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The project
The owner of this West Town house had been cooking around the old kitchen's problems for years. Dark wood cabinets absorbed all the natural light. The layout forced an inefficient workflow — refrigerator in the wrong spot, barely enough counter space to prep a single meal. Surfaces were worn past the point where cleaning helped. They wanted a kitchen that worked as hard as they did, but didn't want to lose the character of the original home.
We took the kitchen down to the studs. That part isn't glamorous, but it's where the quality of everything that follows gets decided — you can't fix a bad layout by swapping cabinets, and you can't hide bad infrastructure behind a pretty finish. With walls open we upgraded the electrical to handle modern loads, ran new plumbing for the sink and dishwasher, and added dedicated circuits for the countertop appliances. That work disappears once drywall goes back up, but it's the reason this kitchen will still be working right in fifteen years.
The cabinet decision drove the whole design. The owner wanted something that wouldn't look dated by 2030 and wasn't chasing any particular trend. We specified custom American-made cabinetry in a clean white finish — solid wood construction, dovetail drawer boxes, soft-close on every door and drawer, and European hinges rated to 100,000 cycles. White reflected light the way the old dark cabinets swallowed it, and the room felt twice as big before we even installed the counters.
Cabinet interiors got the same attention as the fronts. Full-extension drawers for cookware, pull-out shelving in the base cabinets, dedicated spice storage, and a pull-out for trash and recycling. These are the details that cost a few thousand extra and pay themselves back the first month — the difference between a kitchen that looks nice and one that actually works.
Countertops are MSI — heat resistant, stain resistant, no sealing required, and wipe clean with soap and water. We expanded the counter footprint significantly from what was there before. Proper zones for prep, cooking, and serving, with enough room to actually cook for people instead of working elbow-to-elbow.
The floors were the best surprise of the project. The original hardwood had real grain under decades of scuffs and sun damage. Replacing would have cost two to three times what refinishing cost, and you can't manufacture that patina. We sanded to raw wood, applied fresh protective finish, and ended up with floors that look better than most new installations — and match the age of the rest of the house.
Full stainless appliance package, layered lighting with under-cabinet task lighting on separate switching, modern hardware and plumbing fixtures throughout. New drywall and paint. The transformation is what you'd expect from a full gut — bright instead of dark, efficient instead of cramped, and built to a standard that matches the quality of the original home.
Scope of work
- Complete kitchen demolition to studs
- Electrical upgrade — dedicated circuits, modern capacity
- Plumbing updates for sink, dishwasher, and fixtures
- New drywall and paint throughout
- Custom American-made white cabinets — solid wood, soft-close
- Optimized interiors — pull-outs, full-extension drawers, dedicated storage
- MSI countertops with expanded prep footprint
- Full stainless steel appliance package
- Professional hardwood floor sanding and refinishing
- Layered lighting plan — task, ambient, accent
- Modern hardware and plumbing fixtures throughout
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