Layout and Planning
Where things go and why. Working triangle, clearances, and door swings that do not fight each other.
Kitchen Renovation
Kitchen Renovation
in New Orleans
New layouts, cabinets, counters and lighting. Including the narrow galley kitchens that come with a shotgun house and never had enough room to start with.
What We Do
Kitchens That Fit the House They Are In
Most New Orleans kitchens were not designed. They were added to, then added to again. The result is a room where the fridge blocks a doorway and there is nowhere to put a bag of shopping down.
We start with how you actually use the room, then work out what the structure will allow. Sometimes that means taking a wall out. Often it just means a better layout inside the footprint you already have.
If your cabinet boxes are sound and the layout works, say so and we will quote refacing instead. It is a smaller job and we would rather tell you that than sell you a full kitchen you do not need.
Kitchen remodeling and kitchen renovation are the same job under two names. If you are comparing quotes from kitchen remodelers, we are happy to be one of them.
- Full kitchen remodels
- Layout changes and wall removal where structure allows
- Cabinet supply and installation
- Counters, splashbacks and sinks
- Task and feature lighting
- Kitchen flooring
What You Get
What a Kitchen Job Covers
Structural Work
If a wall is coming out we work out whether it is load bearing first, and head it properly if it is.
Cabinets and Joinery
Boxes, doors and fronts, scribed to walls that are rarely square in a house this old.
Counters and Splashbacks
Templated to the installed cabinets, not to a drawing, so the joints land where they should.
Services
Plumbing and electrical moved and brought up to code for the new layout.
Lighting
Task lighting over the work surfaces, which is the single biggest thing most old kitchens are missing.
How It Works
Four Steps From Call to Finished
The same process on every job in the New Orleans metro, whether it is one room or the whole house.
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Free On-Site Walkthrough
We come to the property and look at the actual house. On older New Orleans homes that means checking settling, moisture and what sits behind the plaster before anyone quotes a number.
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Written Scope and Price
You get kitchen renovation written down: what is included, what is not, and what could change it. No charge and no obligation.
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One Crew, One Contact
Materials, trades and scheduling handled in house. You hear about problems the day we find them, not in a bill at the end.
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Walk It and Sign Off
We walk the finished work with you, write down anything you are not happy with, and fix it before the job is called complete.
Gallery
Recent Work
Cabinet Boxes: Solid Wood, Plywood, or MDF, and Why It Matters Here
Cabinet doors get the attention, but the box behind them decides how the kitchen holds up. Plywood boxes handle humidity better than particleboard or MDF, because plywood doesn’t swell and delaminate the same way when moisture gets into it. In a city where kitchens sit close to humid air most of the year, that difference shows up faster than people expect.
MDF isn’t a bad material everywhere. It’s smooth, it paints well, and it costs less. The problem is what happens if it gets wet, whether from a slow leak under the sink or humidity that never fully clears. MDF swells and doesn’t go back to its original shape once it does. Plywood can take a wetting event and dry out fine.
Solid wood doors and drawer fronts move with humidity too, expanding and contracting through the seasons. That’s normal and not a defect. What matters is whether the cabinet was built to allow for that movement. A well-built frame accounts for wood movement. A cheap one cracks at the joints within a couple of years, and no amount of caulk fixes that after the fact.
Countertops: What Actually Changes Between Quartz, Granite, and Butcher Block
Quartz and granite get compared constantly, and the honest answer is that both perform well in a kitchen. Quartz is engineered and consistent, doesn’t need sealing, and resists staining. Granite is a natural stone, needs periodic sealing, and has more variation slab to slab, which some homeowners want and others don’t.
Butcher block looks great and a lot of people love it, but it needs real maintenance in a humid kitchen. It has to be sealed and resealed, and it doesn’t do well with standing water near the sink. If you’re not going to keep up with oiling it, pick a different material for at least the section around the sink and stay with wood only where it stays dry.
Whatever you choose, get the edge profile and overhang details settled before fabrication starts. Changing your mind after templating means a second template and a delay you didn’t plan for, and that’s true no matter which material sits on top of the cabinets.
Opening Up a Kitchen in a Shotgun or Double Without Surprises
Shotgun houses and doubles were built as a line of rooms, not an open floor plan, and that means walls between the kitchen and the next room are sometimes load bearing. Before you commit to removing one, that wall needs to be checked, not assumed. Taking down a bearing wall without proper support is how a kitchen renovation turns into a structural repair.
Older homes in this city often still have some original wiring and older plumbing runs behind kitchen walls. A kitchen renovation is the point where it makes sense to deal with it, since the walls are already open. Waiting means opening the same wall again later for an electrical or plumbing problem that could have been solved during this job.
