Kitchens of Los Altos

If you are looking for PERFECTION and TIMELESS DESIGN, this is the place to go. Ingrid’s attention to detail, understanding of space, form, and color is certainly going to provide a product that will not go out of date in a few years and will please you for many years to come. Ingrid listened carefully when I was describing the project. We worked together to create a functional family room design with lots of cabinets that did not make room look like a storage place but rather like a comfortable, inviting, and attractive part of the house where everyone gravitates to. She ordered custom made high quality cabinets from a cabinet builder in Utah. When cabinets arrived, she came to check them while they were being unloaded from the truck and made sure that they were all perfect and that they were all delivered to the right destination. Achieving perfection is not a fast process so if you are looking for a fast service — this may not be the place for you. However, if you are looking for a place that will represent you and that will look great for many years — I’d highly recommend Ingrid’s keen eye for design.
We had Ingrid’s son, an independent contractor David Curran, carry out all the construction that involved installation of a gigantic skylight, finishing of walls, hardwood floor installation, wall finishing, electrical work, installation of the surround sound and all other audio-​visual components, and even building and the design of an end kitchen cabinet. An apple does not fall far from the tree so David did a perfect job for all he did. He was trustworthy and also with a keen eye for the design so I learned to trust his calls for many last minute design decisions. We had David come several times, after finishing the family room project, to do smaller scale jobs and were always pleased with the result.
I will definitely use services of both Ingrid and David for our future remodeling projects.

I called this place asking to give me a price for a vanity and sink. Buy a manufacture. Without even asking me any specifics, she didn’t mediately started to scold me how I need to come in and she doesn’t run an Internet business. They don’t even take the time to be helpful and assume that everything should be done the way they expect. I already called with what I want, and you simply made me feel stupid. This might be the first time I hung up on the business because she was so dismissive.

My wife and I loved our experience with Ingrid and her son David. We tore down the kitchen to the studs and replaced the adjoining floor in the dining room to match. This much construction and money can be a harrowing experience, but we actually enjoyed it. My wife and I did enough work ahead of time to provide Ingrid with a style and theme. But it was after Ingrid made her site visit and saw the rest of our interior that everything soon started clicking in to place. Ingrid had the plans done in just a few quick iterations and we had the layout, materials and details planned and ordered in a matter of weeks. Experience really pays. David is a perfectionist and I was lucky to work from home to witness some of the process. Thanks, David, for your patience while I tinkered with the lighting. «Wow» is the first thing we hear when friends and family see it for the first time. We love it.

Ingrid helped me with the design of a unique, high-​end kitchen. She loves what she does and it shows in her work. She is very detail-​oriented and worked with me on designing a beautiful kitchen, not just ordering the cabinets. The cabinets are high-​end and suit the design of the house completely.
Before I met with Ingrid I visited at least a dozen cabinet shops. While I could order good cabinets from many places, I didn’t find anyone who took the time to understand their customers or to design the kitchen around the cabinets. I’m very happy with my decision to work with Ingrid on my project — she has been a delight to work with.
She works with the best granite fabricators and her son personally installs the cabinets — that’s the level of care she puts into her work. BTW she is well respected by contractors who work in the area.

Our architectural office often have clients requesting for Kitchen/​Interior Designers services during the Design or Construction Document phases. Throughout the years, we have recommended our clients to a number of Kitchen/​Interior designers for them to interview, make their decisions and select the right fit. During the past 7 years, 5 of our clients have interviewed and worked with Ingrid. The 5 projects are respectively 2 new residences in Palo Alto and Los Altos 3 other Major /​Kitchen remodels in Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto.
Our clients age group varies from young professionals with growing families to middle-​aged group to retirees. Our Asian clients with new residences in Palo Alto (2008) and Los Altos (2011) had informed us they were quite pleased and delightful with Ingrid’s design. In fact, the new home in Palo Alto was sold for 3.25M in 2012. The rest of the projects are still currently happily occupied by the original homeowners. The most recent project was completed in Los Altos Hills, in 2014, for an approx. 360 s. f Kitchen and Breakfast Nook. The homeowners are especially excited and happy with their new Kitchen/​Breakfast Nook and had personally thanked both our office and Ingrid’s office for our effort.
We have known Ingrid for a number of years and we understand Ingrid is a dedicated professional. She is an intuitive designer, especially good at and experienced in listening to her clients; keen in analyzing their needs and meeting their design goals and criteria. She is also quite flexible in achieving the budgetary goals of her clients.
I felt sorry for some of the reviewers who missed the opportunities working with Ingrid for various reasons. Being Asian and have lived in three continents in the past, I especially enjoyed working with Ingrid because she is one of the few honest designers with passion and a keen eye. She also demonstrates high standards of care in executing her projects. In other words, she cares. David Curran is the son of Ingrid and the subcontractor who installs Ingrid’s Kitchen, Interior designs and lighting. David is also a keen and detail oriented professional who manages all the field works for Ingrid’s designs. Both being perfection driven, their work shows their dedication and professionalism in striving the best results for their clients. We are thankful to Ingrid and David for continuously producing thoughtful designs and careful executions and for keeping up with the high expectations of our clients.
Bravo Ingrid and David!

