Kitchen Cabinets

[wolfboy]

We're shopping and pricing kitchen cabinets. Any recommendations? It seems like every review I read online is negative. We're not really looking for an IKEA kitchen but we're not looking for full custom either. New granite will be part of the package, so we'd like to have something reasonably nice to rest it on. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you've been through this process lately.

[bucksfan2]

We got our cabinent from Sims Lohman. We like our cabinet's but we didn't do much bidding because it was who our builder used. Our salesman was good, the only issue we had was he had a limited working schedule.

For references sake, have you gone out and checked Home Depot or Lowes?

[wolfboy]

We got our cabinent from Sims Lohman. We like our cabinet's but we didn't do much bidding because it was who our builder used. Our salesman was good, the only issue we had was he had a limited working schedule.

For references sake, have you gone out and checked Home Depot or Lowes?

We had someone from Lowes come out. Honestly, not super-impressed with what they have but there are acceptable options there. We're waiting on the proposal. If the price is right we might be willing to pull the trigger. Have someone from Winteriors coming out Friday to discuss these cabinets: https://www.dutchcabinetry.com/ A friend recently had them installed and they look great. The price should be a few ticks higher than Lowes but we may be willing to pull the trigger for a higher quality cabinet. What brand did you order from Sims Lohman if you don't mind? Anything you would have done differently?

[krm1580]

What part of the country do you live in?

[wolfboy]

What part of the country do you live in?

Midwest.

[bucksfan2]

We had someone from Lowes come out. Honestly, not super-impressed with what they have but there are acceptable options there. We're waiting on the proposal. If the price is right we might be willing to pull the trigger. Have someone from Winteriors coming out Friday to discuss these cabinets: https://www.dutchcabinetry.com/ A friend recently had them installed and they look great. The price should be a few ticks higher than Lowes but we may be willing to pull the trigger for a higher quality cabinet. What brand did you order from Sims Lohman if you don't mind? Anything you would have done differently?

We went with Aristokraft. Right now I am perfectly happy with them, there are some things that I wish were slightly different. The ones my wife chose, in order to get the quality wood you had to go with soft close, which is nice, but something that we don't need. Another problem is I have a two year old who is into everything and it requires to have them locked, which is a pain!

One thing I would recommend, and something I originally scoffed at, is to make sure your bottom cabinets have sliders. When you have to get a pot or pan, its nice to be able to slide it out instead of reaching trying to find one. I would also make sure that you have a big enough cabinet for your upright cookie sheets, ours is a little small and some things won't fit.

I heard you mention granite, if you have an island I do have one recommendation. We designed an 8' island, and it really was a key feature that we wanted. Originally we were going to have four seats on one side of the island, the cabinet guy talked us into making the overhand on one of the shorter sides as well. We lost a bigger cabinent but its great for kids and to sit and look directly at them.

[Kingspoint]

Yes. Installing sliders has been on my todo-list for three years. Having an exhaust duct for the stove installed through the roof on Friday as the range being replaced had a built-in exhaust that went under the floor. Those ranges cost 2-3 times as much.

[krm1580]

Midwest.

I was going to suggest these guys but I do not believe they deliver outside of NJ/PA https://solidwoodcabinets.com. The quality for the price is fantastic but the way they keep the prices low is by only making 6 cabinet models. If you like the style but not the color or the color and not the style you are out of luck.

The main thing I would say is make sure whatever you get make sure the box is made from furniture grade plywood, the face frames and doors are real wood and the drawers are dovetail construction. The other thing I would recommend is a company that is KCMA certified. It puts standards around fit and finish is important if you want the to last. They have a list of places that are certified here. It might be a good place to look http://www.kcma.org/consumers/find-manufacturer?certifications=akc

The last think I would say is make sure you like what you buy because you are stuck with it unless you are willing to drop another cash pile to replace it.

[bucksfan2]

I don't know if its even possible, but my inlaws live in Canton and they have Amish made cabinets. They love (well actually loved them because my mother in law wanted to go to white cabinets but they were such good craftsman they they still work great) them and have been fantastic for them for over a decade.

[wolfboy]

I don't know if its even possible, but my inlaws live in Canton and they have Amish made cabinets. They love (well actually loved them because my mother in law wanted to go to white cabinets but they were such good craftsman they they still work great) them and have been fantastic for them for over a decade.

The consult we have tomorrow is the local distributor/installer for an amish cabinet maker. I expect that they will be $5-10k more expensive than the Lowe's variety. They check every box on krm1580's list, above.

[bucksfan2]

The consult we have tomorrow is the local distributor/installer for an amish cabinet maker. I expect that they will be $5-10k more expensive than the Lowe's variety. They check every box on krm1580's list, above.

I go to Lowes quite a bit, probably more than I would like to. It really is my go to place for home improvement and some lawn and garden stuff. With our new house we did buy our appliances from Lowes, but other than that, very little came from them. I don't know if it is a poor stereotype or truth, but if I want something nicely done, I am not looking to buy from Lowes, but if I am doing a DIY project, Lowes is my go too place.

[bounty37h]

I watch a decent amount of DIY shows and many of them seem to use from prefab kits-send them in boxes and you assemble. I have only briefly looked at website but says all plywood and real wood, no particle board which I am sure some/many Lowes have. I am redoing my master bath soon with a 6 foot vanity and am thinking of giving something like this a try (after more research of course). If you find anything on them please post here for future reference :)

[alwaysawarrior]

The consult we have tomorrow is the local distributor/installer for an amish cabinet maker. I expect that they will be $5-10k more expensive than the Lowe's variety. They check every box on krm1580's list, above.

This may not be possible for you, but we went directly to a mennonite custom builder. He just had a little shop in the middle of no where but we ended up with beautiful custom oak cabinets for less than the estimates from Lowes or Home Depot. It took a little more work on our end. He wasn't permitted to drive so I had to pick him up to measure, wait for them to be built, and then pick him and the cabinets up. He told me a lot of people rent a uhaul to pick up the cabinets. I had an enclosed trailer and so it didn't cost me anything to do that part. Like I said it took a little more work on our part but was worth it in the end. We're in an area that has a fairly high concentration of Amish and Mennonite and so maybe it won't work out where you are but don't immediately write it off as more expensive.

[bounty37h]

Is this site acting weird for anyone else? I tried to edit my post above but it only came up partially and wouldn't let me do it. Anyways, I wanted to add the site I was talking about is RTA (Ready to Assemble) and it says all plywood and real wood, dove tail drawers which are the things I look at first for materials/quality.

[krm1580]

Is this site acting weird for anyone else? I tried to edit my post above but it only came up partially and wouldn't let me do it. Anyways, I wanted to add the site I was talking about is RTA (Ready to Assemble) and it says all plywood and real wood, dove tail drawers which are the things I look at first for materials/quality.

I have not heard of this company so I can't really comment one way or another on how good they are. I looked at the assembly videos and the one thing I would recommend is if you have large wood clamps available I would glue it, clamp it, then put the brackets in place and keep it clamped until the glue dries. The other thing is be careful to quickly clean up any glue that squeezes out of the joints. It fouls up the finish.

[wolfboy]

Just a quick update in case anyone might find it useful later. Looks like we're going with http://www.dutchmade.com/ cabinets. All plywood construction, dovetail joints, soft close is standard. They can also paint the cabinets in any Sherwin Williams color. They look and feel far superior to any of the other products we looked at, so while we could have saved a little money (not that much tbh), we're going with this option. I'll post pictures of the finished product in a few months.