If it's a custom cabinet place why not ask how much extra for 14" or 15" uppers with beaded inset. This way you can keep your dishes. Congrats on finding a place within your budget!

I am glad you got a great price from your cabinet guy. I found that more often than not, custom cabinets are not as expensive as people think. Mine were just a little more than IKEA was going to be (less than $1500 more), plus the custom cabinets included a lot of extras that IKEA did not including crown molding, a light rail and cabinets for the pantry!

Thanks for the idea - I think I will inquire about a deeper upper cabinet. Then I would gain even more space in the rest of the cabinets :) What a fun thought!

We're going to meet with him on thursday and see about changing a 24" drawer set up to a 24" sink base for a prep sink and talk more about the inset so I'll bring it up then.

It definitely pays to at least give the local cabinet maker a shot at pricing the kitchen. I'm so happy about giving my business to a place like that over a warehouse or box store.

Where do you people live!!! Sorry, just venting. :( I live in the chicago suburbs and every custom guy I have found is crazy expensive. For 7 uppers and 7 lowers approximately $20,000 for a simple white painted maple shaker-door cabinet. If anyone knows of a great inexpensive cabinet guy/gal PLEASE let me know--otherwise I think I am looking at Ikea with Scherr's doors.

But CONGRATS to you Craftlady!!

I have been saying this for years- custom does not always cost more. I am a custom cabinet guy in NC and constantly run into folks that never even called when they redid their kitchen because they thought it would be more and when I look at what they had it would have been the same or less....and with better quality. Always look at the local guys. Some will be more but at least give us a shot at it.
Travis Alfrey

Just a word of caution to everyone considering a "local custom cabinetmaker"...be sure you see several examples of the cabinetmaker's finished work...installed and check their references. You not only want to see what installed kitchens look like, in your specific wood & finish, but you also need to find out how they deal with problems...do they take responsibility for their mistakes and fix them immediately at no-cost or do they try to weasel out of them or make you pay to fix their mistakes?

I.e., you don't just want references where everything was "sunshine and roses", you need to talk to some people who had problems w/the cabinetmaker's work as well (product & installation, preferably).

This also applies if you're not using a "local custom cabinetmaker"...e.g., a "big box store", kitchen specialty store, or other.

cribbs - I'm certainly spreading the news around, don't worry :) I didn't exactly blast this around facebook-land yet but I will, don't worry :)

I'm in Eastern Pa, about an hour north of Philly. I think anywhere closer to the cities (in my case Allentown/Easton/Bethlehem)but most especially the Philadelphia region I'd easily be looking at twice the price, if not more.

My cabinet guy and I have been emailing back and forth a bit. He checked the price if I increased my uppers to 15" instead of 12" and it's only another $340!! talk about more bang for your buck! I'm psyched! The inset cabinets are only $175, but the beaded inset would be an additional $430 on top of that. We'll see about the beaded-part, but I am definitely hoping DH goes for the 15" deep/inset cabinet idea!

Wahoo - I'm just so happy!!

I would check out Shiloh. They offer beaded inset for the same price as partial overlay and paint and glaze are included at no additional cost.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shiloh Cabinets

Thanks Buehl, I'll definitely bring that up.
I did check the BBB website and there are no problems, and my aunt and uncle used them a few years ago and had no issues with them or their work what-so-ever.
The VP who we met with the other night told us that he had to respond to a complaint earlier that day where the woman wasn't happy with her finish on her cabinets. He said the kitchen has been in for about 6 months and when he went to visit the woman was complaining about her bottom cabinets. He didn't have the heart to tell her that the problem was that she didn't clean them the way she cleaned her top ones. The problem was just that they were dirty. So he took all the base cabinet doors back to his shop to clean them for her. for free.

Now I realize that could've been a line of BS, but it made me feel good about him. But I'm also the first to admit I'm probably the most gullible person out there so I'll definitely ask for references. Thanks!

@ newbieremodeler - Thought this might help you .

Please check Lakeland Building supply, they are wholesale cabinet dealers. We did our kitchen and got the cabinets in Antique White for 9K. They had a special deal going on during that time for painted cabinets and a couple of styles.
Very good customer service, prompt delivery and cheap - what else can you ask for?

Have a gr8 day !
crozzroad

Here is a link that might be useful: Cabinet dealer

craftlady - would you mind sharing the cabinet guy's info??? We are in Western Hunterdon County, NJ. Custom by us has been a fortune!! I'd love to try him and see what it comes out to - even though we probably won't be starting until spring time. How many cabinets are you getting for that price?
What warehouse place did you go to? Closeout Cabinets in Feasterville, by any chance????

Thanks in advance!!!

hi kngwd!