We had a fabulous experience remodeling our kitchen with Ingrid. She was knowledgable and helpful when selecting our cabinets, stone, appliances and fixtures. She is detail oriented and made sure everything came together perfectly. Once our kitchen was complete, we used her again to replace cabinets in an adjacent room. Again, the ordering process went smoothly and it’s exactly what we wanted! We used her son, Dave, at DC Construction to do the installation on both projects and we are very happy with the work he did too. Both Ingrid and Dave were a pleasure to work with and I would recommend them to anyone looking to start a kitchen remodel.

We have used Kitchens of Los Altos for two prior projects (1997and 2006). We benefited greatly from Ingrid’s design skills and her knowledge/​experience with the practical aspects… and the end results were truly exceptional. As a testament to our high rating, we are now using Kitchens of Los Altos for a 3^rd project!

We used Ingrid for a major and very expensive kitchen remodeling project.
Pluses — she has a wonderful eye for style, design and detail. In that regard, we could not have been happier. She is also very good on «the front end» of your relationship. When you first meet her, she is open, has great ideas and excellent style. Her rough drawings were very good as she brainstormed our bland kitchen into something fantastic.
Minuses — as many people have noted, Ingrid is mercurial and frequently transforms into a rude, unhelpful person. Ingrid made several mistakes in our order — poor attention to dimensions, a cabinet that was never ordered, a representation she made that the building inspector said was absurd and required significant remediation — which she paid for, and others.
While we love our kitchen and get lots of compliments, her execution of the order and her supervision of the installation left a lot to be desired. For me, that’s a big part of the job.
We would not work with her again. No way.

I called this showroom to schedule an appointment and the showroom owner who answered the phone was so incredibly rude that she acted as though she did not want anyone to stop by. Anyone in sales who has that type of attitude should find other employment. I highly recommend you do not even waste your time.

We had a kitchen ordered through Kitchens of Los Altos about a year ago. The kitchen came missing parts, so we had to wait for the right parts to come. In addition, when the place owner learned that we were going to use our own assemblers, she refused any further assistance with the words «good luck with your assemblers». As I said, it has been a year since the kitchen was installed and we are still upset about the whole experience. I do not recommend hiring Kitchens of Los Altos.

I have been working with Ingrid for about 20 years as her photographer and photographed dozens of her projects. I also work with many other kitchen designers. In looking back at all her work I would have to say that she does the nicest kitchens of almost any designer that I’ve seen. Her kitchen design is very pleasing to look at but also functions very well. I love her European look.
She is also a very sweet and honest woman. After so long working with her I feel that I should Unilocal her as she is my favorite kitchen designer. I have also talked with some of her clients ad they seem to share my thoughts. So keep up the good design work Ingrid, and thanks for the opportunity to work with you.

I feel I should warn people about Ingrid because I would want to be warned if I was considering working with her. Sometimes she is charming and sometimes she is mean and downright scary! I worked for her for a while (I am not revealing my real name) and I saw all sorts of strange behavior. She exhibited signs of instability. Proceed with caution. She is nervous, forgetful, at times delusional and doesn’t trust people. I wonder why?

