I have Bertch cabniets in my bathroom and they are beautiful; they look brand new even though 3 kids (2 boys!) have been using the bathroom for 6 years. They have already taken way more abuse than my kitchen cabinets ever will.

We were getting Bertch Legacy quotes for the kitchen and they are very much in line with the Omega quotes -- if Bertch were 15% less than Omega, I'd jump at the Bertch. At the same price, I might prefer Omega, since I think we like their particular colors and doors a bit more for the kitchen. But quality-wise, I (personally) wouldn't consider any difference to be relevant.

TC- if you went with the Marketplace and got those upgrades...I am not sure what the difference is anymore since that is basically the Legecy line. My rep said she would reprise the Marketplace as well only using the partical board sides to see the price difference. I never have been able to figure out the reason for a full plywood box if they are all screwed to each other and then screwed to the walls.

I have Bertch Legacy and a 4' section of Bertch Custom in my kitchen. I love them and they look and work great. We are in Iowa so of course both Bertch and Omega are used here a lot but my KD carried Bertch and we only looked at one custom guy as a comparison otherwise Bertch had everything we wanted and the cabinet color was exactly what we were looking for.

Years ago I did a kitchen with an Omega line that is no longer made and those were great too. Your can't lose with either line.

If it's any consolation I thought Bertch and Omega were owned seperately by two brothers with the Omega brother positioning his cabinets as a higher line but over time Bertch has kept upgrading their cabinets to keep up with market demands. Also, if it matters to you I know that the QS wood used in my cabs also came from a local Iowa company. They sell to the public and they helped recreate our trim boards to match the rest of the house.

We are redoing two bathrooms in our house, and we just bought one Bertch vanity and one Omega Dynasty vanity. Both are great quality and very good looking. I agree you can't go wrong with either.

I can add a little to the discussion, although only to the Marketplace vs Legacy portion...
There really isn't much difference between a tricked out Marketplace cabinet and it's "normal" Legacy counterpart. They are made in separate factories, as I understand it. The difference between the two LINES though is that there aren't nearly the available finishes, doorstyles, or cabinet types in Marketplace. I'm pretty sure customizing anything is moot as well.

Thanks cabinfo. That's what I was going to say. Lucky for me, the Marketplace "Dawn" was the perfect color for me.

Totally Confused

The Waterloo IA (where I live) plant is very large, but they also have a smaller one in Jesup IA, 10 miles east.
Talking with the rep, she just sent a Marketplace quote. The included upgrade was full extension soft close with full wood dovetail drawers. All of the same items such as mixer lifter, spice slide out, stuff like that. Went with the partical board sides just to be curious.
Well there was a BIG difference in price. If you include all of the adds (spice pull out, waste baskets, and mixer lift) in the Legacy line, the total was 8400. The Marketplace was 6700 with everything included. We really like the Chestnut color, and the simple shaker style doors. However we like the 5 piece fronts (like Lexington style) but the cheaper Marketplace only has slab doors. Guess we will see if saving 1700 is worth slab vs 5 panel shaker. However we could mix it up too...not all cabinets have drawers. So maybe the ones with drawers get the more expensive ones and the drawerless (such as all uppers, end panels, other bases) get the cheaper ones?
if they are all brich or maple wood with the same stain, I do not see how it would make any difference correct? According to cut sheets, the door frame sizes are all the same (stiles are all 2.5" wide, etc).

Also I have also heard brothers own each one.

It has only been four months since my cabinets were installed so I can't tell you about my long term experience but I went with the Omega/Dynasty line and have been very happy so far. I love the quality and the look is just outstanding. I can honestly say that I don't have one negative thing to say - and that is really something, coming from me.

Another Omega Dynasty (with some Omega Custom) owner here...I love my cabinets. My cabinets have been installed since March 2008 and no complaints at all!

FWIW, I also waffled b/w Bertch and Omega. In the end I went w/Omega b/c the KD at the Bertch store was really just a GC-turned KD with no design or decorating skills or ideas...all had to come from me.

As others have said, I don't think you can go wrong with either one. So, get whichever has the style you like best. One thing, cabinets are a big expense and probably the biggest chunk of money for most kitchen remodels (with the possible exception of labor). You really have to like your cabinets as they are the most difficult to replace later and the most expensive.

If your budget is OK with the Legacy quote, I would recommend Legacy over Marketplace so you can get the doors/drawer fronts you like best. You don't want to regret it later. If you can Mix & Match (like you can with Omega Dynasty & Omega Custom), maybe you could mix Legacy & Marketplace...but check to be sure you can do it (you should be able to).

I understand your feelings about the slab drawers. I felt the same way. I had been going back and forth on three different door styles, one of which had slab drawer fronts. When I saw the rendering of my kitchen with the slab drawers...I hated it. I much prefer the 5-piece drawer fronts!

Oh, and I recommending rethinking regular base cabinets w/roll out tray shelves (ROTS) or stationary shelves vs all drawers & pullouts. Most of us here have found that all-drawers & pullouts work much, much better. One or two regular cabs may be OK, but I wouldn't go with any more than that.

