if my sink saves an hour a week. That is 52 hours over a year. A workweek is 40 hours. What would you do with an extra week or so a year?

Visit us to see why we have been the leader in kitchen sink design since 1999. https://www.rachiele.com