Ingrid came out to our home after we provided funds to have her give us a sketch. She forgot to bring a camera, then neglected to provide us with any drawings or follow up. The only thing she did was to cash the check she asked for when we first met. We received no services for this money, and she’s had multiple stories and excuses ever since as we’ve tried to follow up.
I typically take the time to give positive reviews of services; this is the first bad experience I’ve written up. Seemed important to warn others that Ingrid is not a person of integrity.
Susan P

Ingrid Curran did a FANTASTIC job on our kitchen. When you hire a perfectionist, you get perfection! Everything came together beautifully and seamlessly down to every detail. There were no problems, no missing cabinets, no cabinets that didn’t fit, etc. The results were outstanding.
But what I really loved about using Ingrid was that she listened to what I wanted and went with it. It was as though she could read my mind. It was amazing to work with her. She was willing to implement things that I wanted and when she would suggest something it was exactly in the style I was going for.
And her son David and his associates — I can not say enough good about them. Not only were they expert craftsmen, they were also extremely courteous, kind, timely and made sure every last detail was taken care of.
It’s outstanding that we have this type of personal, exacting service in our own community. I would absolutely recommend Ingrid et. al. to anyone looking for a beautifully crafted, professionally designed, personally developed kitchen.
Thank you, Ingrid!

Hmmmm. I had the exact opposite experience of Cheryl W.
I walked into Kitchens of Los Altos because the designs in the window were creative. Ingrid was warm and welcomed our browsing. When we were ready, she spent a lot of time answering our questions and offering great suggestions for our project, even though there was no guarantee we would ever become customers. She was downright charming!
And lest we are accused of being affiliated with Kitchens of Los Altos just because our experience differed from another Unilocaler, let me just say, we are not!

Brunhilda! First of all I need to say that I did not have my kitchen done by Ingrid of Kitchens of Los Altos. I am having my kitchen done by another firm outside of Los Altos. (Actually, I had forgotten it was there and had never considered using it to do my kitchen. I had engaged my kitchen company through a Home Show.) My friend and I were walking along Main Street and thought we’d just walk into the store to look. The woman there, I believe Ingrid, set upon to ask us many questions which revealed I was currently doing my kitchen with someone else. She asked why I had not come to her, and I told her I did not know her store was there. «Don’t you use the internet?,» she said. «That’s the problem with people in Los Altos, they don’t shop in town!» So she continued to berate me. Finally, she said, «Your kitchen will not be as good as if I did it. I have very good taste.» Needless to say, I left with a feeling beat up and that I would never want to interact with this person again. I note that the five star reviews by Chika and Glen have both been posted within the last week, although Chika’s kitchen was done in 2008. I wonder if select customers were asked to write for Unilocal.Also, if you read the Kitchens of Los Altos webpage, you can get a feel for the designer’s attitude in her «sample.» that is, how she thinks of herself in relation to how she thought of her customer’s wishes as a «Goldilock’s project.» I think I would prefer to work with someone more likeable.
RE: Francesca’s experience. That’s great! So you wrote a Unilocal review upon talking with her, like she didn’t ask you to do it. Well, if it helps, that’s terrific. Maybe she’s improved after my review. However, I did not exaggerate or lie about my experience, just described it as it happened. Perhaps It was because my remodel was in process and you are still a prospect and getting the sales charm. Or that there are good days and bad days. Good luck to those who venture into the shop that you get a good day and the sales charm.

Ingrid did a great job creating our beautiful contemporary open kitchen in 2008. She was meticulous in measuring the space, putting together the right combination of drawers and shelves, selecting matching sleek handles, and making sure everything came together exactly as planned. Her son, David, installed the kitchen with painstaking attention to details.
Initially, we didn’t think our budget would allow European cabinets, but her quote came surprisingly reasonable and enabled us to use Leicht cabinets from Germany throughout. What makes me happy using the kitchen now is that even the inside of drawers are well designed with clean look.
Ingrid has an uncanny sense of materials and color, and her advice was extremely helpful in picking the right tiles and other materials.
If you are into contemporary design like we are, Ingrid understands your taste immediately. (She’s from Europe where contemporary is more of a norm.) Her portfolio includes many traditional kitchens and I’m sure she does more than a good job designing them, but her innate understanding of contemporary design made it easy for us to trust her in many design decisions.
I would highly recommend Kitchens of Los Altos if you want quality kitchen.

Worst vendor in building our home. Measured spaces wrong so cabinets did not fit, cabinets came in with wrong pieces and they were very slow to fix, it slowed down the whole job. I recommend look elsewhere!