About Protectingcreation

Why We Plan Kitchens Around the Light

Protectingcreation remodels kitchens for homeowners in Bellevue, Washington, and we work in a slightly unusual order. Before we talk about cabinet door styles or counter samples, we want to know what your kitchen looks like on a dark winter afternoon. That is when most people here actually cook, and it is when the flaws in a kitchen plan show up.

A lot of kitchens on the Eastside were designed for a different kind of light. The ramblers and split levels built across Lake Hills, Crossroads and Newport Hills in the 1950s and 1960s tend to have modest windows, a single fixture in the ceiling and wiring sized for the appliances of the day. The larger homes from the 1970s through the 1990s in Somerset, Woodridge and Bridle Trails often have more glass, but also deep rooms where the counter furthest from the window never sees much daylight. Downtown condos bring their own limits, with fixed window walls and building rules about what can be opened up.

How We Work

• We visit when it is dark. An evening walkthrough shows us the real problems: shadows on the counter, glare on a polished surface, corners that stay dim.
• The lighting plan comes before the cabinet order. Fixture locations, switching and circuits are drawn early, because cabinets and counters are much harder to work around afterwards.
• We tell you when the smaller job is enough. If sound cabinets and a working layout just need better light, a refit may be the right call, and we will say so.
• Permits and inspections are part of the job. Moved walls, new circuits and changed window openings go through the City of Bellevue, and nothing is closed up before it is inspected.

We also pay attention to the things that make a closed-window winter kitchen comfortable: a range hood ducted outside so moisture does not fog the glass, and circuits planned for induction if you are moving away from gas.

Get in Touch

If your kitchen feels dim for half the year, call (425) 627-2427 or find us at 6982 Main St, Bellevue, WA 98006. We are happy to start with a conversation about what is bothering you and go from there.