Oh, I do have a third piece - my crown molding is a "3-piece" crown molding...

"Crown" is the decorative piece that is against the ceiling

"Soffit A" is a decorative piece installed on top of my upper cabinets

"Stock-S" is the flat filler piece b/w the "Crown" and "Soffit A" that was cut to fit b/w them. My floor-to-ceiling height varied by about an inch or so. To "hide" the difference, the "Stock-S" piece was cut to fit the needed space - so it's a different height throughout my kitchen - but you cannot tell!

.

(Yes, the "Soffit A" piece was installed upside down. I didn't notice it until it was too late and since I didn't mind the look, I didn't insist they tear everything out and redo it.)

Buehl Thanks so much for sharing! If my cabinet looked like that going to the ceiling I'd be content. But what is the total height from the top of your cabinet to the ceiling? I'm afraid the 12 inches I have would be too much

I have about 6.5" b/w the top of the cabinets and the ceiling.

You could try a "tray" ceiling look in the kitchen and put in 6" or so of soffit to create the tray look and then have 6" or so of crown molding.

For some images, I did a "Google" search and came up with this page from Houzz:

[https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-tray-ceiling-phbr0lbl-bl~l_8429[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-tray-ceiling-phbr0lbl-bl~l_8429)

I think I have 12 inches between cabinet and ceiling. Filled with molding. I would do that instead of stacked cabinets. I would def have them painted white. Personally, I prefer painted cabinets over stained. I would choose one of the granites they offer. Wouldn't spend the $ for the quartz. Here is my kitchen where you can see the molding/trim between cabinets and ceiling. Sorry it isn't closer.

Kelleg - I like it!

Buehl The soffit look is a possibility and when done well they look good.

Kelleg69 You have a beautiful kitchen. The moldings look great. I'm afraid because my cabinets are broken up a lot by walls the molding won't look as good. Did you DIY or hire someone? And do you mind me asking how much it was?

Wow. $6K to upgrade to Cambria! We just had 133 sq feet of Torquay installed last month with 2 sink cutouts, edges around pilasters and a cooktop for $9800 - and that was through my cabinet guys who added some markup.

I don't know where you are and what taxes are like, but the more you pay for your house, the higher the taxes. An extra $10K now will grow in value and taxes over time. You could always take out a HELOC to do improvements later - and many banks will not charge closing costs if you keep it open 3 years (even if you don't draw anything).

Can't believe you don't have at least a countertop depth refrigerator, if not a built-in. If nothing else, get the hood and the counter-depth refrig. I'm a bit wary about painted being a $1000 upgrade. Is this truly painted or is it thermofoil? You do not want the later! If it's paint, go for it. Have them trim out 42" cabinets to ceiling - stacked cabinets are useless. But the fondue pot in the basement in a cabinet from a big box store along with other oddities.

What are your granite countertop choices? Do they allow you to pick out a slab? I'd want countertops I loved or at least liked a lot. As Buehl advised, I'd price out what it would cost to remove the granite & have quartz installed. I'm guessing more than $6000.

Kelleg's crown is lovely. Here's another example of 42" cabinets & 12" of crown molding. This is a picture of ILoveRed's kitchen. Her cabinets are 42" & the ceilings are 9 ft.

12" of crown can look overwhelming unless you choose crown pieces that do not project out onto the ceiling. I added about 8" of crown to my 45" cabinets to get to the ceiling & was able to match the paint color to my white cabinets. I would also suggest you price out the additional crown & painting unless you could DIY.

The model kitchen is lovely & will be gorgeous in white. Very exciting for you.

The base price for the house is $430. With some structural upgrades including roughing in a 3rd floor and some other stuff we are at $455 without designer options.

So the next question is will your neighborhood you're building in warrant the upgrades and the upgraded price? If it will, then my feeling is if it will make you smile every time you walk into your kitchen, then go for it.

However, I do agree with the others about possibly finding some other ways to finish the cabinets to the ceilings. (Of course I say that planning to stack my cabinets to reach my 10' ceilings.)

You guys are fantastic! Thanks so much for all of your responses!

