A kitchen designed to you, built to plan.
Kitchen design and remodeling in Charlotte for homeowners who refuse to gamble on the most expensive room in the house. One fashion-trained designer makes every decision work together, from the first sketch to the last cabinet pull, so your kitchen looks intentional and lasts.
A kitchen is a six-figure decision you live with for twenty years.
Most kitchen projects go sideways the same way. Cabinets get ordered before there is a real plan. A layout looks good on Pinterest but fights how you actually cook. Finishes get chosen one showroom visit at a time, hoping they add up, and they rarely do. Then the project drags, the change orders pile up, and the homeowner ends up managing trades they have never met. The wrong kitchen is expensive to live with and far more expensive to redo.
A designer-led kitchen reverses the order. The plan comes first. Then every cabinet, surface, and fixture is chosen to serve that plan, and one person stays accountable for the result.
The taste of a stylist. The accountability of a designer who stays in charge.
Virginia Tesi is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology with more than twenty years across fashion and interiors. She reads proportion, light, and material the way a stylist reads an outfit, and she brings that eye to every Charlotte kitchen she designs. ASID and NKBA credentialed, she is one designer, accountable from the first sketch to the final reveal, so nothing falls through the cracks between design and construction.
- FIT Graduate
- 20+ Years
- ASID Allied Member
- NKBA
Everything that makes the room read as one intentional space.
A layout designed around your life
We start with how you actually cook, host, and gather, then plan the space to serve it. Work zones, traffic flow, island size, seating, and storage are decided on paper before a single wall is touched.
3D renderings before anything is torn out
You see your kitchen in realistic 3D and walk through the choices, so there are no expensive surprises and no decisions made under pressure on a job site.
Cabinetry specified to your space
Every cabinet is specified to the inch across trusted lines (Craft-Maid, Lauriermax, Kith, US Cabinet Depot, Forevermark, North Cabinetry), matched to your budget and how the kitchen needs to work.
Finishes and fixtures chosen and sourced
Countertops, tile, hardware, lighting, plumbing fixtures, and paint are selected as one coordinated palette and sourced for you, so the finished room reads as intentional, not assembled.
A buildable spec set
You receive a complete plan any quality builder can execute, with the drawings and selections documented so nothing gets lost in translation.
A designer in charge through the build
Optional design and build management keeps Virginia accountable through installation, coordinating trades so the finished kitchen matches the plan and you never become the project manager.
Three steps, one designer accountable throughout.
Discover
It starts with a short call, then a free visit to your home. We walk your space, talk through how you live and what you want the kitchen to do, and give you an honest read on budget and what is possible.
Design
We design the layout, render it in 3D, specify the cabinetry, and select every finish and fixture as one coordinated palette. You see the whole kitchen and approve it before anything is ordered or torn out.
Done right
With optional build management, Virginia coordinates the trades and stays accountable through installation, so the kitchen you approved is the kitchen you get. Materials are ordered before demolition to keep the project moving.
Cabinetry is the bones of the kitchen.
Cabinetry is usually the largest part of a kitchen budget and the part most worth getting right. We specify custom and semi-custom cabinetry across several trusted lines, chosen for your design, your storage, and your budget, then detailed to the inch so the installation is clean and the doors and drawers fall exactly where they should.
- Craft-Maid
- Lauriermax
- Kith
- US Cabinet Depot
- Forevermark Cabinetry
- North Cabinetry
- Craft-Maid
- Lauriermax
- Kith
- US Cabinet Depot
- Forevermark
- North Cabinetry
An honest investment, priced by scope.
Most designer-led kitchens in Charlotte are a $75,000 to $200,000+ investment. Design is a flat fee by scope, so you are never watching a clock while you make decisions. What moves the number up or down:
- ·Scope of the layout change (keeping plumbing and walls vs. moving them)
- ·Cabinetry line, construction, and the number of custom pieces
- ·Countertop material (quartz, marble, quartzite) and slab count
- ·Appliance package and any built-in or paneled appliances
- ·Flooring, tile, lighting, and the level of millwork and detail
Signature
from $4,500
A focused refresh or single-zone redesign.
Premier
from $8,500
A full kitchen redesign with 3D renderings. Most common.
Bespoke
from $15,000
Full gut, custom cabinetry, layout changes.
Design plus build management is 12 to 15 percent of the construction budget when Virginia manages the project. On a $120,000 kitchen, that is roughly $14,000 to $18,000 for a designer accountable through every phase.
Pricing is benchmarked to industry averages; final numbers confirmed at consultation.
Kitchen design across Charlotte and its best neighborhoods.
Tesi Design is a service-area studio, working by appointment in Charlotte and the surrounding communities. We regularly design kitchens in Myers Park, Eastover, SouthPark, Dilworth, Cotswold, Ballantyne, Matthews, Waxhaw, Weddington, and the Lake Norman towns of Davidson and Cornelius. If you are nearby and planning a kitchen, we would love to talk.
Kitchen remodeling questions, answered
How much does a kitchen remodel cost in Charlotte, NC?
Most designer-led kitchens in the Charlotte area are a $75,000 to $200,000+ investment. A refresh that keeps the existing layout can run $25,000 to $50,000; a full renovation typically lands $50,000 to $100,000; and a custom or luxury kitchen with layout changes and custom cabinetry runs $100,000 to $250,000 and up. Cabinetry is usually the largest single line, around 30 to 40 percent of the budget, and a 10 to 20 percent contingency is wise.
Is a kitchen designer worth it?
On a six-figure kitchen, a designer is the cheapest insurance you can buy. A contractor builds what is in front of them; a designer makes sure what is in front of them is right, before it is framed, plumbed, and impossible to change. The design fee is small next to the cost of redoing a kitchen you do not love.
What does a kitchen designer charge?
Fees commonly run a flat rate of about $4,500 to $15,000 or more depending on scope, or 10 to 20 percent of the project, or an hourly rate of $150 to $200. Tesi Design uses flat fees by scope so there is no meter running while you make decisions.
How long does a kitchen remodel take?
Plan on three to six months from first sketch to final reveal. Design and planning take four to eight weeks, materials and cabinetry have six to twelve week lead times that overlap planning, and construction runs six to twelve weeks. We order materials before demolition so your kitchen is not sitting open waiting on cabinets.
Do you design to my taste or impose your own?
Yours. Twenty years and a fashion-trained eye mean we start from your taste and make it buildable, not the other way around. You approve the design in 3D before anything moves, and the result should look like you, not like a signature stamped on your home.
Do you handle the construction too?
We design every kitchen, and we offer optional design and build management where Virginia coordinates the trades and stays accountable through installation. If you already have a builder you trust, we provide a buildable plan they can execute and stay involved to protect the design.
What areas around Charlotte do you serve?
Tesi Design serves Charlotte and the surrounding communities, including Myers Park, Eastover, SouthPark, Dilworth, Ballantyne, Cotswold, Matthews, Waxhaw, Weddington, and the Lake Norman towns of Davidson and Cornelius. We work by appointment and do not operate a public storefront.
What cabinetry lines do you work with?
We specify across several trusted lines depending on your design and budget, including Craft-Maid, Lauriermax, Kith, US Cabinet Depot, Forevermark Cabinetry, and North Cabinetry, from semi-custom to fully custom.
Can you work with my budget?
We are transparent about cost from the first conversation. The free first visit includes a realistic budget check, so you know early what your goals actually cost and where to invest for the result you want.
What if my kitchen is small or my project is modest?
Tesi Design is for homeowners investing in a kitchen they will keep, of any size. The consultation confirms fit, both ways, before you commit to a design.