THE PROBLEM WE SOLVE
Most kitchens we are asked to fix are not too small. They are arranged wrong.
The path from the garage cuts through the cooking area. A wall keeps the cook away from everyone else. Two people cannot work at the same time. These are layout problems, and new cabinets alone do not solve them. We start with how you move through the room, then design the kitchen around it.
OUR APPROACH
Three ways we remodel a kitchen
01
Keep the footprint.
Sometimes the room is the right size and the layout is not. In one Ann Arbor kitchen we replaced split, uneven counters with one continuous counter line and rearranged the appliances. The room opened up without removing a single wall. See Modern Kitchen Refresh.
02
Open the walls.
In a 1920s Burns Park Tudor we removed the load-bearing wall between the butler's pantry and the kitchen. That made room for a central island and a layout two cooks can share. See The Burns Park Beauty Kitchen Remodel.
03
Move it, or add on.
When the kitchen is in the wrong place, we move it. A 155-square-foot bump-out at the back of a Dicken neighborhood home let us relocate the kitchen and turn the old one into a mudroom and dining room. See Modern Home Uplift.
ONE TEAM
The people who draw your kitchen work down the hall from the people who build it.
Architectural designers, interior designers and builders all work here, under one contract. Selections are finalized and materials ordered before demolition begins. You get a phase-by-phase schedule before work starts, a weekly note, and one person to call.
PORTFOLIO
Recent kitchens
BURNS PARK
The Burns Park Beauty Kitchen Remodel
A beautiful 1920s kitchen that didn't work became a two-cook hub that looks like it has always been there.
OLD WEST SIDE
Old West Side Kitchen, Fireplace & Mudroom Remodel
A tight 1920s kitchen became a bright, blue-and-white room that opens to the dining room through a pointed arch.
ANN ARBOR HILLS
Retro Renaissance Kitchen
A heavy, cramped kitchen became an open, playful space made for two cooks.
QUESTIONS
Questions we hear most
Often, yes. We contain the work area, manage the dust, and keep the spaces you use every day working. For larger projects, Forward clients have access to our furnished rental homes.
Can we live in our home during construction?
How long will our project take?
It depends on scope, and the honest answer is that a finish refresh and a whole-home project are not in the same range. What we can promise is that you will have a phase-by-phase schedule before demolition starts, and you will know where you are in it every week.
How do you keep projects on schedule?
Selections are finalized and materials ordered before demolition begins. Most mid-project stalls are a crew standing around waiting on something nobody ordered, and the way to avoid that is to have decided earlier.
Who will be in our home during construction?
A project manager and our own carpenters lead every job, supported by trade partners we have worked with for years and chosen on standard rather than on price. You will always know who is on site and who to call. Meet the people who will be in your home on our Team page.
