I'm a designer though only through 10 years of experience rather than an formal design training. We've done some crackers. I feel the end result depends on all involved, the customer, surveyor, designer and fitter. Most kitchens there simply isn't much choice but just occasionally we do get more of a free hand. The right materials make such a difference and if like us you don't need to stick to standard sizes the lack of fillers and ,oops we've got 150mm left, wine racks.
What inspires you? A big fat pay check? LoL Have you ever advised a home owner to call the builders in and remove a kitchen window, lower the sill height and fit a new larger window? That's the kind of thing that designer bloke from greenhill does. "Its not about giving the client what they think they want but giving them what you want and in the end they think that's what they wanted all along". And then they write the big fat check. Well I read something to that effect once and think that's the jist of it.LoL.