Kitchen Design Consultation

Deciding What to Change Before Anyone Picks a Door Style

A consultation is the cheapest part of a kitchen remodel and the one that decides whether the rest of the money is well spent. For owners in Corona del Mar and elsewhere in Newport Beach who are keeping their house, the central question is not what the dream kitchen looks like. It is how much of the kitchen you already have is worth keeping, and what a sensible update costs compared with a bigger job.

We come to the house, spend time in the room, and leave you with drawings and options you can use with us or with anyone else.

What We Look At

The cabinet boxes

Doors get all the attention, but the box behind the door decides whether refacing is an option. We pull drawers and look at how they are built, check whether the boxes are plywood or particleboard, and look closely at the sink base, where a slow leak from years ago usually shows up as swollen, crumbling panels. We check whether the cabinets are framed or frameless, because that affects how new doors and hinges can be fitted. Sound plywood boxes in a layout you like can take new doors, drawer fronts and hardware for a fraction of what replacement costs. Tired particleboard cannot.

The layout and the clearances

We measure the aisles. Forty two inches between counters is comfortable for one cook, and forty eight works better when two people share the room. Many kitchens in 1960s and 1970s houses in Eastbluff, Dover Shores and Harbor View Hills were drawn tighter than that, or have a peninsula that pinches the path between the range and the refrigerator. Some of those problems can be fixed by changing a cabinet depth or trimming a peninsula. Others need a wall to move, and we tell you which is which.

Plumbing, gas and electrical

Keeping the sink where it is saves more money than almost any other decision in a kitchen update, so we look at what is behind the wall before suggesting it moves. We check the electrical panel for spare capacity, because an induction range needs a dedicated circuit that an older panel may not have room for. We note whether the counter outlets are GFCI protected, and whether the existing lighting is a single ceiling fixture that leaves the counters in shadow.

Ventilation

We find out where the hood actually sends air. A surprising number of hoods in older Newport Beach homes recirculate through a filter and back into the room, or are ducted into an attic rather than outside. A hood that vents outside needs a route through a wall or the roof, and larger hoods can trigger make up air requirements. That is worth knowing before a hood is chosen from a catalog.

The coastal conditions

Close to the bay or the ocean, salt air is hard on metal. We look at the condition of existing hinges, slides and appliance fronts, which usually tells us how aggressive the exposure is in your house, and we factor that into the hardware and finishes we suggest.

What You Get

After the visit we prepare measured drawings of the existing kitchen and two or three options, each with a realistic cost range. One option is almost always the smallest change that fixes your main complaints. Another is usually new cabinets in the same footprint. If the conversation points toward a larger remodel with walls moving, we say so and explain what that involves, including plans, an engineer where a wall is load bearing, and permits through the City of Newport Beach.

The drawings are yours. If you decide to wait a year, or hire someone else, you still have a plan.

Who It Suits

The consultation fits owners who know something is wrong with the kitchen but are not sure how big the fix needs to be. It also helps anyone in an HOA community who needs drawings and a scope for architectural review before work can be approved.

Arranging a Visit

Call (949) 451-7349. Tell us roughly how old the kitchen is and what bothers you most about it, and we will set a time to walk through it with you.