Interior Design
Finishes and furnishing decided alongside the build, so the kitchen belongs to the house rather than sitting apart from it.
Interior Design →→Approach
A kitchen is a services problem wearing joinery.
Most of what makes a kitchen work well is decided before anything visible is installed: where the gas and water run, how much air the hood actually moves and where that air goes, whether the slab can take the island's plumbing, and how far the run of cabinetry can go before it needs a joint. We resolve those together, in one set of drawings, with the trades who will build them in the room.
That order of work is also what protects the finishes. Stone is templated from the cabinetry as set, not from the plan, so the reveal at the wall is consistent. Appliances are specified before cabinetry is released, so the cut-outs are right the first time. Ventilation is sized for the range you actually bought.
We build our own designs and other people's. If you are working with a kitchen designer or an architect, we price their drawings as drawn and tell you plainly where a detail will not build — during pricing, not during installation.
What is included
A kitchen contract usually covers all of the below. Where you have already appointed a designer, we take the drawings and run the rest.
Survey and demolition
Measured survey of the existing room, asbestos and structure checks where the house warrants it, protection of the route in, and controlled strip-out.
Structure and openings
Beams, header work and opening changes where the plan calls for them, with engineering and permits handled before the wall comes out.
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing
Gas, water, waste and circuits coordinated to the appliance schedule rather than to a generic layout.
Lighting layers
Ambient, task and accent circuits on separate controls: undercabinet light on the work surface, something low over the island for the evening, and nothing glaring off polished stone.
Ventilation
Hood sizing, duct routing and make-up air, calculated for the range and the house rather than assumed from the cabinetry drawing.
Cabinetry and millwork
Custom cabinetry where the run, the ceiling height or the appliance panelling demands it; semi-custom where a standard box will do the same job for less. We will tell you which parts of your kitchen genuinely need the former.
Island, seating and scullery
Island size set by the aisle it leaves rather than the drawing, seating counted for the people who actually sit there, and a butler's pantry or scullery where the main room should stay clear.
Stone and surfaces
Slab viewing and marking with you, templating after cabinetry is set, seam and vein layout agreed before cutting.
Tile, floor and finish
Backsplash, floor, paint and the transitions to adjoining rooms, sequenced so nothing finished gets worked over twice.
Appliances and commissioning
Delivery, installation, connection and a walk-through of every unit with the manuals and warranties handed over.
How a kitchen runs
The firm-wide sequence, in kitchen terms. The two stages that decide whether the schedule holds are pre-construction and the appliance schedule.
- 01
Consultation
We walk the room, talk through how you cook and who is in there at once, and give a costed range before drawings are commissioned.
- 02
Design
Layout, elevations and cabinetry drawings developed with you or your designer, priced as they change.
- 03
Pre-construction
Appliances specified, cabinetry released, stone slabs marked, permits filed, trades booked. The contract sum is fixed here.
- 04
Build
Strip-out, structure, services, cabinetry, stone, tile and finish, in that order, with a temporary kitchen running throughout.
- 05
Handover
Appliance commissioning, a full walk-through, snag list closed, then a return visit at eleven months.
Selected details
Select an image to enlarge. Arrow keys move between images, Escape closes.
What the choices actually cost you later.
Selections are usually made on appearance. These are the properties that decide how the room behaves in five years, and they are worth knowing before you stand in a slab yard.
Marble
Etches with lemon and wine and will patina in a working kitchen. Honed hides it better than polished. Choose it because you like how it ages, not because you expect it not to.
Quartzite
Harder than marble and far more stain-resistant, with much of the same movement. Slabs vary in porosity, so sealing advice depends on the specific stone.
Engineered stone
Consistent, non-porous and predictable across a long run. It will not tolerate a hot pan directly, and the seams read straighter than natural stone.
Cabinetry construction
Plywood boxes, dovetailed drawers and full-extension hardware are what make cabinetry feel solid in year ten. Door style is the part you see; box construction is the part you notice.
Paint versus stain
Painted cabinetry shows movement at the joints in a house with seasonal humidity swings. Stained and rift-sawn timber conceals it. Dallas summers argue for the second in large kitchens.
Ventilation
A commercial-style range needs real extraction and make-up air, otherwise the house pulls air back down the flue. This is a calculation, not a preference.
Questions
Related work
Bathrooms
The same discipline applied to a wetter room: waterproofing and slab layout resolved before tile is set.
Bathrooms →→
Custom Homebuilding
If the kitchen is one room in a larger project, it is easier and cheaper to hold it all under one contract.
Custom Homebuilding →→
Tell us how you cook.
Send the room, the appliances you have in mind and when you would like to be back in it. We reply within two business days. Based in Dallas/Fort Worth and available for projects outside the Metroplex.
214-901-3655