Kitchen Remodeling in Severna Park, MD

What kinds of kitchens do Severna Park houses have?

Mostly kitchens in houses built from the 1950s through the 1980s, which by census estimates make up nearly seven in ten homes here. Mid-century kitchens tend to be closed rooms with limited counter space. Kitchens in the 1980s colonials are bigger but laid out for a different era, with a separate breakfast nook and a wall between the kitchen and family room.

Split-level and rancher kitchens

In a split-level, the kitchen usually sits on the middle level next to a separate dining room, with bedrooms stacked above. The wall between kitchen and dining room is the usual candidate for removal. Because it often carries the floor above, removing it typically means a beam, and in some houses a post down to the lower level.

Ranchers are simpler structurally but tighter. A galley or U-shaped kitchen in a one-story house often has a window on the outside wall and doorways on two others, which leaves little room for cabinets. Our usual options:

• Closing one doorway to gain a full cabinet run
• Moving the refrigerator into a pantry wall built in the former dining area
• Running upper cabinets to the ceiling for storage
• Replacing a swinging door with a wide cased opening

Updating a 1980s colonial kitchen

These tend to be the roomiest kitchens in town, and what they lack is a layout that fits how people cook and eat now. A breakfast nook can become a built-in banquette or part of an island. A half-wall to the family room can come out so the island faces the seating area. Where the original oak cabinets are still in place, a common choice is painted shaker or flat-panel doors with quartz or marble-look counters.

Many of these kitchens also have a soffit over the uppers. Removing it adds storage, but ducts or pipes sometimes run inside, so we open it up during demolition and plan for what we find.

Gaining space without adding lot coverage

For homes near the Severn or the Magothy, an addition is the slowest way to a bigger kitchen. Anne Arundel counts new building footprint and impermeable surfaces toward the Critical Area lot-coverage cap, and anything that reaches into the 100-foot Buffer generally needs a variance. So we look inside first: a dining room that’s rarely used, a mudroom, a hall closet or a laundry area that can move to the lower level. An interior change keeps the job a Residential Alteration and adds no new lot coverage. New wiring and plumbing may still need trade permits filed by licensed electricians and plumbers.

How the job is organized

We finalize the layout and order cabinets before demolition. Countertops are templated once the base cabinets are set, and backsplash and lighting follow. Trade inspections fall before walls are closed, and the permit goes in through the county’s Land Use Navigator.

More in Severna Park: bathroom remodeling and deck building and replacement. For materials and cabinet options, see our main kitchen remodeling page.