Old Town Kitchen & Bathroom Remodeling

We have remodeled kitchens across Old Town's range of homes, and in the cottages and row houses the design starts with how little the original builders gave the kitchen. These homes were built with small kitchens at the back, often with a rear stair and additions layered on over a century, so the project is usually about opening the space to the rest of the floor without losing a load-bearing wall or a stack that cannot move. Wells Street walk-ups and condos bring tighter footprints and fixed risers. The structure sets the plan before any finish does.

‍

We take it from there: cabinetry and installation, quartz or natural stone counters, tile or stone backsplash, and an integrated appliance package scaled to the room. In a landmark-district row house we keep the new kitchen in conversation with the home's period detail, matching trim and proportions, or we take it fully modern inside the historic shell if that is what you want. We help you make that call rather than defaulting to one look.

‍

Kitchen remodeling in Old Town typically ranges from $15,000 to $80,000+ depending on the scope, finishes, and any structural modifications. Cosmetic kitchen updates with cabinet refacing or painting, new countertops, and backsplash usually fall in the $15,000 to $22,000 range. Mid-range remodels with new cabinetry, appliances, and finishes typically run $22,000 to $50,000+. Complete kitchen transformations that include layout changes, high-end appliances, and custom cabinetry typically run $50,000 to $80,000+.

Old Town bathrooms sit inside some of the oldest housing stock in the city, and that shows up the moment we open a wall. In the frame cottages and row houses we routinely find balloon framing, cast-iron drains, galvanized supply lines, and plaster over framing that has shifted for a century. A remodel that ignores those realities does not last, so we open carefully, bring the plumbing and substrate up to current standards, and build the new bathroom on a foundation that holds.

‍

In a row house or walk-up with rooms below, waterproofing cannot be an afterthought, so we construct the pan and membrane correctly and stage the work to keep water contained. Our primary bathroom remodels include curbless showers, soaking tubs, double vanities where the layout allows, heated floors for Chicago winters, and the ventilation these old homes were never built with. Powder rooms and guest baths get that same level of detail at a smaller scale.

‍

Bathroom remodels in Old Town typically range from $12,000 for small bathroom updates to $55,000+ for luxury primary bathroom renovations. Powder room and half bath updates usually fall in the $12,000 to $20,000 range. Mid-range full bathroom remodels with new fixtures, tile, and vanities typically run $20,000 to $32,000+. Luxury primary bathroom renovations with custom tile, premium fixtures, heated floors, and layout changes typically run $32,000 to $55,000+.

Some of our most rewarding Old Town work is the full historic-home renovation, where we update the kitchen, every bathroom, flooring, lighting, and layout across a whole cottage or row house while protecting the period detail and, on landmarked blocks, the exterior that the district is built to preserve. Projects often include opening a warren of small original rooms, rebuilding a rear addition, or modernizing every system in a home that has not been touched in decades. Most whole-home Old Town renovations run 10 to 16 weeks depending on size and structural scope.

‍

Matching the millwork and trim of a Victorian row house is often what makes a remodel feel authentic, so a whole home renovation here leans heavily on custom carpentry and built-ins. Many cottages and row houses have lower levels we can convert with basement finishing, and for the Wells Street walk-ups and newer buildings we handle full condo renovation. Not sure whether to phase the work or do it in one pass? We will lay out the options at your consultation.

Renovating in Old Town depends on what you own and where it sits. A home inside the Old Town Triangle landmark district can add a review of anything that changes the exterior on top of the standard city permit, a condo or walk-up can add an association sign-off, and an interior-only remodel of an unlandmarked home is mostly a permit conversation. We identify which applies before demo, so approvals never become the thing that stalls your project.

‍

That coordination is on us. We know which Old Town blocks fall inside the landmark district, what the city looks for on a historic-home permit, and how to document a project so review moves quickly. In these very old homes we plan for what we will find once walls are open, the balloon framing, the knob-and-tube, the century of past work, so the scope and budget hold from the start.

‍

Most kitchen and bathroom remodels with plumbing, electrical, or structural scope require a Chicago permit. We advise when one is needed and coordinate it, together with any landmark or association review. City review usually takes 2 to 4 weeks, built into your timeline from the start.