Guide
One kitchen is 36 decisions.
A kitchen remodel asks for 36 decisions by our count, from the cabinet layout to the trim paint, and each one has a date: the moment your builder needs it. Here they are in the order a build usually asks for them.
Schedule free consultationUpdated October 2026
Why it’s 36
Every surface, fixture and light is a choice.
Count what a kitchen asks of you: the layout and the cabinets, the stone and the tile, the sink and the taps, every appliance, the lights and the switches, the floor, the paint and the stools. That’s 36 decisions before you reach the rest of the house.
The order matters as much as the choice. A pendant chosen after the electrician has set the boxes hangs where the box is, and a pot filler chosen after the plumber’s rough-in has to fit the supply already in the wall.
Before anything is ordered
The plan comes first.
The appliances and the island set the size of every cabinet around them, and the floor sets their height, so these are settled on the plan before anything else is drawn in detail.
Before the plumber’s rough-in
The water, before the wall closes.
A pot filler is piped inside the wall, and the faucet sets the holes cut in the sink and stone, so both are chosen before the plumber starts.
Before the electrician sets the boxes
The light, before the ceiling closes.
Every fixture needs a box in the right place, and the island’s size and seating decide where the pendants’ boxes go.
Before the cabinets are made
The cabinets, inside and out.
Cabinets are ordered long before they’re installed, so their doors, color and fittings are decided early, while the walls are still open.
Before the cabinets go in
What your hand finds.
The pulls are drilled for as the cabinets go in, so the style and the metal are chosen first.
Before the tile setter starts
The surfaces.
The stone is cut to the cabinets once they’re in, and the tile follows the stone, so these are chosen together.
Once the cabinets are in
The finishing.
The last decisions are the ones you live with every day: the color on the walls, the light at the window, and where you sit.
Then the rest of the house
Every decision dated, with three options.
That’s one room, in Austin or San Francisco. Each decision means searching, vetting and ordering on someone else’s schedule, and each has to work with the last.
Your Selection Calendar dates every decision against your builder’s schedule, so nothing is chosen in a rush. Each one comes as three options, each with a reason it belongs in your house, and the one we’d choose. Options and revisions.
A first conversation
Tell us about your house.
A free 30-minute call with Preston and Sunthar, the two people who will design it. Walk us through the rooms you want designed, with photos or plans if you have them, and we’ll work out your design fee with you on the call. Nothing to sign.
Book a free consultationIf you don’t love the direction after your first three design reviews, we refund your design fee and membership, no questions asked.
Or text (512) 270-6283
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