Pre-sale kitchen updates · Dallas, TX
Kitchen Updates Before You Sell
Painted cabinets, white quartz, a new backsplash, lighting, and plank flooring: at Haven Pl. in Allen the whole house took three weeks. Cosmetic kitchen updates typically finish in three to six weeks, and your estimate arrives within 48 hours of the walkthrough.
Updating a kitchen on a budget
Smart Updates, Big Impact
A full kitchen remodel is not always necessary before selling, but targeted updates can significantly increase buyer interest:
- Cabinet painting and new hardware
- Countertops and a fresh backsplash
- Lighting, from pendants to under-cabinet
- Appliances where the old ones date the room
- Flooring that carries into the living space
Our local experts know the smart updates that make a major impact. Paint colors and materials are selected to complement and enhance your existing home, and to appeal to the buyers shopping your neighborhood right now.
Before and after
Haven Pl., Allen
Painted cabinets, new counters and backsplash, lighting, and flooring, finished in three weeks as part of a pre-sale renovation.
BeforeAfterKitchen questions
Is It Worth Updating a Kitchen Before Selling?
Straight answers from your local experts. All questions.
Is it worth updating a kitchen before selling?
A full kitchen remodel is not always necessary before selling, but targeted updates can significantly increase buyer interest. Cabinet painting, new countertops, modern hardware, updated lighting, and new appliances can transform the space without the cost of a full remodel.
How long does a kitchen update take?
Cosmetic kitchen updates typically finish in three to six weeks. A full remodel with new cabinetry runs eight to twelve weeks, and we set the schedule before work starts.
Should I paint my cabinets or replace them before selling?
Paint when the boxes are sound and the style is only dated, as we did at Haven Pl. in Allen. Replace when the cabinets are worn, the layout wastes the room, or the neighborhood expects new. The walkthrough settles it, and the estimate shows both numbers when it is close.
What countertops do Dallas buyers expect?
Quartz or quartzite in a light color reads as new to nearly every buyer in our market, which is why most of our pre-sale kitchens use white quartz. We select for the buyers in your neighborhood, not for a magazine.
Can you work with my existing layout?
Yes. Most of our kitchens keep the existing layout, which is what makes the timeline and budget work. When a wall or island needs to move, we tell you what it adds.
What it actually looks like
Four Kitchens, From Paint to New Cabinets
Here are four pre-sale kitchens we have finished, with their numbers, from the lightest touch to new cabinetry.
Keep the cabinets, change everything you see. At Biscayne in Frisco the cherry cabinets stayed. New white quartz counters, a subway tile backsplash, and stainless appliances did the work, inside a $60,000 scope that also covered floors, baths, and paint. The home had sat 120 days unsold at $550,000; it sold for $699,000.
Paint the cabinets. At Haven Pl. in Allen the original oak boxes were sound, so we painted them blue-gray, added white quartz, a brass pendant, a new backsplash, and plank flooring. The whole house took three weeks and sold with a $143,000 return at closing.
New cabinets in the same footprint. Sherman St. in Melissa got a navy kitchen with an island and seating, white quartz, a patterned tile backsplash, white shiplap, and white oak floors, as part of a $100,000 whole-house renovation finished in eight weeks. Bought for $200,000, it sold for $475,000. Azure Ln. in Addison got white cabinetry, white quartz, a wood-top island, and pendant lighting inside a $135,000 whole-house scope, and sold for $1.1 million against an original price of $750,000.
Keeping the house? See our luxury kitchen remodels, or kitchens by area: Preston Hollow, Lakewood, Plano, and Frisco.
What we decide in the walkthrough
Whether the cabinet boxes are worth keeping. Whether the counters are the problem or the whole kitchen is. Which finishes the buyers in your neighborhood expect, because a buyer in Plano and a buyer in Preston Hollow are not shopping for the same kitchen. What the appliances say about the age of the house. Then we put the scope and the number in writing within 48 hours of the walkthrough.
How the work runs
Your designer selects the finishes before construction starts. A dedicated project manager is on site, and the same painters, tile setters, and flooring installers we use on every job do the work. Cosmetic updates finish in three to six weeks; a full kitchen with new cabinetry runs eight to twelve weeks on a schedule set before we start, and we hold the date.
Get a free estimate
Let's Talk About Your Kitchen
Within 48 hours of the walkthrough you'll have a comprehensive estimate and a list of suggested upgrades.