Before and After a $162,000 Kitchen Remodel

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed)
May 8th 2006 at 5:01PM

When a contractor or designer sets out to remodel his own kitchen, he can be up for quite a challenge. After all, he isn't likely to settle for anything less than perfection and probably has an exceptionally specific idea of what he - and also, in this case, his wife - wants. Howard Robbins took on his own home and, after 9 months and $162,000, walked away with a National Association of the Remodeling Industry Award in his region for the "best residential kitchen over $100,000." His kitchen was "outdated, inefficient and oppressive" (picture after the jump), but simple aesthetics aside, there were a few major changes that had to be made, something to take into consideration if you are looking to remodel. The ceiling was raised by 3 feet, eliminating dropped, panel lights, and one wall was pushed out, providing a roomier area to start with. Once the room was opened up, new appliances, flooring and, of course, accessories were added. The kitchen now has Decor ovens and cooktop, a Subzero refrigerator, a Miele dishwasher and, to meld with his wife's love and collection of Asian decor, bamboo accents and Japanese shoji screens, from Shigoto Ya Inc., were added, as well.

[Images Muffy Kibbey, SF Gate]

Tags: contractor, decor, design, designer, home, kitchen, remodel, remodeling, renovation

Filed under: Decor

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Reader Comments (Page 24 of 24)

TRU Jul 21st 2006 4:00PM

Not worth the money ? Depends on where this home is. Guessing there was no living space on top of kitchen?
I think he probably could have gotten away with recessed lighting in ceiling for a lot lower cost, but then apparently they are not selling the house or refurbishing to sell so as long as they like it.
Not my taste but each his/her own.
Would be very interested to find out what % they would get back if they did sell. I personally don't see getting their money back.

Greg Walter Jul 23rd 2006 10:36AM

As a contractor and owner of a cabinet shop I would love to have had that job. Hey, who wouldn't want to make $50k a week! I've done remodels way better than that for less than half the money.