The Cosmetic Kitchen Renovation
Builder:
Woody Teague Custom Builders
Photography:
Catherine Nguyen
Timeline:
10 weeks
A cosmetic renovation can have a dramatic impact without the time, cost, or disruption of a full gut job. When you are thinking about whether to fully renovate or just refresh, it’s important to know that “cosmetic” doesn’t mean “superficial.” It means strategically updating surfaces, finishes, and fixtures while leaving the layout and structure largely intact.
Ask yourself What are you hoping to achieve with this refresh? Are you aiming for a visual update? Preparing for resale? Wanting to love your home again without a major construction project? A cosmetic renovation won’t fix poor layout or hidden mechanical issues, but can drastically improve style and surface function.
Case in point: this home sat for almost ten years in all its cherry cabinet glory. The goal was to remove the wood stain and “taste-specific” (read: ugly) from everywhere in the home. The floors were stripped and stained ebony to remove all traces of red. The kitchen needed a bit more work…
Flow: prime location was given to a steam oven (why??) and the refrigerator was as far from the main sink as possible, with an enormous island in the way
Aesthetic: the cabinet boxes were largely saved, but we reworked the island to add drawers, behind-the-stools storage and to lessen a somewhat silly angle by the pantry (it became the smooth cabinet)
Surfaces: the tile was outdated, larger sinks were needed (the true bar sink in the island was not usable) and the granite tops were dizzying
We removed the steam oven, swapped the microwave for the fridge - thereby creating a galley for the cooks with non-cooks out of the way. We replaced cabinet and drawer fronts with clean, shaker style fronts (made room for a few glass cabinets), and selected hardworking soapstone to replace the granite. The dark counter against the white background has a grounding effect, while the island remains the star. Note that we did not move plumbing, electrical or change the footprint of the overall space.
Cosmetic renovations typically take less time and avoid invasive demo work while you live in the home. However, custom pieces or backordered items can still create delays - so plan ahead and have everything onsite (or in the warehouse) before getting started.
