Yes. Diamond istruly mid grade. AW is upgraded entry level. You should be able to find everything in Diamond that you have in AW. And check private dealers as well for Kemper. It's the same brand, but usually cheaper. What look can you not find in Diamond?

It's just AW's cherry with Spice stain. Our Home Depot has a display kitchen with it and we love that wood grain and color. In the Diamond catalog the closest match actually looks like one of the Hickories, but it seems to me all the colors in the catalogs are way off from how they look in the stores. We're headed back today for some samples to get a better idea of how close we can get to that look with Diamond. Thank you for responding!

From what I'm learning in this forum, without function, form is useless.

Without knowing more about your lay-out, I don't think anyone can give you any good advice about your particular situation.

Before you commit to any color, try to get a sample you can take home, if possible. A kitchen example in a big box store under all those bright lights could look a different color in your house under your lighting circumstances.

Have you considered custom? That way you could probably have both form and function. We also have an open floor plan so our kitchen is very visible. Our hickory cabinets are the centerpiece of our house. But a really functional kitchen was also important. By going custom we got both.

There is crossover between stores. The lines you see at one are under a different name at the other, although there can be some differences.

I think you can get plenty of sufficient function in various lines, and I would not get an aesthetic I wasn't sold on or sure of. I picked the styling I liked and moved from there.
A lot of the special features and accessories are tempting perks but really raise the price and are not necessarily necessary. I cut those out. Some can be added later from other manufacturers for much less if you find you need the function afterall.

Your thread caught my eye because we also have an open kitchen and went with American Woodmark cabinets. Not sure if anyone could answer the tradeoff that you have - that is a decision only you can make if you can't find everything you want in a single line.

But I wanted to let you know that we are very happy with our AW cabinets. As you say, with the open floor plan, we actually spend more time looking at the kitchen than working in it.

BTW, I looked up the Diamond three drawer corner out of curiosity (our kitchen has no corners so it was not an issue). It is really neat and I can see your dilemma. It has to cost a bundle, though, right?

that 3 corner drawer is awesome and very common in cabinet lines. try looking at other companies in the diamond price point (i found diamond to be high in my area)
some that i looked at: schuler (lowes) which is really medallion, kraftmaid, shiloh might be close to diamond in cost and a very nice cabinet.
also price wise that corner drawer was about 50% more than a super susan so pricey.
there are many more cabinet lines out there but they are dependent upon area.

The corner drawer is a waste of money. It doesn't hold nearly as much as a super susan, and it costs more. It only excells as the cool factor.

I would never pick American Woodmark/Shenendoah/Waypoint over Diamond/Kemper/Thomasville. There is just too much difference in the fit and finish of the one over the other. It's the doors and drawer fronts that you will be touching every day that you use the cabinets, and the Masterbrand product is superior in every way in that department. In the construction department too.

I think those drawers are strange looking and probably uncomfortable to use as well as store things in. Seems faddish and something you'd wonder why you ever got and be glad to update to get rid of.

I'm very happy with my Shenandoah (AW) and don't feel any need for better cabinetry. It seems good and solid and I expect it will last the next 30 years. I preferred some of the styling details. They work just fine and cost plenty enough.

You can get really caught up in things you probably don't need, so try to keep your mind on your real needs and goals. Budget overruns for renos are very common and can be quite a high percentage over what you had planned or intended. Beware of creeping costs. They really add up in the end.