S. Bodin St Kitchen Renovation | Hinsdale

What we built

Custom Italian walnut cabinets

Solid wood construction, dovetail drawer boxes, European hinges, soft-close on every door. Optimized interiors — pull-outs, spice storage, appliance garages keeping counters clear.

MSI Calacatta quartz

3cm quartz with high-contrast Calacatta veining. Full-height backsplash on perimeter walls, mitered edge on the island. Never needs sealing, handles wine and acids without staining.

Wall removed, plan opened

Non-bearing wall between kitchen and living area came out after structural assessment. One change that transformed the first floor — sight lines, flow, and the ability to cook and entertain at once.

Custom island, seating for four

About 4×8 feet with 42–48 inch clearances on all sides. Counter overhang with internal support for four stools. Deep drawers on the working side, open shelving on the seating side.

The project

The owners of this S. Bodin Street home had bought with their eyes on the kitchen. The layout was the real issue — cramped, closed off, and walled off from the living area by a partition that served no structural purpose. The cabinets were original and past their useful life. They wanted a real open plan, a kitchen they could actually cook in, and finishes that would still look right in fifteen years.

The first decision was the wall. We did a structural assessment before touching anything — rule one on any non-bearing wall removal, and worth the small upfront cost every single time. Once confirmed non-bearing, we pulled the Hinsdale Village permits, took the wall down, and immediately the whole first floor changed. Sight lines opened, light moved through the space, and the kitchen stopped feeling like a separate room.

With walls open, we addressed infrastructure. Original plumbing was corroded and overdue. We ran all-new supply lines with shut-offs at every fixture, upgraded drains to current code, and ran the dishwasher and disposal feeds properly. Electrical got the same treatment — new dedicated 20-amp circuits for countertop appliances (two minimum per code), GFCI protection throughout, a panel capacity upgrade to support modern loads, and separate switching for under-cabinet lighting. This work is invisible once walls close, but it's the only time it's cost-effective to do. Skipping it means ripping the kitchen apart again in ten years.

Cabinetry was the biggest decision. The clients wanted something distinctive that wouldn't date, so we specified custom Italian cabinetry in a warm walnut finish — solid wood throughout, dovetail drawer boxes, European hinges rated to 100,000 cycles, soft-close on every door and drawer. Our designer optimized the interiors the way professionals actually use kitchens: full-extension drawers for pots and pans, pull-out shelving in the base cabinets, dedicated spice storage, pull-out trash and recycling, and appliance garages to keep the counter clear. That detail work adds a few thousand dollars and pays itself back every morning.

The island anchors the room. Roughly 4×8 feet, 42–48 inch clearances on every side for traffic flow, and a counter overhang on the seating side extending twelve inches beyond the cabinet base with internal support for four comfortable stools. Deep drawers on the working side hold the large cookware; open shelving on the seating side holds cookbooks and display pieces. Same walnut finish as the perimeter — one kitchen, not two.

Countertops are MSI Calacatta quartz — 3cm thick, full-height backsplash on the perimeter walls, mitered edge on the island. Quartz delivers the high-contrast white-and-gray veining of Calacatta marble without any of the maintenance. No sealing, no staining from wine or coffee, no etching from acid. It's the right material for a kitchen people actually use.

Luxury vinyl plank runs the kitchen and adjacent areas — warmer underfoot than tile, realistic wood look, completely waterproof. In a kitchen with a dishwasher and a sink, that last one matters. Six to eight weeks, all Hinsdale Village permits pulled and inspected, no mid-project change orders.

Scope of work

Structural assessment and non-bearing wall removal
Full kitchen demolition
Complete plumbing replacement — supply, drains, shut-off valves
Electrical upgrade — dedicated 20-amp circuits, GFCI, panel capacity
Under-cabinet lighting rough-in on separate switching
New drywall, level-5 finish, paint
Custom Italian walnut cabinets with soft-close hardware throughout
Optimized interiors — pull-outs, spice storage, appliance garages
Custom 4×8 ft island with seating for four
MSI Calacatta quartz countertops — 3cm, full-height backsplash, mitered island
Luxury vinyl plank flooring in kitchen and adjacent open areas
Hinsdale Village permits and inspections handled

About this project

Full kitchen gut renovations in Hinsdale typically run $50,000 to $150,000, depending on cabinet quality, countertop selection, and the scope of infrastructure work. A project like this one — custom Italian cabinetry, Calacatta quartz, wall removal, and full plumbing and electrical — lands in the $90,000 to $110,000 range. Stock cabinets and simpler finishes can start around $50,000. See our Chicago kitchen remodel cost guide for a full breakdown.

Often, yes — but it depends entirely on whether the wall is load-bearing. Many interior walls in Hinsdale homes from the 1960s through 1990s are non-bearing, added to define rooms rather than carry structure. We do a structural assessment before any demolition. Non-bearing wall removal runs $2,000 to $5,000 including assessment, demo, and finishing. A load-bearing wall requires an engineered support beam and typically costs $8,000 to $15,000 or more depending on span.

Calacatta quartz gives you the look of Italian marble without the maintenance that makes marble a headache in an active kitchen. Quartz doesn't stain from wine, coffee, or citrus, doesn't need sealing, and resists scratching better than marble. Natural marble stains and etches easily, and granite — while more durable than marble — still requires annual sealing. For a kitchen people actually cook in, engineered quartz is the right material.

Six to eight weeks from first meeting to final walkthrough. Cabinet lead times drive the schedule — custom Italian runs 6–8 weeks in production. We submit Hinsdale Village permits on day one so approval happens in parallel with cabinet fabrication, and we run demolition and rough-in during the same window so nothing sits idle. Sequential scheduling would have added 2–3 weeks to the total.

Yes. Hinsdale Village requires permits for any kitchen work that touches plumbing, electrical, structural framing, or wall removal. Permit fees generally run $500 to $2,000 depending on scope. We handle the applications, coordinate all required inspections, and include everything in the fixed-price proposal. Working without permits creates real problems at resale and can draw fines during the project itself.

S. Bodin Street kitchen renovation

From closed and dated to open and modern

Every angle