Kitchens designed around how you actually cook
A kitchen is decided long before the cabinetry arrives — by where the services run, what the structure allows and how two people move through the room at once. Get those right and the layout works. Get them wrong and you pay twice, once to discover it and once to fix it.
01
Layout and workflow
Where the drain stack sits decides most of what follows, so that gets established first. From there we test the layouts your unit will actually allow — where the sink can land, whether an island is feasible without coring the slab, how two people move through the space at once. You see the cost implication of each option before you choose one.
02
Cabinetry and millwork
Drawn to your unit rather than ordered from a size chart. Full-height runs that use the ceiling instead of leaving a dust shelf, drawer boxes that hold weight, soft-close hardware, and interiors fitted to what you own — deep drawers for pots, a proper pantry pull-out, a place for the things that otherwise live on the counter.
03
Counters and backsplash
Stone selected as a slab, not from a sample chip, with the veining laid out before it is cut. Waterfall ends, mitred edges and matched backsplashes where the material justifies it. We confirm lead times before anything else is ordered, because stone is the item most likely to hold up a finish date.
04
Appliances and services
Specified early, because appliance dimensions drive cabinet dimensions and not the other way around. Panel-ready integration where you want the run uninterrupted, 24-inch fitting where the space is tight, and a check of your panel capacity before anyone commits to an induction range and a wall oven on the same circuit.
05
Ventilation and lighting
Most condos cannot vent to the exterior, so the honest answer is a recirculating hood with carbon filtration sized properly for the cooktop — done well it is genuinely effective, and done badly it is a decorative box. Lighting is planned to fall on the counter rather than the back of your head, with under-cabinet runs and switching set out before the walls close.
06
Install and finish
Trades sequenced so nothing finished gets damaged by what comes after it. Cabinets set level to the slab rather than the floor, doors aligned to a consistent reveal, stone templated after the boxes are in. The last week is adjustment, not construction.
If it’s a condo, five things decide the layout
Houses give you room to move services around. Condos do not, and most of the cost surprises in a condo kitchen come from finding that out late. These are the five the building decides for you.
- The stack rarely moves.
- Your sink drain ties into a vertical stack shared with the units above and below. Moving it more than a short distance means re-sloping drainage inside the ceiling space, which needs both engineering and board approval. Layouts that respect the stack cost a fraction of layouts that fight it.
- Gas is usually off the table.
- Most Toronto condo buildings do not permit gas ranges in suites, and many have no gas service at all. Induction is the real answer rather than the consolation prize — faster than gas to boil, and the only cooktop that keeps a recirculating hood honest.
- Venting is recirculating, not ducted.
- Cutting a new exterior vent through a building envelope is almost never approved. A properly sized recirculating hood with a real carbon filter handles a condo kitchen; what fails is an undersized decorative hood chosen for how it looks in the drawing.
- The floor is a structural slab.
- Nothing gets buried below the finished floor without permission, because the concrete under it is holding the building up. Island plumbing and electrical either run within the existing floor build-up or the island goes somewhere else.
- The board sets the calendar.
- Alteration approval, certificates of insurance, elevator booking and permitted work hours all sit ahead of demolition. We prepare and chase that package as part of the job, which is why our schedules hold when others slip in week one.
Before, and after
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Liberty Village · 2 bed
Builder-grade kitchen to a full rebuild in nine weeks
Layout held to the existing stack, cabinetry drawn to the ceiling, honed concrete counters. Priced in March, handed over on the date we promised.
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Kitchen questions, answered
What condo owners ask before the drawings start.
Can I move the sink in a condo kitchen?
A short distance, usually yes. A long move, rarely — the drain has to maintain fall to the stack, and gaining that fall means building up the floor or working inside the ceiling below, which requires engineering and board approval. We check the stack position at the walkthrough and tell you what your layout options actually cost before you fall in love with one.
Can I put in a gas range?
In most Toronto condos, no — either the building prohibits gas in suites or there is no gas service to the unit. Induction is what we specify, and in a condo it is genuinely the better appliance: it puts less heat and far less combustion residue into a sealed space with recirculating ventilation.
Can I have an island?
It depends on whether it needs plumbing or power. A dry island with no services is usually straightforward. Add a sink or a cooktop and you are into running services through a structural slab, which most buildings will not allow — so the practical answer is often a peninsula tied to an existing wall, or an island that stays dry.
Do I need condo board approval for a kitchen renovation?
Yes, in effectively every Toronto building. Anything touching plumbing, electrical, flooring or the layout requires an alteration agreement, certificates of insurance naming the corporation, and a booked elevator. We prepare and submit that package for you — it is a stage in our process, not homework we hand back.
How long does a condo kitchen renovation take?
On site, typically four to six weeks for a kitchen alone. The full timeline from first call to handover runs closer to ten or eleven weeks once design, selections and board approval are included — those stages run in parallel where possible rather than stacking.
What does a condo kitchen renovation cost in Toronto?
It depends far more on cabinetry and stone than on square footage, so a walkthrough is the only honest way to price it. What we can commit to is the shape of the number: after the walkthrough you get one fixed price and one completion date in writing, and any change after that is priced and signed off before it happens.
Start with a free walkthrough
We'll measure, find the stack, and tell you what your layout options actually cost.