The National Kitchen & Bath Association writes the rules good kitchens and baths are designed against. We work to them on every project.
The organization
The National Kitchen & Bath Association is the trade body for kitchen and bath professionals across North America. It publishes the planning guidelines the industry designs against, runs the certifications designers earn their letters through, and puts on KBIS, the trade’s largest show.
What makes it worth aligning with is that it’s professional rather than promotional. The guidelines come out of research into how people actually use these rooms, and they’re revised as codes, products and methods change.
That gives remodeling something it badly needs: a published, neutral standard. Most of what a homeowner is asked to trust is one contractor’s word about their own work. A guideline written by the association is checkable by anyone.
Kyle Bridgan sits on the board of the NKBA’s Olympic-West Sound Chapter and serves as its Programs Chair.
What it means in your kitchen
It’s the difference between a kitchen where the dishwasher door blocks the sink, there’s nowhere to set a hot pan down, and you can’t get past someone standing at the range: and one where everything sits where your hand already expects it.
That gets decided at the layout stage, on paper, months before anyone picks up a tool. A large kitchen forgives a mediocre layout. A small bathroom does not.
How that changes your project
Your layout is checked before you get a price. Clearances and door swings are the starting point of the drawing, not something patched at the end. Design problems are cheap on paper and expensive once cabinets are on a truck.
Fewer of the surprises that move a price. A fixed price holds when someone went looking for problems early, and layout is where a lot of them hide.
A standard you can check yourself. If you want to know why the island landed where it did, the answer is a guideline you can look up. That’s a different conversation from “trust me.”
The credentials behind the drawings
NSS Home partners with NCIDQ-certified interior designers and NKBA-certified kitchen and bath designers. These are the letters that mean something in this trade:
- NCIDQ: the interior design profession’s leading credential, administered by the Council for Interior Design Qualification. It’s recognized in over half of US states and Canadian provinces, and in many of them it’s the basis for licensure or registration.
- CKBD: Certified Kitchen and Bath Designer. The NKBA’s current professional certification.
- CMKBD: Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer. The NKBA’s highest level.
- CKD, CBD, AKBD and CKBI: Certified Kitchen Designer, Certified Bath Designer, Associate Kitchen and Bath Designer, and Certified Kitchen and Bath Installer. The NKBA no longer awards these to new candidates, but plenty of working designers still hold them and they still count.
Certification is held by a person, not a firm. The NKBA and CIDQ both certify individuals only, so no company can hold one. Any business can join an association. Passing an exam is a different thing, and it’s worth asking who on your project has done it.
Two questions worth asking any firm
Are the guidelines the same as building code? No. Code is the legal minimum. The guidelines are best practice for how the room functions, and they go further. A kitchen can pass inspection and still be miserable to cook in.
Is a member the same as a certified designer? No. Membership is the firm belonging to the association. Certification is an individual credential with its own exams. Ask which one is meant.
Active chapter involvement
In May 2026, Kyle co-presented “It Does Not Fit,” a field resource on cabinet ordering and installation readiness, at the Richelieu Hardware facility in Auburn, WA. The presentation addressed coordination gaps between designers, builders, cabinet partners and installers: the kind of practical knowledge that comes from building kitchens, not just designing them.
KBIS: the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show
KBIS is the annual trade show hosted by the NKBA, bringing together manufacturers, designers and builders to explore new products, materials and techniques. Our participation keeps us current with the latest in cabinetry, countertops, fixtures and appliances available for your remodel.
Kitchen and bath remodeling in Tacoma
With over 500 completed renovations across the Puget Sound, NSS Home brings NKBA-standard design practices to every kitchen and bathroom project from Olympia to Bellevue. Explore our kitchen remodeling services or learn about our bathroom remodels.
Bring us a kitchen or a bath that isn’t working. We’ll tell you what’s fixable, what isn’t, and what it costs to find out: even if you don’t hire us. Schedule a consultation.
