Service areas · West and near suburbs
Kitchen remodeling in Oak Park.
Oak Park is known internationally for its architecture, and its kitchens live inside Queen Anne, Prairie School, Colonial Revival and American Foursquare houses. A good kitchen remodel here respects the house it sits in without pretending the room has to stay in 1910.
Serving Oak Park, Illinois, ZIP 60301, 60302, 60304. Part of our West and near suburbs service area.
Kitchens in Oak Park
Kitchens that fit the character of an older home.
The kitchen in an older Oak Park house is usually the room that has been remodeled most often and best fits the house least. The question is how a modern kitchen meets the original rooms around it. We pay particular attention to the transitions: where new flooring meets old oak at a doorway, how new casings and base match the profile in the dining room, whether a widened opening picks up the proportions of the house's other openings or fights them.
Existing layouts in these houses often include a back stair, a pantry and a service entry. Some of that is worth keeping. A pantry can become the most useful room on the floor. A back stair can rarely move. We start from what is there and change what earns its cost.
Local context
Planning a remodel in Oak Park.
Historic districts: what is and is not reviewed
About a third of the village lies within three historic districts: Ridgeland-Oak Park, Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture, and Gunderson. The Historic Preservation Commission reviews certain permit applications for properties in those districts and landmarks, and it states that it does not review ordinary maintenance and repairs that do not require a building permit. Its review concerns the exterior. An interior kitchen remodel is not, by itself, a preservation matter. If your project changes a window, adds a vent through an exterior wall or alters the rear of a district property, we confirm with the village what review applies before drawing it.
Village of Oak Park historic preservationPermits and inspections
Oak Park processes construction permits electronically and publishes a submittal guide that covers kitchen remodels, including the electrical requirements for countertop circuits and outlet spacing and the plumbing fixture requirements. Electrical, plumbing and building final inspections close out the project. We prepare the submittal to the village's format and schedule the rough and final inspections into the build.
Village of Oak Park building permitsWorking with original trim and floors
Many Oak Park houses still have original oak or maple floors, tall baseboards and casings with a distinctive profile. We match or deliberately contrast them rather than ignoring them: patching floors where a wall came out, milling casings to the house's profile for a new opening, and choosing cabinetry proportions that sit comfortably under a nine-foot ceiling.
Municipal requirements change and depend on the property. We confirm what applies to your address during planning rather than assuming from the neighborhood.
What we do here
The kind of Oak Park projects we take on.
Every project uses the same design and build team. These pages explain the scope in more depth.
Investment
Budget considerations in Oak Park.
Older houses bring more updating of wiring and plumbing, more plaster repair and more care at transitions than newer homes. Matching original trim and floors is skilled work that adds to the finish scope. Structural openings and any exterior change on a district property add engineering, permit and review time.
Your proposal is priced from the measurements and scope established during the in-home visit. The Investment page explains what shapes the number.
Questions
Questions from Oak Park homeowners.
Does a kitchen remodel in an Oak Park historic district need approval?
Interior work is not what the Historic Preservation Commission reviews. Exterior changes on properties in the districts or on landmarks can be. We confirm the requirements for your specific address before any exterior change goes into the design.
Can you match the original woodwork and floors?
Yes. We patch and refinish floors where walls come out, mill casings and base to the house's profile and choose cabinetry proportions that fit the original rooms.
Do you handle Oak Park permits and inspections?
Yes. We prepare the electronic submittal, coordinate plan review and schedule the electrical, plumbing and building inspections as part of construction.
Let’s plan your kitchen.
Have kitchen photos? Include them with your inquiry for complimentary render previews within minutes. Photos are optional.