(I have one w/a top drawer and two ROTS and I regret that one! I wish it were a "pullout" cabinet. Unfortunately, it has two doors so it's not easily retrofitted with a pullout.)

Here is the current layout we have come up with for the new house. It doesnt have all of the trills, but we do not require it. I want a working kitchen, with everything I need and nothing I do not. Any thoughts on anything?
Shown are the Bertch Legecy Lexington cabinets.
Legecy is in the budget, since we budgeted for the Omega, and these are cheaper. However my thought would be to maybe use the Marketplace as the uppers since the doors are the same, but use Legecy below with the drawers. We like the chestnut stain. However if we go with a white paint finish, all will need to be Legecy as Marketplace does not have painted finishes. Plus another $1100 upcharge over stained.

Looking at back side of island- wine fridge, stemware over wine rack, simple doulbe door w/ roll out multi teared wire rack for baking supplies, mixer cabinet w/ roll out below (trying to decide if the mixer lift is a massive waste of cabinet space- thoughts?), last is double trash basket cabinet

from left to right- corner lasy susan, 6" spice rack pull out (will use for oils, etc), 36" 3 drawer pots and pans w/ spice tray top drawer, (stove- probably double oven range) 12" pan cabinet, last is simple base cabinet w/ shelf, pantry is the door to the far right.

pretty self explainatory here...

I have the Legacy 9" pull out spice rack. You cannot fit a bottle of oil in it unless you lay it down. There are four shelves in it so there is only 5" of clearance on each shelf. I use mostly Tones spices (little tins) and they roll around too much in there. I ended up laying canned goods on the shelves and it works great for that but my oils are in an upper cab and my spices are layed flat in a 20" drawer. The arrangement ended up working out better for me in the long run but the spice rack was a surprise when it came like it did.

the one we saw (which is a 6" filler technically) has adjustable shelves in it, so we can fit the oils in there. But worse case, we have plenty of uppers if need be like you said. The canned goods will probably go in the pantry.

any thoughts on the mixer lift and wasting a cabinet for that? I will by just an empty cabinet and then order the lift online. It costs $90 to buy it and install it, vs $220 to get it with the cabinet! it is the big kitchenaide ones. Currently it is in a base cabinet and we lift it up when we use it. The other option is an appliance garage in the corner, or just leave it sit on the counter. That would be fine by me as well.

We put raised panel cherry (fawn color) Bertch Legacy cabinets in our kitchen and also used them for two bath vanities. We are so impressed with the quality of the cabinets and my favorite upgrade is having solid raised panels incorporated into cabinet for the end panels. Below are pictures of the kitchen and two bath vanities. Someday, I will be able to afford stainless appliances..most likely when I put it on the market to sell!

Here is a shaker style Legacy bath cabinet. Again, we love the quality!

This cherry cabinet is a lighter cherry but is not totally natural:

...simple base cabinet w/ shelf...

Is there a reason you have one of these? I'm asking b/c in my experience these are one of the most useless cabinets. You have to get on your hands & knees to access things stored in there.

In general, the most functional base cabinets are drawers and pullouts (tied, depending on what's being stored), then ones with roll out tray shelves (ROTS), and dead last, stationary shelves.

Mixer Lift...Is it worth it? It depends. If you have plenty of storage for everything you plan to store in the kitchen (including what you store in your current kitchen plus anything that's stored elsewhere that you'd rather store in the kitchen), then it might be worth it. But, be sure you get a truly heavy duty lift... Some people use their mixers while still on the lift, but you're really not supposed to. The movement resulting from a mixer in action can be detrimental to the lift hardware over time. Also, if any flour, etc. "splashes" out of the bowl, it will go into the cabinet and onto the floor instead of onto the countertop.

Trash cabinet...good placement.

Wine rack...I'm not sure that's a good location for wine storage. With a refrigerator next to it, won't it get too warm to properly store wine? (Refrigerators vent heat.)

Baking Supplies...I would rather store them in drawers, but it's up to you. Remember that ROTS usually have short sides. This means that if you're storing things on tiered racks on the ROTS, you may have issues with things falling off the racks and onto the floor b/c there's no wall to "catch" them as they fall. If it's a specialty insert, I'd be interested in seeing it. Could you link it here for us?

Island seating...how deep is your overhang? The NKBA recommends a minimum of 15" of clear leg/knee overhang for counter-height seating. In your elevations it looks like 12" or less. I very strongly recommend you increase it to at least 15", even more if you have the room.

If this were my kitchen, I would probably put a prep sink either in the island across from the range or in the corner to the left of the range. It would give my a nice Prep + Cooking Zone space for one person or several. If just me, everything I need would be close at hand. If more than one, both sinks could be used for prepping or one could be used for prepping while the other is being used for cleaning up. There would still be plenty of room on either side of the range, on the island, and on the perimeter counters for prepping & cooking.