--- title: Zombie Kitchen (a Bad Dream Kitchen) description: How do you get from a nightmarishly bad kitchen to a dream kitchen design? First, you have to wake up and realize your kitchen doesn't work anymore. image: https://www.gilday.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/zombie-kitchen-300x276.jpg --- [![Gilday](https://www.gilday.com/hubfs/theme2021/images/gilday-logo-white.png) ](https://www.gilday.com/) [ 301.565.4600 ](tel:301.565.4600) - [About Us](https://www.gilday.com/about-gilday-renovations) - [About](https://www.gilday.com/about-gilday-renovations) - [Architects & Designers](https://www.gilday.com/architects-designers) - [Administration](https://www.gilday.com/administration) - [Production & Construction](https://www.gilday.com/production-team) - [Careers](https://www.gilday.com/careers) - [Awards](https://www.gilday.com/awards) - [What Our Clients Say](https://www.gilday.com/gilday-renovation-reviews) - [Press](https://www.gilday.com/press) - Service Area - [Arlington VA](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-arlington-va) - [Alexandria VA](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-alexandria-va) - [Bethesda MD](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-bethesda-md) - [Chevy Chase MD](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-chevy-chase-md) - [Cleveland Park DC](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-cleveland-park-dc) - [Kensington MD](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-kensington-md) - [McLean VA](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-mclean-va) - [Potomac MD](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-potomac-md) - [Rockville MD](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-rockville-md) - [Washington DC](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-washington-dc) - [Portfolio](https://www.gilday.com/portfolio) - [Additions](https://www.gilday.com/portfolio#additions) - [Kitchens](https://www.gilday.com/portfolio#kitchens) - [Baths](https://www.gilday.com/portfolio#baths) - [Whole House Renovations](https://www.gilday.com/portfolio#wholehouse) - Services - [Home Remodeling the Design Build Way](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-the-design-build-way) - [Renovation Architect Services](https://www.gilday.com/renovation-architect-services-gilday-renovations) - [Whole-Home Remodeling](https://www.gilday.com/whole-home-remodeling-gilday-renovations) - [Kitchen Remodeling](https://www.gilday.com/kitchen-remodeling-gilday-renovations) - [Bathroom Remodeling](https://www.gilday.com/bathroom-remodeling-gilday-renovations) - [Home Additions](https://www.gilday.com/home-additions-gilday-renovations) - [Pricing & Budgeting](https://www.gilday.com/how-to-budget-for-a-home-renovation-project) - [For Realtors - Pre-Purchase Evaluation](https://www.gilday.com/for-realtors-pre-purchase-evaluation) - [Resources](https://www.gilday.com/renovation-resource-center) - [Renovation Articles](https://www.gilday.com/design-build-dc-blog) - [Contact Us](https://www.gilday.com/contact) x Search the site # Zombie Kitchen (a Bad Dream Kitchen) [Kevin Gilday](https://www.gilday.com/design-build-dc-blog/author/kevin-gilday) ![Zombie Kitchen (a Bad Dream Kitchen)](https://www.gilday.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/zombie-kitchen-300x276.jpg) ## The Zombie Kitchen Surely it was someone's "dream kitchen" once upon a time in [Bethesda, Maryland](https://www.gilday.com/home-remodeling-bethesda-md)--but no more. This kitchen has been dead for a long time.  It’s just that nobody has stepped forward to pronounce it so.  Good sport that you are you’ve kept using it. You’ve adjusted brilliantly. You’ve made your peace with this spectacular heap of aesthetic blunders and irritating inconveniences.  You know that missing cabinet door that can’t be replaced?  Well, that just makes it easier to see what’s in there, right? Once upon a time you’d have been outraged.   Now you are oddly tranquil when  observing that the color palette of your kitchen (kudos to a previous homeowner!!) is shades of farmed salmon flesh. ## ![before renovation-70's kitchen](https://www.gilday.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/zombie-kitchen-300x276.jpg?width=600&name=zombie-kitchen-300x276.jpg) ## Bad Dream Kitchen One day, when a handle pulls off the flatware drawer and lands with a thunk on the vinyl tile, you snap awake as if from a bad dream.  Only you are not dreaming.  You are standing fully awake in your really bad kitchen.  You’ve hit bottom. ## But Seriously Most people pick up the phone to call a kitchen remodeling firm long before they get to this point.  