If you’re adding gas appliances or a range hood that vents outside, check what that means for the wall or ceiling it has to pass through, especially in a house with a shallow attic or no attic access above the kitchen. It’s a detail worth raising with your contractor early, not after the layout is finalized.
Local Knowledge
The Shotgun Kitchen Problem
A shotgun house is one room wide. The kitchen usually sits at the back, often in a later addition, and everything has to pass through it. That is a hard room to make work and an easy one to make worse.
The wins are usually in circulation and light rather than square footage. Moving a doorway, taking out a non structural partition, or getting a real window into a room that only ever had one.
- Galley layoutsPlanned around the traffic that has to pass through, not around a magazine island
- Later additionsRear kitchen additions often have the worst framing and the worst drainage in the house
- Load bearing wallsChecked and headed properly before anything comes out
- Old wiringKitchens draw the most power in the house. Old circuits get flagged early
- Out of squareCabinets scribed to real walls, because nothing in a hundred year old house is plumb
Ready For a Straight Number?
Tell us what you want done. We will come look at the house and put it in writing.
They transformed my old kitchen into a modern space quickly and kept everything clean.
Lucas Rivera
They renovated our entire condo and the quality is top-tier. New flooring, fresh paint, and updated lighting throughout.
Sophie Ruby
A full main floor renovation. Honest pricing, high-quality materials, and a very hardworking crew.
Zachary Bailey
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a full kitchen or would refacing do?
If the boxes are sound and the layout already works, refacing gets you most of the visual change for a smaller job. We will tell you honestly which one your kitchen needs. See cabinet refacing.
Do you supply the cabinets or do I?
Either. We can supply and install, or install what you have chosen yourself. Tell us at the walkthrough so the quote reflects it.
Can you match new work to original millwork?
Often yes. Old New Orleans houses have trim profiles worth keeping, and matching them is usually better than replacing everything with stock moulding.
Is there a difference between renovation and remodeling?
In practice, no. People use both words for the same work, and we answer to either. If you want the longer version we wrote about it: renovating vs remodeling.
Is plywood really worth paying more for over MDF cabinet boxes?
In a humid kitchen, yes. Plywood resists swelling and delamination from moisture better than MDF or particleboard. MDF can look and perform the same on day one, but a single slow leak under the sink or sustained humidity causes lasting damage that plywood usually shrugs off.
Can I remove the wall between my kitchen and dining room in a shotgun house?
Sometimes, but it has to be checked first, not assumed. Shotgun and double houses were built as a sequence of rooms, and interior walls are occasionally load bearing. A contractor needs to confirm the wall’s role and plan for proper support before any of it comes down.
Should I reroute old wiring or plumbing while the kitchen walls are already open?
It’s usually the smart move. Once drywall is open for a kitchen renovation, addressing outdated wiring or plumbing runs behind those walls avoids opening the same finished wall again later for a separate repair.
Cities We Serve
Kitchen Renovation Across the New Orleans Metro
Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and Tangipahoa parishes, and out to Baton Rouge.
- New Orleans
- Metairie
- Kenner
- Gretna
- Slidell
- Covington
- Mandeville
- Madisonville
- LaPlace
- Hammond
- St Rose
- Baton Rouge
Not listed? Call 504-470-0455. We cover most of the metro and the Northshore.
Explore Our Services
What Else We Do
One contractor, inside and out, across the New Orleans metro and the Northshore.
Also From Us
Related Services
Cabinet Refacing
New doors and fronts on sound boxes. A smaller job than a full kitchen when the layout already works.
Learn MoreFlooring
Hardwood, tile and vinyl plank. We level and fix the subfloor first, which is most of the job in an old house.
Learn MoreWhole Home Renovation
Top to bottom on shotguns, doubles and raised centre halls, sequenced so you are not living in a site.
Learn MoreWhere We Are
Based on Magazine Street
We work out of 3436 Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans, which puts most of the metro within a short run and the Northshore inside an easy morning.
- Address3436 Magazine Street #120-D
New Orleans, LA 70115 - Phone504-470-0455
- HoursMonday to Saturday, 8:00am to 5:00pm
Next Step
Let’s Talk About Kitchen Renovation
Tell us what you want done in New Orleans and we will come and look at the house. Free written estimate, no obligation, and a number that holds.
Free Estimate
Let's Look At Your House
Send this over and we will call you back to set up a walkthrough.
- Call504-470-0455
- Visit3436 Magazine Street #120-D
New Orleans, LA 70115 - HoursMonday to Saturday, 8:00am to 5:00pm