Kitchen Remodeling Ideas That Actually Work in St. Pete Homes

The kitchen remodeling ideas that look great on Instagram don’t always hold up in a St. Petersburg home built before 1990. Most of those houses have small galley kitchens, aging plumbing behind the walls, and layouts designed for utility — not entertaining. The trends worth considering are the ones that solve real problems in your actual kitchen, not just the ones that photograph well.

Here’s what we’re seeing clients invest in right now — and what we’d skip.

Natural Stone Is Replacing Engineered Quartz

This is the biggest shift we’re seeing in kitchen countertops, and it’s one we’ve been advocating for years.

“White and gray quartz — I think it looks like plastic garbage,” says Jeremy Wharton, Revolution’s owner. “I’d much rather use a natural quartzite or granite, even a marble.”

That’s a strong opinion, but it’s backed by what we see on job sites. Engineered quartz dominated kitchens for the last decade because it was marketed as low-maintenance and consistent. But homeowners are noticing that it looks identical in every house — and it doesn’t age the way natural stone does. Quartzite offers the veining and character of marble with better durability. Granite, once dismissed as dated, is making a comeback in darker, more dramatic slabs.

For a mid-range kitchen remodel in the $75,000–$100,000 range, countertop material choice is one of your biggest budget levers. A quartzite waterfall island will cost more than a standard quartz slab, but it becomes the centerpiece of the room — and it’s something guests notice.

Workstation Sinks Are Worth the Investment

Workstation sinks — the oversized basins with built-in accessories like cutting boards, colanders, and drying racks — used to be a luxury-only item. Not anymore.

“They used to be really expensive a few years back when they started showing up, but now they’re not as big of a deal,” Jeremy says. Prices have dropped as more manufacturers entered the market, and the functionality is hard to argue with.

In older St. Pete kitchens where counter space is limited, a workstation sink effectively adds prep area without requiring a larger footprint. That’s a practical upgrade, not just a pretty one — especially in the small, cramped kitchens common in Old Northeast and Kenwood homes built in the 1920s through 1940s.

The Open Floor Plan Is Getting a Reality Check

For years, every kitchen remodel started with “knock down the wall.” Open floor plans dominated, and the kitchen-living room merge became standard. That’s shifting.

“There’s actually a push away from super open floor plans,” Jeremy notes. “People are understanding they don’t necessarily want to watch the carrots get peeled and the disposal get run.”

We’re not talking about going back to closed-off galley kitchens. The trend is toward partial separation — a half-wall, a peninsula with higher counter, or strategic cabinet placement that defines the kitchen zone without fully walling it off. You get the sightlines and conversation flow without the cooking mess on full display.

This matters in St. Pete because many homeowners with older homes are still opening up their kitchens for the first time. The move now is to open things up thoughtfully, not completely. If you’re removing a load-bearing wall (which requires structural engineering and adds cost), make sure the final layout gives you some visual separation where it counts.

Wood-Grain Cabinets Are Back — But Not the Oak You Remember

The honey oak cabinets from the 1980s gave wood-grain a bad reputation. What’s replacing all-white and all-gray cabinets now is something different: white oak, walnut, and rift-sawn finishes in modern tones. Think warm, natural textures — not the orange-tinted oak of decades past.

The other cabinet trend worth noting is thinner profile frames. Cabinets are getting sleeker, with less visible frame and more clean lines. It’s a subtle shift that makes a kitchen feel more modern without a full style overhaul.

For an entry-level kitchen remodel in the $40,000–$60,000 range, cabinet selection is your single biggest line item — typically 29–40% of your total budget. RTA (ready-to-assemble) cabinets keep costs down, while semi-custom or custom options in these new wood tones push you into the mid-range and above. Lead times for custom cabinets run 6–12 weeks, so decisions need to happen early in the pre-construction phase.

One advantage of working with a contractor who has in-house carpenters: installation quality stays consistent. Our 20+ W-2 carpenters handle cabinet installation, custom trim, and millwork directly — they’re not subcontractors rotating between three other jobs.

Skip the Gimmicks: What We’d Avoid

Not every trend is worth chasing. A few we’d steer clients away from:

• Digital shower-style interfaces in kitchens. Touchscreen faucets and app-connected appliances sound futuristic but add failure points. A quality single-handle faucet will outlast any smart feature by a decade.
• Ultra-thin countertop profiles. The razor-thin edge look is striking in photos but fragile in practice — especially on natural stone, where the edge is most vulnerable to chipping.
• Full backsplash tile murals. These date quickly. A clean subway tile or natural stone slab ages better and costs less to refresh when you want a change in five years.

What St. Pete Kitchens Actually Need

Most kitchen remodeling ideas articles are written for new-construction homes with modern layouts. St. Petersburg’s housing stock is different.

As Jeremy puts it: “Kitchens from before about the 1990s were created for utility — to prepare food and store food — and since then, they’ve become a focal point of entertainment in the house.” That shift is exactly why older St. Pete homes need more than a surface-level update.

If your home was built before the 1990s, the best remodeling ideas for your kitchen might not be trending on Pinterest. They’re more practical: relocating the kitchen to capture natural light, removing a wall to connect with the living space (partially), upgrading cast iron plumbing that’s been building up for 80 years, and bringing electrical up to code for modern appliance loads. When we find cast iron or outdated wiring during demo, our T&M billing means we talk through the cost openly rather than burying it in a padded estimate. You decide how to proceed with full information.

Those aren’t glamorous upgrades, but they’re what transform the way you actually use the room. Everything else — the countertop material, the cabinet finish, the sink style — is the fun part that comes after the bones are right.

We’ve been remodeling St. Petersburg kitchens for over 20 years. Seventy percent of our projects come from repeat clients and referrals — not because we say we’re good, but because clients who’ve seen the work send their neighbors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Key Takeaways

• Natural quartzite and granite are replacing engineered quartz as homeowners look for character over uniformity
• Workstation sinks have dropped in price and add functional prep space — especially valuable in smaller St. Pete kitchens
• Fully open floor plans are softening toward partial separation — open enough for conversation, defined enough to hide the mess
• Wood-grain cabinets are back in white oak and walnut tones, with sleeker, thinner frames
• In older St. Pete homes, the most impactful upgrades are structural and mechanical — not just cosmetic

Ready to dig deeper? See what these trends cost in our kitchen remodel cost guide. Have an older St. Pete home? Read our guide to small kitchen remodels in older homes. Planning your timeline? See how long a kitchen remodel takes. Explore our kitchen remodeling services to see how we approach these projects.