Kitchen remodeling that doesn't take your family hostage.
Remodel or renovate — the honest answer depends on whether your layout is fighting you or just looking tired. We tell you which on the first visit, before anyone is asked to spend anything.
Key facts
Marin kitchen remodeling, at a glance
- Typical investment
- $65,000 – $180,000 depending on whether walls move
- Renovation (same layout)
- $65,000 – $95,000
- Full remodel (new plan)
- $110,000 – $180,000
- Total timeline
- 4 – 6 months, first sketch to first dinner
- On-site construction
- 6 – 10 weeks
- Your kitchen
- Stays usable every single day — in writing
- Warranty
- 5-year workmanship, lifetime cabinetry
Start here
Should we remodel, or just renovate?
Renovate when the layout already works and only the surfaces have aged. Remodel when the room actively fights your family — when two people cannot pass, when there is nowhere to land a schoolbag, when the fridge door blocks the only walkway.
Renovation
Same footprint, everything you touch replaced. New cabinetry or refaced doors, new counters, new lighting and paint.
- Typical cost
- $65,000 – $95,000
- On site
- 6 – 8 weeks
- Right when
- The plan works, the finishes are tired
Full remodel
New plan. Walls open, storage is rebuilt from scratch, and the room is redrawn around how your household actually moves.
- Typical cost
- $110,000 – $180,000
- On site
- 8 – 10 weeks after design
- Right when
- The room fights you daily
A real one
Closed, dark, and impossible at 7am.
The Bellamys had a peninsula three people could not pass and a wall between the cook and everyone else. Eleven weeks later they had an island, a pantry that fits the Costco run, and sightlines to the homework table.
BeforeAfter
What we build · 02
Cabinetry sized to what you actually own.
Before we draw a single door we ask you to open every cupboard you have. The stand mixer, the sheet pans, the lunchboxes, the vase collection nobody admits to — all of it gets measured and given a home.
Everything is built in our shop on Miller Avenue. That means a drawer bank can change in week six without a twelve-week reorder, and the person who built your cabinets is ten minutes away for the next twenty years.
- Typical cost
- $900 – $1,900 per linear foot
- Typical kitchen
- 24 – 38 linear feet
- Build time
- 8 – 12 weeks from approved drawings
- Doors
- Inset, shaker, slab · painted or white oak
- Warranty
- Lifetime on boxes and joinery
What we build · 03
What is the best countertop for a family kitchen?
For households with children, engineered quartz is usually the right answer. It does not etch from juice or tomato, never needs sealing, and survives homework, glitter and hot pans without a story attached.
Choose quartzite if you want real stone that still tolerates real life. Keep marble for a baking zone rather than the whole run — it is beautiful and it will patina, and families who love it are the ones who were told that honestly up front. Butcher block on an island end is the warmest thing you can do to a kitchen for very little money.
- Engineered quartz
- $75 – $130 /sq ft installed · zero maintenance
- Quartzite
- $110 – $190 /sq ft · natural, hard-wearing
- Marble
- $95 – $220 /sq ft · patinas, best in zones
- Butcher block
- $60 – $110 /sq ft · warm, re-sandable
What we build · 04
Design is included. And it starts at dinner time.
Our designer comes at 6pm on purpose, because a kitchen at 6pm tells the truth. Who is cooking, who is doing homework, who opens the fridge every ninety seconds, and where everybody collides.
You get full plans, elevations and a 3D walkthrough you can send to your mother. Revisions are unlimited — a kitchen you only half-like is a bad outcome for both of us.
- ✓Measured plans and elevations
- ✓3D walkthrough before anything is ordered
- ✓Unlimited revisions until it is right
- ✓All selections made in one studio afternoon
Scope
What is included in a kitchen remodel?
All of it, under one contract. There is no point where you are sent off to find another trade.
Design & permits
Measured survey, full drawings, 3D walkthrough, Marin County permits and inspection scheduling.
Your temporary kitchen
Working sink, refrigerator, microwave and counter space, installed before demolition. No charge.
Demolition & structure
Sealed dust walls first, then controlled demolition, beams and any framing the new plan needs.
Electrical & plumbing
Rewiring, new circuits for appliances, plumbing relocation, gas lines and ventilation.
Cabinetry & stone
Built in our shop, installed by our crew, with templating and seam layout you approve first.
Finish & first dinner
Tile, lighting, appliances, paint, deep clean, styling, photography — and the punch list closed in ten days.
Questions
About remodeling specifically.
The four we are asked most once families get past the price.
What is included in a kitchen remodel?
Design and 3D walkthroughs, permits, the temporary kitchen setup, demolition, electrical and plumbing, custom cabinetry, countertops, tile, lighting, appliance installation, paint and final styling. One contract, one crew, one project lead you can text.
How much do custom kitchen cabinets cost in Marin County?
Roughly $900 to $1,900 per linear foot depending on door style, finish and interior fittings. A typical family kitchen uses 24 to 38 linear feet. Building in our own Mill Valley shop removes the distributor margin.
What is the best countertop for a family kitchen?
Engineered quartz for most families — no etching, no sealing, survives everything. Quartzite if you want natural stone that still tolerates real life. Marble is best kept to a baking zone rather than the full run.
Can we really stay in the house the whole time?
Yes. Four hundred and thirty families have. The temporary kitchen goes in before demolition and stays until the new room genuinely works — and dust walls are sealed on day one, not after the mess starts.
Next step
Ninety minutes at your table, and you'll know.
Free, at dinner time, with a written range you keep whether or not you hire us.