It's been depressing talking to the KDs for mfg cabinets. My husband
joked that I could do their sales job as most of the answers to my basic questions
were: I think so, I'm not sure, and I have to look it up. If you were only into looks, they were all good at pointing out how things look.

Crystal:

KD has been repping Crystal & DeWils for 14 years but couldn't
answer question regarding drawer/shelf depths for the extended cabs or construction details. He
said since Crystal is custom, he's sure they'll be able to do anything I need.
He had to look up answers or call and ask someone multiple times.

Crystal finish on paint is beautiful especially the brushing addition.
They did not have any espresso/dark stains that wasn't reddish or light
brown. He indicated that they will match the DeWils stain which I liked.

They can do 48" drawers under rangetop with no problems or issues.

Currently inset is no upgrade. Full overlay is an upgrade. All wood drawers are an upgrade.

DeWils:

Crystal KD said that DeWils has started paint about 4 years ago and he's
not too confidently about their paint. Paint selection is limited.

2nd DeWils KD couldn't provide samples as they moved into a new building 9
mos ago and everything is still in boxes. They had good reviews and
apparently customers just trust what they choose.

DeWils can do 48" drawers. KD couldn't answer about their inside. I think they were melanine.

Shiloh:

Took 1 month to get names of dealers/KDs. Filled out their online form
request multiple times with no response. After a month, I finally
called. That was another ordeal as they don't list their phone numbers
anywhere. Google numbers were out of service. Took multiple calls on hold
over 4 days to get a live person who then told me the rep's info.

Searches on Google for local Shiloh dealers showed absolutely no one except
2 that were hundreds of miles away.

Rep told me that he wouldn't recommend
any KDs who rep Shiloh in my area. He gave me one KD that is an hour away
and one that is 1 1/2 hr away.

Closest KD is closed on weekends (the only time I have free from the
hospital). We drove this Saturday to the farther KD. They were late
in opening so we had to wander around in 107 degree heat. The main KD
decided she didn't want to go in to work that day so the other owner/KD helped
me. He couldn't answer much questions about Shiloh and kept trying to get
me to consider QCCI (which I think is probably above my
budget). He had to call his wife multiple times to get
answers including where the sample finishes were for Shiloh. She didn't know either so we spent 20 minutes checking every cabinet.

They had 6 samples. The 3 paint finishes seem nice (they were all
white). The stains were light ones so I still don't have a clue whether
Shiloh will have the finishes I need.

They also can't answer whether Shiloh will do full drawer/shelf depths for
the extended cabs of 15", 27" and 30". They have to
call Shiloh during the week.

I will need to squeeze time out to meet the other KD.

Decora:

The KD ran to the boss with every single question about construction. Mind you, she
has been designing kitchens for 14 years and they only rep Decora, Ultrakraft,
and Kemper. With 3 lines, I expected them to know the details by heart.

Finally after 45 minutes of this Keystone Cops routine, the boss/owner came
out of her office and talked to me directly.

The finishes were ok on paint. Not as beautiful as Crystal but
adequate. They didn't have good dark stains. They can do inset with upcharge. The internal boxes/drawers are wood veneer which feels nicer.

They do not do extended depths drawers or shelves so if you have deeper
cabinets, you're just wasting your money.

UltraKraft:

Same KD as the Decora. The internal boxes/drawers for UK is melanine
over plywood. It's a slightly rougher feel than the Decora. They also don't do extended depth drawer/shelf.

Finishes were comparable with Decora. Paint choices were enough to be
close to what I want. The espresso/dark stain was acceptable. They
only had 1 dark stain.

Omega/Dynasty:

KD said that Dynasty can't do extended cabinet which is contrary to what
I've read on GW. She said it all has to be done via Omega
Custom. She was on the phone with Omega to get answers to my questions.

The stains were decent. The paint finishes seemed limited in the
tones that I wanted. I would have to convert BM to Sherwin Williams and
pay for custom match.

I probably need to find another KD rep for Omega/Dynasty to get straight
answers about Dynasty. All I was trying to do was to find out whether these cabinet companies would
have the options to allow me to accommodate the custom stuff I wanted to
do.

Shopping for cabinets is hell when you're too educated by GW.

I certainly can't begin to help you, and honestly, after reading your post it just reinforces my strong reluctance/dragging feet to ever start a kitchen reno.... I really do hope it starts going better for you, especially in light of apparently taking care of a parent. I do that part time as well, I know the emotional and physical toll it can take. :/

What I can say is, that roll out table for your mom is totally cool! Love it. And I like the idea of the slide out doors too. :)

What about Wood-Mode/Brookhaven?

@cpartist, I actually paid a KD to critique my design and he rep Brookhaven. Without the details, the basic cabinets would be 40k. That's based on half the island. Most likely the cost of the full design will be around $65k or more.

That's just way above my budget. His prices are also quite high.

For example, he recommended buying a stages sink from him at $1700. I got it brand new for $800.

Your want list is extensive, and has several upper end custom requests. That adds up. 55-65K is where I would expect you to easily end up in most of the above lines. If that's not doable, you need to scale back that list.

There are a few questionable items on that list that could easily be jettisoned. Like the pocket doors over the ovens. Not gonna pass inspection in most areas. If allowed, they will require some type of safety disconnect to be activated when the doors are shut. That's expensive for a 240 circuit. Better pass that one by your codes officer now in the planning stage.

The extra long drawer glides are honking expensive upgrades. It will double the price of the cabinet by the time you add in he additional wood too. Not many people want to pay 2K+ per cabinet for their project. Extra deep drawers also need extra wide aisles to pull out into, and custom organizational inserts. It affects a lot more than just your storage and your pocketbook.

48'' wide drawers are another area to consider losing due to expense. It's not just the upgraded expensive drawer glides. Wood expands and contracts and changes shape over the seasons. 48'' is about the limit for a single piece of wood to not warp. If you go there, home humidification control will be even more important than it already is. Remember that warrantie for cabinets, wood floors, and many case goods require you to keep your home's humidity as close to 30% as you can, with no more than about a 15% seasonal deviation. That means AC in the summer and a humidifier in the winter for most of the country.

Custom paint isn't a big deal, and neither is the espresso. That should be easy to find. One area to consider modifying is the pull out table. Doing a fulltime dedicated ''baking'' area with a lower counter can serve double duty, and will be cheaper than the pull out by quite a bit.