Kitchen Design

Chicago Kitchen Design

The kitchen is the most important room in your home because it is the center of your family’s day-to-day living and the main gathering place. Your day most likely begins in your kitchen with a cup of coffee or tea and transitions into the at-home classroom, ending with you searching in your fridge for a late-night snack.

You spend a lot of time in your kitchen, and, of course, you want to make it special. Areté Renovators can do more than rehab an aging space. We have a dedicated design team that can help you create your dream kitchen from the ground up.

Big-Impact, Efficient Projects

Are you tired of your dark wood cabinets and black granite countertops? Maybe you’re trying to wow potential home buyers. Relatively small changes can make a huge difference in how you (and others) feel about your kitchen. We can help you visualize ideas that work specifically for your space, but here is a great place to start:

• Painting the walls: Styles change, and wall painting in a kitchen can bring things back up to date. It’s a relatively low-cost project with a huge impact. Of course, you can also combine it with other design elements and upgrades.
• Adding accents: Backsplashes add a lot of character and utility to kitchens. Tile, quartz, glass, and more: The options are nearly endless.
• Updating the cabinets: Don’t get discouraged by high-price quotes if you need a new look for your cabinets. If the structure is good and you like your layout, you might be able to get a major impact by simply replacing doors and drawers. Give us an idea of your goals, and then we’ll go from there.
• New floors: Between pets, kids, traffic, and spills, kitchen floors get a lot of traffic and wear and tear. Updating them with hardwood or durable tile will make a bigger difference than you expect. Extending flooring from neighboring rooms can improve the overall flow and cohesiveness of your space.
• New countertops: There are so many great varieties of quartz, marble, and stone available. If your countertops are showing their age, why not get one of the most striking updates available? Used in coordination with lighting fixtures, paint, cabinetry, and even flooring, this simple change can completely transform your kitchen without any heavy construction or demolition.

Years of Chicago Renovation Experience

We are experts in all kinds of kitchen design work — since 2002, we’ve helped a variety of clients from first home buyers, growing families, property management companies, and other individuals and organizations with their building and renovation needs.

Every client gets the full benefit of our customized approach. While we can tailor our services to any project, we will also make recommendations based on the size and type of job you have for us. Here are a few of the most common types of projects we handle.

Preparing for Resale

We get several calls from clients who want to list their homes for sale, but before doing so their agent has recommended a small investment into upgrades to appeal to a wider range of buyers. A kitchen renovation is a huge bonus for prospective sellers, as nearly any listing agent will tell you.

If your old kitchen has seen better days, a small rehab will provide a return on your investment by way of a higher asking price. Even if it takes you a year or two to get everything organized for your sale, you can still enjoy your kitchen and leave it looking like new — all thanks to high-tech, durable materials.

It’s a big decision. Getting the right cost-value ratio is important. It’s also important to keep ahead of trends if you’re planning on waiting to sell and to not over renovate or be too trendy. There is a fine balance between upgrading to see the potential of the space versus knowing when to not renovate if a buyer will come in and undo the remodel work you did so that they may customize the space to fit their needs. We always keep track of the latest in style and buyer trends, so give us a call and let’s discuss your goals.

Chicago Area Realtors

We understand that there are customized strategies involved in any given home sale — it all depends on the needs and goals of the seller. Our business isn’t all that different, because our services are custom-tailored for each client.

We are fully prepared to work with Realtors and real estate agencies to help them meet their clients’ needs. Whether you need professional detailed plans or a remodel that will turn heads during an open house, Areté is the company to choose.

We also provide consultation services if you have a property that buyers are having a hard time seeing the potential in. In partnership with a real estate network, we can provide estimated remodel costs to help you close the deal and give your buyer a better financial picture before placing an offer on a new home. Once the closing is underway and the property inspection has been completed, we are happy to review and provide an estimate for necessary repairs based on the inspection report.

New Homes, Condo Conversion Projects, and New Multi-Unit Developments

We have plenty of experience building kitchens from scratch. We have the in-house knowledge necessary to work closely with construction teams of all sizes, making sure the perfect kitchen gets installed every time. Whether you’re planning your dream home, renovating a commercial space, or developing an entirely new property, we will give your project the personalized, efficient handling it deserves.

Building and Home Rehabs

Last but not least, Areté has experience working with historic landmark homes throughout Chicagoland. If you have a vintage building and you want to restore it to its former glory or want to modernize your historic home but are unsure of local restrictions, we can help you navigate the process. Chicago is full of architectural history and known for its ability to combine old and new.

The Areté Approach to Professional Kitchen Design

We strive to be creative, precise, organized, and knowledgeable; however, that’s not enough to build a great kitchen. The true secret to our success is our communication. We take the time to ensure you understand our process and that we understand exactly what it is you want before we ever start a project. Your dedicated kitchen designer will spearhead your project and communicate with you every step of the way and then some.

Site-Specific Kitchen Designs

A great kitchen starts with understanding the space. It’s about more than just looks — you need freedom of movement, harmony with the rest of the home, and, of course, storage and workspace.

We have experience making the most out of tight spaces, and we love a challenge. We have remodeled studio kitchens up to expansive open kitchens with a full wet bar and walk-in pantry. Our creative kitchen designs have allowed our clients to function and move better in their space, giving them more workspace to cook and gather than they ever imagined. Feel free to take a look at the gallery of our past work for some examples.

Your floor plan should never get in the way of what you really want. We’ve found that it’s almost always possible to satisfy our clients’ highest priorities for their kitchens — we just have to get creative.

Making Space for Your Choices

When talking to clients about their biggest pain points in their kitchens, we often hear lack of workspace and lack of storage and organization. Our extensive design experience can help you balance the features you want with the space you need.

Sometimes, a good design means placing appliances in strategic locations. Other times, it means installing multiple storage options. We have even created custom cabinetry, open shelving or hidden storage solutions, and extended countertops to give a couple more inches of functional workspace.

The advantage of working with us is that we are a tight team of designers and builders. We seamlessly integrate beauty and functionality. In short: We design dream kitchens that are also a dream to use.

From the Floorboards to the Ceiling

No detail should be overlooked whether you are completing minor updates or a full kitchen re-design. We will work with you every step of the way to ensure you are aware of the benefits or limitations of each choice you make from layout to flooring to paint color and cabinet hardware.

Any one of these major decisions can change the way you see and use your kitchen. We can help you understand how all of these individual selections will come together.

Taking All Details into Account

After you select the framework and footprint for your space, it is time to design the details. If you have not already chosen appliances at this point, now would certainly be a good time. We would also look at cabinetry styles, hardware such as knobs, pulls, and hinges, backsplash options, and the finer details like custom organizers, cutlery racks, hidden trash, and recycling bins, and soft-close drawers – every small detail that makes your kitchen truly yours.

Contact Us to Get Started

The choices are the best part. They’re also the hardest part. We will work with you to make sure you get what you want, and that all of the elements work well together. Call our Chicago kitchen designers and remodelers today at 773.683.3033 for professional kitchen design in Chicago, the North Shore, and throughout the entire Chicagoland area.