Kitchen Remodeling in Dexter, MI

Mill Creek houses, plaster walls and subdivision kitchens around the village

Downtown Dexter grew around the mills on Mill Creek and the Huron River, and many of the houses within walking distance of Main Street date from that era. Their kitchens share a set of problems: ceilings of nine or ten feet that make standard upper cabinets look stunted, windows placed for light rather than for a sink, walls that are plaster on lath and rarely square, and a back-of-house kitchen tucked into a former porch or summer kitchen. Wiring and plumbing may have been updated in patches, so we walk the basement with the partner contractor before drawings are fixed.

The newer neighborhoods around the city were mostly built from the 1990s on. Their kitchens are generous but generic: a builder island, cabinets of one height, recessed cans in a grid. The work there is less about fitting and more about function, with a better island, taller storage and lighting that covers the counters instead of the floor.

Kitchen remodeling in Dexter, MI for mill-town houses and new subdivisions

Kitchen RemodelingA full kitchen remodel is the usual answer for downtown Dexter houses whose kitchens were added to the back of the house in pieces, leaving a doorway on every wall, a step in the floor and no single run long enough for a real work zone.Small Kitchen RemodelNarrow village lots leave little room to expand, so small kitchen remodel planning finds storage inside the walls you already have: drawers instead of base doors, an appliance garage, and uppers stacked to a ten-foot ceiling instead of stopping at seven.Kitchen DesignKitchen design on its own works for owners of newer Dexter subdivision homes who want a builder-grade kitchen re-planned before a contractor bids it.Kitchen CabinetsKitchen cabinets scribed to plaster walls and tall ceilings keep an old Dexter kitchen looking original to the house. Inset doors, furniture-style feet and painted finishes suit the 1800s trim that owners near Main Street want to keep.Aging-in-Place RemodelingOlder homes near Main Street often put every bath upstairs; aging-in-place remodeling from a CAPS and CLIPP certified designer plans for staying on one floor.Powder Room & Guest Bath RemodelA powder room remodel carved from a back hall or old pantry gives a village house its first downstairs toilet, often tied into the same drain line the new kitchen sink uses.Bathroom RemodelingBathroom remodeling in Dexter often pairs with the kitchen, since both share an old plumbing stack. Replacing galvanized supply lines and a cast-iron drain once, while walls are open for the kitchen, is easier than doing it twice.

How a Dexter kitchen moves from consultation to cabinets on the wall

The first step is an hour or so with Nick in your Dexter kitchen. He asks what works and what does not, who cooks, and how the house is used on a weekday, then measures every wall, window and ceiling height. If you go ahead, a design retainer covers the drawing phase, where you see alternative layouts, a floor plan, renderings, elevations and installation details, and then a pricing presentation.

Material selection is next, priced hourly or as a package, with stone, tile and hardware samples brought to the house so you see them in your own light. Once you sign the purchase agreement, the cabinet order goes in under Kitchen NV, along with the rest of the materials. Construction is carried out by trusted partner contractors, and Nick keeps coming back through install. If you plan to install some of it yourself, he can provide design for DIY installers instead.