Yes. If you want a new kitchen finished by spring or early summer, now is the time to start planning. A custom kitchen remodel typically takes 2 to 5 months from the first design meeting to the final walkthrough, and most of that time happens before anyone touches your current kitchen.
Many homeowners in the Rochester and Finger Lakes area wait until the weather warms up to call. By then, design calendars and install schedules are filling up fast. Starting in late fall or winter means your design is done, your cabinetry is built, and your project is on the calendar while others are still collecting ideas.
How long does a kitchen remodel take?
Here's what a typical kitchen remodel timeline looks like at Carver Creek Woodworks:
Consultation and measuring: about 1 week. We meet at your home, look at your space, and talk through how you cook, entertain and live in your kitchen.
Design and selections: 4–8 weeks. We create your layout and help you choose cabinet style, wood species, finishes and hardware. Most of the decisions happen here, so we don't rush it.
Building or ordering your cabinetry: 4–10 weeks. Fully custom pieces are built by hand in our Bloomfield shop. Semi-custom lines such as Waypoint are ordered and scheduled for delivery.
Installation and finish work: 2–10 days. Our own team installs your cabinetry and handles the trim, panels and finishing details.
Your current kitchen stays in use while your cabinets are being built, and our team works hard to keep it as functional as possible during installation.
Removed all the fronts of the cabinets to install new doors.
Why late fall and winter is the best time to plan
You get your pick of the schedule. Spring is the busiest season for remodeling in Upstate New York. Planning now puts your project near the front of the line instead of the back.
You have time to make good decisions. Choosing between painted and stained cabinets, maple and walnut, or a new island and an open layout is easier without a deadline. You can see samples, live with your choices for a few weeks, and change your mind.
The build happens while you're indoors anyway. Your cabinetry can be built over the winter months, so installation lands when you're ready to enjoy the space.
Your kitchen is ready for summer. Graduation parties, cookouts and summer guests are a lot more fun in a kitchen you love.
What you can do this month
You don't need a finished plan to get started. A few simple steps now will make the design process faster and easier:
Make a list of what bothers you. Not enough counter space, a cramped corner, cabinets that don't close right. These frustrations are the best starting point for a design.
Save photos of kitchens you love. Pinterest boards, magazine pages and screenshots all help. It's useful to note what you like about each one.
Think about how you use the space. Do you cook every night, bake on weekends, or mostly entertain? Do the kids do homework at the island?
Set a working budget. Even a rough range helps us recommend where custom work matters most and where a semi-custom line will do the job.
Decide on a goal date. Knowing when you want to be done lets us work backward to a realistic schedule.
Not sure if you need a full remodel? Sometimes new cabinet doors and drawer fronts are enough to transform a kitchen, for less cost and less disruption. We'll give you an honest recommendation either way.
A recent project: Webster, NY
Notice the modern top molding, new island shape, and under cabinet lighting.
This Webster kitchen had solid cabinet boxes, so instead of tearing everything out, we kept them and focused on what would make the biggest difference. We built new doors and drawer fronts, reshaped the island for a more modern look and better flow, added easy-access drawers and new pantry doors, upgraded to soft-close hardware, and removed upper cabinets that were blocking natural light. The result is a kitchen that looks brand new and works better every day, without the cost and disruption of a full remodel.
Increasing functionality and usable space is one of our favorite ways to upgrade the kitchen.
Added a pull out garbage bin and more pull out drawers.
Start planning your spring kitchen
Carver Creek Woodworks has been designing and building custom kitchens for families across the Finger Lakes and Rochester area since 1987. We're a family-owned shop in Bloomfield, NY, and the same team works with you from the first conversation to the final walkthrough.
If a new kitchen is on your list for this spring, now is the right time to talk. Call us at (585) 657-7511, email info@carvercreekwoodworks.com, or request a consultation.
Want some inspiration first? Get our free Look Book, which includes "10 Things to Consider When Planning Your Next Home Project."