Qualicum Beach · Boutique kitchen studio
Kitchen Renovations in Qualicum Beach
Oceanside Kitchen Studio builds custom kitchens across Qualicum Beach. We design accessible aging-in-place layouts, perform careful updates on older homes, and complete full remodels throughout Parksville and the Oceanside region. You deal with one team from start to finish on a fixed written quote, with installation by our crew, typically completed in 4–8 weeks on site.
Designed for Qualicum Beach
We design kitchens around how you actually use your home every day.
Most of the homeowners we sit down with in Qualicum Beach have been in the same kitchen for twenty or thirty years and plan to stay put.
That changes how we plan your space. We give you easy-reach storage, durable finishes, and layout choices that fit your daily routine. We put those priorities on the table at the first site visit.
What it costs
What does a kitchen renovation cost in Qualicum Beach?
These price ranges move with the scope of your project, so treat them as a starting guide rather than a fixed written quote. We give you a fixed written quote once we've seen the space.
- Cosmetic refresh — cabinet refacing, new counters, hardware, paint$15,000–$45,000
- Mid-range full renovation — new cabinets, counters, flooring, lighting, minor layout changes$45,000–$80,000
- High-end / custom or structural — walls moved, custom cabinetry, premium finishes$80,000 and up
Typical timeline: design a few weeks; on-site 4–8 weeks for a standard kitchen (10–12+ weeks with custom cabinetry or structural work). See the full 2026 cost breakdown.
Aging-in-place & accessible design
Kitchens that stay comfortable for the next 20 years.
We include aging-in-place features in your initial kitchen drawings instead of tacking them on later. That way, your room feels warm and looks like a standard kitchen.
- 01
Barrier-free layout planning
We plan walkways at 42″ or wider around the island, keep a clear turning radius by the range and sink, and place the appliances so you can work seated or standing without crossing the room to do it.
- 02
Drawers instead of low cupboards
We fit deep, full-extension drawer banks in place of bend-and-reach lower cabinets, so your pots, pans and pantry goods come out to you rather than the other way around.
- 03
Lever handles, better light, gentler surfaces
We fit lever taps and wide handles that are easy to grip. We add extra under-cabinet lighting and non-slip matte flooring so your work areas stay bright and safe.
- 04
Comfortable heights and reachable storage
We set counter heights to fit your reach, place wall ovens at counter height, and put microwaves in lower islands so nothing sits too high.
Updating older Qualicum Beach homes
We save solid original elements where it makes sense and replace parts that no longer serve you.
Plenty of kitchens in town still carry their original 1970s and 80s bones — closed galley layouts, tired cabinetry, and aging systems behind the walls. Here is how we work through one.
- 01
Open up the closed 1970s–80s galley
We get an engineer to confirm which walls are load-bearing. Where the structure allows we take out the partition and set a beam, so your kitchen finally connects to the living space.
- 02
Replace dated cabinetry and finishes
We strip out the original oak or melamine boxes and replace them with shaker or slab cabinetry we design ourselves, quartz or stone counters, and a palette that will not look dated in five years.
- 03
Address what's behind the walls
Once demolition shows us what sits behind your drywall, we bring in an electrician and a plumber to update services under permit.
- 04
Finish for the next 20 years
We add insulation, seal the vapour barrier, and install LED lighting on modern circuits. We also fit soft-close cabinet hardware so your kitchen stands up to twenty years of daily use.
Local permits
Permits, inside and outside town limits.
If your home sits inside the Town of Qualicum Beach, your building permit comes from the Town building department. If you live on an acreage or rural lot outside town, we pull your permit through the Regional District of Nanaimo.
Cosmetic updates in the same footprint do not need a building permit, though electrical changes still require an electrical permit. Structural work and plumbing moves require a building permit, and any wiring work requires an electrical permit. We confirm which office covers your address at the consultation, prepare the drawings, and manage every submission and inspection so you never have to chase it.
Recent work
We build kitchens designed around how Qualicum Beach families live.
Here is a sample of completed kitchen designs and finishes from our studio.
Services in Qualicum Beach
One studio for design, cabinets and build.
Full Kitchen Remodel
We run complete full kitchen remodels in Parksville, Qualicum Beach, and Oceanside, managing design, cabinets, countertops, and trades under one fixed quote.
