The Challenge
This Gilbert kitchen had good bones — generous footprint, full pantry wall, plenty of cabinet storage — but it had been frozen in a dark cherry raised-panel finish since the house was built. The chandelier overhead and the speckled granite counters pulled the room older than the rest of the house felt.
The homeowner didn’t want to tear out cabinetry that was solid wood and built well. They wanted color, light, and the kind of design moments that make a kitchen feel current — without the cost or downtime of a full demo.
Our Solution
We started by repainting every cabinet — boxes, doors, and the full pantry wall — in a modern sage. The raised-panel profile that read traditional in dark cherry reads transitional in sage, and the color picks up the natural light from the windows much better than the original stain. Existing hinges came out and got swapped for soft-close throughout, so every cabinet door closes silently — a small detail you notice every time you cook.
Behind the new pantry doors, we installed Sollid Cabinetry roll-out trays across the full wall: deeper, accessible storage instead of stuff getting lost in the back of fixed shelves.
For surfaces, we removed the granite and installed Arizona Tile’s Della Terra quartz across every countertop AND ran it up the full backsplash as a slab. One continuous stone surface, no grout lines, no transitions — it makes the room feel custom and lets the sage cabinets be the star.
Over the sink, we added Sollid black floating shelves with integrated LED lighting underneath — a stylized open-shelf moment that’s also functional storage for everyday glassware. Under-cabinet LED strips light the rest of the work surfaces.
New stainless appliances (range, hood, dishwasher), a new undermount sink, and a new black pull-down spring faucet round out the upgrade.
The Results
In 2 weeks, this Gilbert kitchen went from dark and dated to modern, light, and intentional — without a single cabinet box being removed. The sage repaint alone transforms how the entire room reads. Add the full-slab Della Terra quartz, the black floating shelves over the sink, and the soft-close hardware behind every door, and it reads custom from corner to corner.
This is the kind of project we love: keep the bones, change the surface, do the details right.
Alpha Remodelers is a veteran-owned, husband-and-wife remodeling team serving Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, and the greater Phoenix East Valley. Licensed CR-48, R-60, R-62. A+ BBB. 2-year workmanship warranty. Call or text 480-993-4000 for a free estimate.
