A full gut finished in six weeks. The existing appliance layout was sound, so the services stayed where they were and the work went into cabinetry, surfaces, and the windows.
New windows
Replacing windows is exterior work as much as interior. Each opening has to be re-flashed and sealed so the wall keeps water out as reliably as it did before — get that detailing wrong and you have traded a draught for a problem that shows up inside the wall years later.
Done properly it changes a kitchen more than the specification suggests. New units bring in more daylight, seal considerably better than what they replace, and remove the cold edge an old window puts on the room beside it.
Semi-custom green cabinetry
Semi-custom was the right tier here. It is built to order from a defined range, with modifications available where a room needs them — and where the runs divide sensibly into standard widths, full custom buys flexibility that goes unused.
Green is the decision that makes this room. White would have read cold against this much daylight, and timber would have doubled up on the warmth already coming from the stone. A deep green holds the bottom of the room steady and lets the travertine do the talking above it.
Counters and backsplash
Travertine, with the counters run up the wall as the backsplash instead of stopping at a tile line. It is a quarried stone, so the slab is its own thing and worth seeing before it is cut, and it wants sealing rather than being left to fend for itself.
It also takes grout off the wall behind the range, which is the surface in any kitchen that takes the most splashing and the most scrubbing.
Flooring
New luxury vinyl plank. Waterproof, warmer and quieter underfoot than tile, and forgiving over a concrete slab.
The result
A kitchen rebuilt inside its own footprint, with the budget going into the windows and the finishes rather than into rerouting services that did not need moving. Six weeks from demolition to final walkthrough.
