A designer lays out the whole room and shows it to you as a 3D rendering. In an Eichler, it's the easiest way to judge how new cabinets will sit beside exposed beams and floor-to-ceiling glass.
Kitchen Remodeling in Walnut Creek, CA
Every Walnut Creek kitchen comes with its own limits
Kitchen remodeling in Walnut Creek depends a great deal on the street you live on. An Eichler in Rancho San Miguel and a home inside Rossmoor can need very different plans.
Some limits are physical, like a concrete slab floor or a wall of glass where uppers would normally go. Others are approvals, from a city permit to a Rossmoor mutual's sign-off. Knowing them before the design starts keeps the plan honest.
Cabinet IQ of Pleasanton is a family business. Jerry and Cheryl Rathje met while serving in the U.S. Army, and partner Trent Marek manages every project. We design and install complete kitchens, and consultations are by appointment until our Valley Avenue showroom opens.
Design, cabinets & countertops in the right order
A full remodel works best when each decision waits for the one before it. The design comes first, the cabinets are built to it, and the countertops are cut once the cabinets are set.
Choose from our custom and semi-custom lines. Custom cabinets have all-wood boxes, upgraded dovetail drawer boxes and soft-close hardware. They're made in the USA and backed by a limited lifetime warranty.
We install porcelain, quartz, granite and quartzite. Porcelain and the natural stones hold their color in strong sun, which counts in a kitchen with big west-facing windows.
From first conversation to finished kitchen
Our remodels move through five stages. Each one ends with something you can see or approve before the next begins.
Jerry and Cheryl spent their careers in healthcare, and they run a consultation the same way: listen first. Tell us who cooks, who perches at the counter and what frustrates you in the current kitchen.
Your designer explains the cabinet and countertop options, then works through what the room has to do. We finish with an investment analysis, so your budget range is set before any design work begins.
Walnut Creek requires a building permit for many kitchen changes, such as moving plumbing or taking out a wall. The city publishes a bulletin listing what a kitchen remodel submittal needs.
In Rossmoor, the order runs from your mutual's approval to a Rossmoor alteration permit, then the city permit. Ask about each step at the consultation, since none of them can be skipped.
The 3D rendering shows the layout, the cabinet doors and the countertop together. View it with the window wall in the frame. Daylight in the real room changes how a finish reads.
Small changes are easy at this stage. Moving a drawer stack or swapping a door color takes a new rendering, not a new order.
Once you sign off, the cabinets are ordered and every design goes through our 57-point Quality Assurance Check. Our team is licensed and insured and brings over 20 years of experience in general contracting.
Our journeyman-level certified installers set the cabinets first. Countertop templates are taken from those cabinets, then the stone is fabricated and installed. Trent oversees the whole job.
Before the crew packs up, the kitchen is vacuumed and wiped clean. While they're still there, run water at the sink. Then open the sink base and check the connections for drips.
Go through the drawers one by one, loaded the way you'll use them. A heavy pot drawer shows a slide problem that an empty one hides.
Walnut Creek homes & their kitchens
Walnut Creek grew outward from the 1950s, and its kitchens show which decade each street was built in. Four common cases:
| Your home | What shapes the plan |
|---|---|
| An Eichler in Rancho San Miguel | Most sit on a slab with radiant heating tubes inside it. Keeping the sink where it is avoids cutting into the floor. |
| A 1950s to 1970s ranch in Parkmead or Northgate | Many have a compact kitchen beside a separate dining room. Joining the two depends on whether that wall carries the roof. |
| A home in Rossmoor | Kitchen work goes through the mutual and the Rossmoor alterations office before the city. Build that approval time into your plans. |
| A condo or townhome near downtown | Building rules often cover elevator use, work hours and where materials can wait. Ask your manager for them before install dates are set. |
If your home matches one of these, mention it when you book. Your designer can prepare for it before the first meeting.
Caring for your new kitchen
A new kitchen stays sharp with a few daily habits. Most of them protect the cabinet finish and the countertop surface from heat and grease.
- Run the range hood every time you cook, since grease settles first on the uppers beside the stove
- Clean cabinet doors with a microfiber cloth and plain water, and keep all-purpose sprays off the finish
- On quartz, set slow cookers and air fryers on a board, since long heat in one spot can mark it
- Use a step stool for high shelves, and never kneel on the counter overhang to reach them
Inland summers get hot, and afternoon sun through a large window can fade stained doors over the years. A light shade on the sunniest window protects them.
What your kitchen remodel includes
Your project covers the design consultation, the investment analysis and the 3D rendering, all free. From there we supply the cabinets and countertops and install both with our own team. Trent runs the job from the order to the final cleanup. You choose and buy the sink and faucet.
Looking for cabinet refacing instead?
Refacing swaps the doors but keeps the old boxes. We don't reface or repaint cabinets. If drawers stick or the layout fights you, new cabinets fix what new doors can't.
View kitchen cabinetsKitchen remodeling near Walnut Creek
We plan and install kitchens from our Pleasanton base, with the Valley Avenue showroom coming soon. Walnut Creek is one of ten towns we serve:
Walnut Creek, Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon, Danville, Alamo, Lafayette, Orinda, Castro Valley, Alameda.
Frequently asked questions
Layout changes cost more than replacing cabinets and counters in place, because walls, plumbing and wiring add trades. The cabinet line and countertop material set the rest. Your free investment analysis gives you a budget range before design starts.
Yes. Kitchen work in Rossmoor needs your mutual's approval and a Rossmoor alteration permit before the city permit. Contractors working there also follow Rossmoor's own working rules and insurance requirements.
Most people do. The kitchen is out of use from demolition until the countertops are in. Plan simple meals around a microwave, an electric kettle and a sink in another room.
Yes, if your home allows it. A ducted hood removes grease and moisture, while a recirculating hood only filters odors. Plan the duct route during design, before cabinets fix where the hood sits.
Yes. Give your designer the exact width, height and depth of each one, and the cabinets are sized around them. If you plan to replace an appliance within a year or two, choose the new model now.
Plan it during design. The wiring has to be in the wall before the upper cabinets go up. Adding lights later usually means surface cords or opening finished drywall.