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Lee’s Summit is growing fast, and people are bringing their taste with them. We get asked for a fully committed French country kitchen. Italian. An English cottage in a Missouri suburb. It is unexpected, it is refreshing, and we take those on gladly.
What we will not do is put a style into a house where it does not belong. Knowing whether an idea suits the home and the street it sits on is part of the job, and so is saying so before anyone spends money finding out.
Three other positions worth knowing:
The right plan depends almost entirely on when your house was built, and this city splits cleanly in two.
Built roughly 1998 to 2010 (Raintree Lake, Winterset, Chapman Farms, most of the south side). You likely share a kitchen with your neighbors: honey oak or cherry, a deep soffit, a small island that seats nobody, a corner sink. Nothing is broken, which is what makes it frustrating. The work usually involves removing the soffit, rebuilding the island so it seats four, and bringing the finishes forward without gutting a layout that already works.
Older homes, downtown, and the west side. These are a question of walls. The first thing we determine is whether the wall between the kitchen and living room is load-bearing. That is a structural answer, not a design preference, and we get it early so nobody falls for a plan that cannot be built.
A local advantage. Most homes here have a full basement. With an open ceiling below the kitchen, moving a sink or plumbing an island is far cheaper than it would be over a slab. That is often the difference between changing the layout and living with it.
We handle cabinets, countertops, and flooring in-house, so the pieces are chosen together rather than negotiated between three vendors who have never met.
If your home was built in the 2000s, we can probably describe your primary bathroom before seeing it:
The most requested bathroom remodel here is straightforward. The garden tub comes out, and that footprint becomes one generous walk-in shower with a bench, a proper niche, and real glass. Same square footage, finally usable.
Older homes have the reverse problem: not enough room. Those projects are about borrowing space from a hall closet, working around cast-iron drains, and getting real ventilation into a room that never had any.
Either way, waterproofing decides whether a bathroom lasts, and all of it disappears behind the tile. We would rather walk you through the shower pan and membrane while you can still see them.
This runs both ways. You get to interview Karin and decide whether she is someone you want in your home for the next several months. She gets to understand you, the space, and what you are actually after.
A proposal may or may not follow. If Karin can see the finished project and believes she can push it somewhere genuinely good, she will say so and put one together. If not, she will tell you that instead. Nobody benefits from a designer who does not believe in the job.
You come to NW Sloan and work through it with Karin. Cabinets, countertops, flooring, and finishes are chosen in person with the samples in front of you. We do it in sessions, so by the end, you can picture the finished room, and the number attached to it is real.
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Every selection is confirmed before we start, so the build is execution rather than decisions made under pressure. And because the designer and the build team work for the same company, you are never carrying messages between two parties.
Being a Lee’s Summit company helps here, too. The city permits through its own Development Services department, and it does not work the way Kansas City does. Trades are licensed separately, so one kitchen can involve several licensed trades on file. We pull the permits, schedule the inspections, and keep the paperwork moving.
Kitchens and baths are most of what we do, though rarely all of it.
We work across the metro, including Blue Springs and Independence. This is the one we call home.
A full kitchen remodel in this metro now tends to start around $60,000 and climbs from there with custom cabinetry and higher-end fixtures. Rather than quote a range that may not fit your project, we walk your home first and give you a clear, honest number. Budget another 10 to 20 percent as a contingency, which is normal on any project of this size.
A bathroom remodel in this area generally runs between $10,000 and $35,000 or more, driven by size, layout changes, and how much you customize. A powder room sits at the low end, and a primary suite sits well above it. Worth knowing: $10,000 buys a refresh, not a full remodel. At that budget, you are upgrading finishes and comfort rather than moving plumbing or touching the shower.
Almost always. Anything touching plumbing, electrical, structure, or ventilation requires a permit through Lee’s Summit Development Services, and we pull it. Only a licensed contractor or the homeowner of a primary residence can pull one here, so a handyman without a city license legally cannot.
No, and this catches people out. Your HOA governs how things look from the street, while the city governs safety and code. In neighborhoods like Raintree Lake, Winterset, and Lakewood, you may well need both, particularly if we are venting a range hood through an exterior wall.
A primary bathroom typically runs four to six weeks on-site once materials are in hand. What people underestimate is lead time on tile, vanities, and glass, which is why we lock selections before demolition.
For a bathroom, yes, provided you have another one that works. For a kitchen, most clients stay and set up a temporary station with the fridge and microwave. We will tell you in advance which weeks are the hard ones.
A designer plans the space and a contractor builds it. When they are two different companies, the gap between them is where budgets and timelines quietly go wrong. We are both under one roof.
Kitchens, generally, and especially in the 2000s-built neighborhoods where buyers compare nearly identical floor plans, and the kitchen becomes the tiebreaker. That said, if you are staying, build the room you will use every day rather than the one an appraiser would like.
You do not need to have it all figured out to start. Come by, tell us what is not working, and we will tell you honestly what it would take to fix it, including whether the budget in your head matches the project in your head.
When you are ready to stop scrolling through remodeling contractors in Lee’s Summit, MO, call today for a quote and let’s design something you will still love in ten years.
We’ve simplified the design & remodeling process.
Your journey starts with an in-depth consultation where we immerse ourselves in understanding your desires, dreams, and needs.
Once we’ve captured your vision, we translate it into a tangible design, complete with material, color selections, and scheduling.
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Our meticulous team of craftsmen breathes life into the design, ensuring every detail mirrors the envisioned space.
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Step into your transformed space, crafted with precision, passion, and a touch of Karin Ross magic.