Learn more →Cabinets & Countertops
We supply off-the-shelf and local custom kitchen cabinets with quartz countertops across Parksville and Qualicum Beach, installed on one fixed quote.
Learn more →Kitchen Layout & Open-Concept Conversions
Want your closed kitchen opened up? We handle the structural design, the engineering, the permits and the finish for Parksville and Qualicum Beach homes.
Learn more →How we work
Our step-by-step kitchen renovation process
Consultation
We come to your home for about an hour, walk the space with you and leave you with a realistic budget range. We meet with you for a free in-home consultation to review your kitchen ideas.
Design
Our designer works through layout, cabinetry, finishes and lighting before a single tool comes out. You approve the drawings and the material list before we start building.
Build
Our own crew works to a week-by-week schedule, cleans up at the end of every day, and books the inspections.
Handover
We walk the finished kitchen with you, close out the punch list, and hand over your final documentation.
Protecting your home during your renovation
You are usually living in your home during the renovation, so we manage our workspace to keep your house clean and safe. We seal the kitchen doorway with a zippered plastic barrier to isolate dust. We also run air exhaust fans to pull fine particles outside instead of down your hallway. Floors on the route in and out get hardboard, not paper. The old cabinetry comes out in one scheduled day rather than in pieces over a week, so the disruptive part is short and predictable. Before demolition starts, we set up a temporary sink and connect your fridge in another room. Living without a kitchen is tough, and we want you to have a basic cooking space while work happens. Tools and materials get stacked in one agreed place at the end of every day and the floor is swept.
How long will you be without a usable kitchen?
The downtime is shorter than you might expect when we plan every stage in order. Your kitchen is out of use from demolition until we install the countertops. On standard projects, that gap lasts about 3–4 weeks. Before that, design and manufacturing happen while you carry on cooking normally. After the counters land, the remaining work is backsplash, trim, paint and the small fixes at the end, and you can use the kitchen through most of it. We confirm where to set up your temporary kitchen prep area with you before starting work.
Choosing semi-custom or custom kitchen cabinets
Semi-custom cabinets come from a manufacturer in fixed widths, usually 75 mm apart, and you pick the door and the finish. They're well made and they suit most rooms. Off-the-shelf cabinets are standard, and if you don't want off the shelf, we work with a local custom cabinet maker. You notice the difference at the edges of the room: a filler strip beside the fridge, a cabinet that stops 40 mm short of a window casing, an awkward return at the end of a run. With custom boxes those gaps disappear because the cabinet is made to the measurement we take off the wall. It also lets us change internal depth, which matters when a plumbing stack or an old chimney chase eats into the run. The trade-off is time and cost: custom cabinet boxes take longer to build and cost more per linear foot.
Book your Qualicum Beach consultation
Booking your Qualicum Beach home consultation
Answer three quick questions and we'll be in touch within 24 hours to book a visit at your home, anywhere in town. It takes about an hour.
Common questions
What Qualicum Beach homeowners ask us most.
Do I need a permit for a kitchen renovation in Qualicum Beach?
If your plan moves a wall or a drain, we pull the building permit and arrange inspections. An electrician pulls the electrical permit for any circuit work.
How much does a kitchen renovation cost in Qualicum Beach?
Most full kitchens we do around Qualicum Beach land between $45,000 and $80,000, and a refresh starts around $15,000. Our cost guide has the full breakdown.
How long will a Qualicum Beach kitchen renovation take?
Most full kitchens take 4–8 weeks on site, after 3–5 weeks of design and ordering. We give you a week-by-week schedule.
Can you design an aging-in-place or accessible kitchen?
Yes, and it is a large part of what we do in this town. We design barrier-free layouts, deep pull-out drawer banks instead of low cupboards, lever handles, under-cabinet task lighting, comfortable counter heights and slip-resistant flooring. Every accessible detail is your choice, and the finished kitchen still looks like a kitchen rather than a clinic.
Do you work on older 1970s and 1980s homes here?
Regularly. Many kitchens in town still carry their original closed galley layout, dated cabinetry and aging systems behind the walls. We open up sight-lines where structure permits, replace cabinetry, and bring in an electrician or a plumber for wiring and drain changes under permit.
Are you insured, and who does the electrical and plumbing?
Yes — we carry $2M in liability insurance and hire an electrician or plumber for permitted trade work.