I'm in the lehigh valley. The custom wood shop is Blue Mountain Woodworking in Bath, Pa (about 20 - 30 mins NW of Easton if you're coming in from 22 or 78) the website is www.bluemtnwood.com and the guy we talked to is Kyle. The hours aren't on there (I'm going to recommend they put them on there), but the showroom is open M,T,W,F 8-4:30 and Thursday 8-7 and Sat 9-1. call before you go on a saturday just in case. the # is 866.746.2588

The warehouse place is closer to Allentown (off RT 78 on Lehigh St) it's Keystone Supply Outlet(keystonesupplyoutlet.com) Feasterville is a bit far for us to travel.

We're getting (2) 24" BC, (2) 18" BC, (1) 12" BC, (1) 12" angled BC, (1) open shelf 12" rounded BC. Then (4) 24" UC, (2) 27" UC, (1) over the range microwave UC, (1) over the fridge UC, and the 36" corner UC and BC.

Off the top of my head, I think that's everything.
Good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions!

Congratulations! I'm right there with you on the giddy part, we are finalizing our cabinet plans this week. We are also going with custom -- I priced out all the options and found custom unexpectedly budget-friendly for what we're working with. I'm an avid cook but my old kitchen was so disorganized! I want to incorporate more drawers and pullouts in the new one, and going custom gave me much more flexibility. We are using a local cabinetmaker with excellent references and finished results, and I like that I'm getting exactly what I want while keeping the money in the community!

Craftlady-

Congrats on your find! And for the happy realization that you're getting custom and that you can order exactly what you need.

Thanks so much everyone! :) I hope that I remember this feeling when I'm up to my eyeballs in dust and pulling my hair out from having to make 541268946 decisions in an hour :)

PS- I also forgot to add the 36" deep sink base for the apron sink to my list before :)

"Where do you people live!!! Sorry, just venting. :( I live in the chicago suburbs and every custom guy I have found is crazy expensive. For 7 uppers and 7 lowers approximately $20,000 for a simple white painted maple shaker-door cabinet. If anyone knows of a great inexpensive cabinet guy/gal PLEASE let me know--otherwise I think I am looking at Ikea with Scherr's doors."

Newbieremodeler, we live in the Phoenix area and had the same experience as you when we priced out local cabinet guys, plus we couldn't get the wood we wanted. Very frustrating.

Posted by newbieremodeler (My Page) on Tue, Nov 2, 10 at 12:10

"Where do you people live!!! Sorry, just venting. :( I live in the chicago suburbs and every custom guy I have found is crazy expensive. For 7 uppers and 7 lowers approximately $20,000 for a simple white painted maple shaker-door cabinet. If anyone knows of a great inexpensive cabinet guy/gal PLEASE let me know"

Newbie,

I am in the Madison, WI area and had an Amish man do my cabinets. Solid cherry, shaker style, with all the bells and whistles. He did tear out/haul away, plus installation too---total bill was $9000. I know he has done work in the Chicago area. Let me know if you want his info (you'll have to call AND leave a message because he doesn't have a phone, being Amish and all ;-)

Scrappykat,

I live in the SW suburbs of Chicago and would love to have the name. I am planning a spring or early summer remodeling. Please e-mail me at gpeabody@comcast.net

Thank you so much! We will definitely get up there to check them out. Keep us posted on how yours turn out!! My husband is a teacher so we will probably be waiting until he's home on summer break to start work, you'll probably be done by then! Good luck and thanks again!

You're very welcome kngwd!
We're going to visit the cabinet place tonight and hammer out some more details and get another look at them. We'll hopefully be able to order them by this time next week :)

I'll definitely be around with progress pictures, don't worry :)

Congrats craftlady. Positive suprises are so much better than the oh-crap ones!

The local custom one-guy shop in my town came in at almost exactly the same price as my Kraftmaid quote. I was very excited also. I saw a kitchen he's installing now with stained Shaker cabs (not painted like I want), but I realized afterwards that his cabs were NOT full overlay. The drawers were, but the cabs weren't. It wasn't what I was expecting. I'm still waiting to hear back about how much extra full overlay will be. Plus, I measured his drawers and it seemed like there was more than the standard 3" lost with the framing like you'd get from a factory cab. (I.e. his 21" drawer base had about 17.5" of interior space. I expected 18". One other drawer I checked was even a little less than that.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is to check every detail CAREFULLY and not let the great sticker-shock excitement cloud your judgement like it did mine. Not trying to be a downer! Just speaking from my recent experience.

Thanks Scrappykat!! I went to school/lived in Madison for 5 years and am originally from WI! I would love to know about your Amish guy! boettcher_brenda@hotmail.com Thanks!
Akrogirl- Good to know that I am not the only one!!! It is frustrating to hear people saying that they can get quality custom cabinets for IKEA/bix box prices. And I love the idea of buying local. The other thing is that my kitchen is 10'7" x 10'9" so trying to make standard size cabinets work is very difficult. Best of luck to you!

newbieremodeler, I'm in Charlotte, NC. Maybe because NC is a longtime furniture mecca -- lots of skilled woodworkers here. We interviewed a few cabinetmakers but one stood out from the beginning and he's been great to work with so far.