Fast forward.  Months later, you sit in your new kitchen looking at snap shots you took just before the renovation began.  Realizing just how bad it used to be, you can't help but smile. Oh. And that new kitchen your are sitting in as you happily browse through old photos?  It’s your dream kitchen. ## Designing Your Dream Kitchen What?  Give me a break!  Nobody with a life “dreams” about a kitchen.  That's what I thought before talking to some of our DC clients. Sure. Some smirked at first. But, when they spoke of *their* kitchens, it became clear that what they’d achieved was in fact their dream [kitchen design](https://www.gilday.com/kitchen-design-portfolio). ## ![after renovation-a dreamy kitchen design](https://www.gilday.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/dream-kitchen-223x300.jpg?width=600&name=dream-kitchen-223x300.jpg) ## What It Is The “dream” that resides at the core of each unique kitchen design is that of exquisite orderliness.  Beautiful kitchens don’t just look good.  They work—and with great finesse.  It’s all about visual continuity, efficiency and convenience.  When we remodel a kitchen, we are trying to achieve a very high level of functionality, one that resonates with your personal stories of relationship to place, food, and family.  If we succeed in our endeavor, we get comments like this: “Dreams are not usually realized…. lucky us”  -Dan Esposito Or this: “There is nothing I would change”  -Sue Cassidy Learn about how to approach a kitchen design and remodeling project by downloading [The Definitive Guide to Kitchen Design & Remodeling Success](https://www.gilday.com/the-definitive-guide-to-kitchen-design-and-renovation).  [![New Call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4060073/fcedc039-fa05-42ab-80a8-3d78d9993148.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4060073/fcedc039-fa05-42ab-80a8-3d78d9993148) ## Leave a comment We are architects We are interior designers We are builders Let us be yours Gilday Renovations 8820 Brookville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910 © Gilday Renovations 2025 - [About Us](https://www.gilday.com/about-gilday-renovations) - [Portfolio](https://www.gilday.com/portfolio) - Services - [Resources](https://www.gilday.com/renovation-resource-center) - [Renovation Articles](https://www.gilday.com/design-build-dc-blog) - [Contact Us](https://www.gilday.com/contact) 301.565.4600 [info@gilday.com](mailto:info@gilday.com) [Privacy Policy](https://www.gilday.com/gilday-com-privacy-policy) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://www.gilday.com/#website", "@type" : "WebSite", "name" : "Gilday Renovations", "potentialAction" : { "@type" : "SearchAction", "query-input" : "required name=search_term_string", "target" : "https://www.gilday.com/hs-search-results?term={search_term_string}" }, "publisher" : { "@id" : "https://www.gilday.com/#entity" }, "url" : "https://www.gilday.com" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://www.gilday.com/#entity", "@type" : [ "Organization", "GeneralContractor" ], "address" : { "@type" : "PostalAddress", "addressCountry" : "US", "addressLocality" : "Silver Spring", "addressRegion" : "MD", "postalCode" : "20910", "streetAddress" : "8820 Brookville Road" }, "areaServed" : [ { "@type" : "State", "name" : "District of Columbia" }, { "@type" : "State", "name" : "Maryland" }, { "@type" : "State", "name" : "Virginia" } ], "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.gilday.com/hubfs/Gilday-Nov2017/Image/0e46f4_15daa73f94264bbd95eb4e173ad2d447.jpg" }, "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.gilday.com/hubfs/Gilday-Nov2017/Image/H_Logo.jpg" }, "name" : "Gilday Renovations", "openingHoursSpecification" : { "@type" : "OpeningHoursSpecification", "closes" : "17:00", "dayOfWeek" : [ "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday" ], "opens" : "09:00" }, "priceRange" : "$$$", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/gilday.renovations/", "https://twitter.com/GildayBuilders", "https://www.linkedin.com/company/gilday-renovations/about/", "https://www.pinterest.com/gildaycom/", "https://www.houzz.com/pro/gildayrenovations/gilday-renovations", "https://www.instagram.com/gildayrenovations/" ], "telephone" : "+1-301-565-4600", "url" : "https://www.gilday.com" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Kevin Gilday" }, "dateModified" : "February 21, 2012", "datePublished" : "February 21, 2012", "description" : "How do you get from a nightmarishly bad kitchen to a dream kitchen design? 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