Dunbar and Kerrisdale sit side by side on Vancouver's West Side, and from a distance the kitchens look like the same job. They are not. The housing stock is different, the way people use these homes is different, and that changes what a renovation actually involves. We design and build for both from the one showroom on West 3rd in Kitsilano, so the differences below are the ones we plan around, not theory.
Kerrisdale skews toward larger, more formal homes: grander older houses, generous lots, and a steady run of newer builds along the quieter streets. Kitchens here are often bigger to begin with, frequently with a separate prep area or a butler's pantry, and the renovation tends to be about reworking a large room rather than fighting for square footage.
Dunbar runs a little more mixed. You get character houses from the 1920s through the 1940s, a lot of mid-century homes, and infill that has gone up between them. The original kitchens in the older Dunbar houses are usually smaller and closed off, set at the back of the house the way they were built, so the most common ask is opening that room toward a dining or family space.
Neither pattern is a rule. There are compact kitchens in Kerrisdale and large ones in Dunbar. But across a lot of projects, this is the tendency we see, and it sets up everything that follows.
Because Dunbar kitchens are more often the original closed room, the first conversation there is usually about whether to take down a wall and connect the kitchen to the rest of the main floor. That decision drives the project. Keep the footprint and the work stays focused on cabinetry, counters, and finishes. Open it up and you bring in the trades that any wall change involves, and that trade-off shows up honestly when we price it.
In Kerrisdale, the room is more often already open or large enough that the question is how to organize it rather than how to expand it. The work shifts toward zoning a big space, a real prep zone, a baking zone, a coffee or bar run, and the storage to keep all of it tidy. The lever is less about moving walls and more about how the cabinetry is laid out and fitted inside the space you already have.
The build itself does not change between the two neighbourhoods. Same fully custom cabinetry, same construction, same materials and hardware, designed around how the household actually cooks and lives. Custom does not have to mean expensive in either one: the cabinetry is drawn to your room, so you are not paying for filler panels and dead corners you cannot use. Our standard lead time of about 4 weeks holds in both, not a guarantee on every project but the pace we plan around, and the cabinets arrive pre-assembled either way, which keeps the install measured in days rather than weeks once your floor is ready.
The other constant is the West Side context around the kitchen. Many of these homes have heritage character worth keeping, older framing and finishes to work around, and owners who want a modern, functional kitchen that still belongs to the house. Whether the address is in Dunbar or Kerrisdale, we design to fit the home rather than drop a generic kitchen into it.
A common Dunbar project: a 1930s character house with a small kitchen at the back, the owners want it opened to the dining room, original framing to navigate, and a layout that finally suits a family that cooks. The renovation is as much about the room as the cabinets.
A common Kerrisdale project: a larger home, an already-sizeable kitchen, and the goal is a better-organized space with a proper island, a prep zone, and the interior storage systems to keep a busy kitchen calm. The renovation is about precision and fit inside a room that is already big enough.
Both run through the same studio, the same designers, and the same shop. The neighbourhood shapes the brief. It does not change the standard of the work.
Both Dunbar and Kerrisdale are a short drive from the showroom on West 3rd, so we can get to your home easily when a decision needs a look in person, and you can come in to see and touch real cabinet finishes, door styles, and counters before you commit. That proximity takes a lot of the guesswork out of a West Side renovation.
If you want to see where else we work across the city, here are the Vancouver areas we serve. If you are weighing a project on the other side of West Boulevard, our note on a Kitsilano kitchen renovation covers the West Side patterns in more detail.
When you are ready, book a free consultation or come by the showroom and we will look at your kitchen with you, in Dunbar or Kerrisdale, and design around the home you actually have. If you want a rough band before you come in, the Vancouver Kitchen Cost Calculator takes three inputs and returns a range in a couple of minutes.