Tips From a Pro

Do your long term plans for a major kitchen remodel keep slipping further into the future? Yet living with your dreary dated kitchen is getting you down? Take heart. You can transform your kitchen into an updated dazzling space for a lot less than you think. Simply let a qualified professional help you figure out how to get the most value for your money by doing mini-makeover.

That’s exactly what a savvy Peninsula homeowner did.

A single woman with a small house and even smaller budget, she let the pros at a local design build firm put their tricks of the trade into play to get her the look she wanted for a lot less money. Thanks to their expertise and skill, it’s hard to tell that it’s not a complete kitchen makeover.

The homeowner chose to keep her current appliances and cabinets, opting instead for high end granite countertops, a hardwood floor and removing a wall that had made the small kitchen even more cramped. With new earthy-rich paint that plays well with the dramatic veining of the granite counters and the wood grain of the floor, the space immediately draws the eye from the living room giving the 800-square foot main level of the house a more expansive feeling. The existing wood cabinets were reconfigured and modified to fit into a fresh, new arrangement then embellished with brushed metal hardware granting them that made to match, updated décor. A demi-lune island is of the same elegant granite which creates an inviting breakfast spot where there was none before.

“This kitchen was all vinyl and Formica from the 70s,” said Petalyn Swart-Albert, photographer and head of internet marketing for the award-winning San Mateo firm S.E.A. Construction. A one-stop design build company, S.E.A. talented team designed and implemented this highly successful remodel. Petalyn grew up with design/build and through her work retains an outlook which straddles the wishes of discerning homeowners and the pragmatism of the building industry.

“This homeowner is a business woman and easily grasped that she needed to choose what to change and what to leave alone, and I think she chose well,” added Albert. “She never once gave up value or quality in order to get something she could not afford. Of course at some point, she will purchase new appliances and new cabinets. That is part of her long range plan. But to keep to her budget, she felt that these items will work for as long as she needs them to. In the meantime, she has a beautiful new kitchen.”

One significant factor in keeping this kitchen re-design within the range of her smaller budget was the specialized skill of S.E.A.’s professional designer and certainly the value engineering system that Steven Albert utilizes on every project. Steve’s twenty three years in the business and his long standing appreciation for quality and design, is what motivated him to launch his own design and build firm in 1988.

Petalyn reminds us that, “People who are trained in the business are hired for a very good reason. There is a skill involved in seeing the big picture— and knowing how to work the details. It isn’t something you can pick up with an e-book or by mind melding with Google search,” said Ms. Albert. “With a small space it is perhaps even more vital to get the details just right, because in design as well as craftsmanship it’s the details that make it or break it, without exception. And in a smaller space there are naturally fewer of details with which to make it” Albert also noted that people today are remaining in their homes for longer, which is ideal for allowing a phased remodel-plan like the one featured here.

“It’s important to prioritize; to be realistic. You can always add more later on when you can better afford it.” Albert said. “There are ways to improve the look of your home right now, to make it feel really wonderful, so that when you come home from working all day you really do experience that sense of reward and comfort. It makes such a big difference in the quality of life. And best part is you can remain within a budget so you don’t have to live with the stress of having made unrealistic choices in the first place. Life is complicated enough”.