It is one of the bigger houses in the neighborhood. There are just a few houses spending in the low 500s in our section. Most people paid around $450 but they went up on prices in the last year so that's mostly why we're a good 15-20k over that.

Despite that, this is the home we'll raise our kids in and plan to spend at least 20 years here. When we no longer want to venture up the stairs to bed we'll downsize and renovate an old farmhouse out in the boonies. At least that's my plan now.

I asked about the countertop square footage but my contact didn't know. I can go measure them at the model but that probably can't happen until the weekend.

I asked about the refrigerator and you can get the built in panel but only if you get the staggered cabinets....which isn't available when you get the hood. I think it's because normally you'd stagger the microwave cabinet and the refrigerator cabinet and without the microwave cabinet you'd just have one odd staggered cabinet above the refrigerator. I will ask if this is at all possible. Maybe if I pay to get the stacked? Though of course, nothing added is free. Even to have the stacked cabinets painted is an upcharge...

I asked if I could get 36s put in instead of 42s. But this is considered a non-standard option and I'll likely have to submit something including $250 just to find out.

As far as the painting of the cabinets goes, I'm pretty certain it's legit painted. You can also get a "glaze" applied which is like a striping where the panels of wood meet. Seems legit but I'll check into this because that thermofoil stuff looks awful.

Erica L - you got $73/sf of cambria which sounds like a decent deal. Guess you just have a large kitchen - but I bet it's beautiful. I will definitely get those measurements of the countertops so I can see what they're charging me per square foot.

Suzanne - I'm disappointed by the lack of a counter depth refrigerator as well. It is included though. I suppose I might be able to ask if they can take it out and give me 1000 bucks off. And my fondue pot might as well be in the trash since I've never used it... :)

Romy I agree with you that 12" of molding would have to be done with smaller projecting crown. I've also considered doing a faux cabinet by putting some square pieces of shaker style cabinet front on the fascia if it looks too large. Or doing something special over the range hood.

And no, I don't get to pick out the slab. They said you get what you get. They said it's pretty consistent but it is actual rock so you never know what veining and details will be in the slab you get. Pretty crummy...

Here's the lightest granite they have available. I'll also post pictures of some of the cheaper options for granite. Just google cambria Torquay if you haven't seen it. My biggest concern with the granite below is that it comes off too "grey". I change my mind every hour thinking "oh, yeah - it's white enough, I can live with that" to "but it's so grey!" #firstworldproblems Thanks all for your input!

I like the light granite. I think it would look handsome with white cabinets and a deep navy island.

Just be reassured that there are simple solutions to the soffit gap should you go with the 42" cabinets.

re painting island dark blue -- have you considered a wood island top?

Thanks homechef59!

Nightowl - I have considered that! Love the butcher block counters - don't love the maintenance but maybe I can handle it if it was just the island.

I have also considered getting black granite everywhere, then upgrading the island to white quartz fairly quickly. I would save the $1800 from not getting the light granite and could put that towards the quartz. But wonder if I would regret not going light everywhere?

Drum pendants over the navy island · More Info

Cape Cod Summer Home · More Info

Could you put the dark granite around the edges and then have the island painted dark with a light granite top?

I have only a small bit of dark granite in my kitchen and it does require more work because of its location it shows every speck of dust on it. Also you should ask about the dark granite some of them have been made darker by putting a special coating on it which appears not to last very well.

I really appreciate the picture of the Cape Cod summer home above because it's one of the few pictures where there are window coverings and that is a huge issue...

No, I already asked pratigal. You can pick different granites but they have to be in the same level. The black is level 1, the white is level 2. I figured I could pay half of the upgrade and get the island in white but unfortunately they don't work that way.

Good to know your black granite has some negatives. I figured it wouldn't stain though. White granite I'm worried will stain. I do NOT take care of my stuff so I'm wondering if I'll even seal it 1x a year like recommended. My mom has a golden granite and it's stained badly from a colored soap that leaked and several other areas. She has never sealed it though except for when it was installed.

Any of you with light granites have issues with staining? How about those of you with quartz? Do you find it stains as well?

Also I found out about the cabinet over the refrigerator: you can't get it if you get stacked cabinets (not sure why). You can upgrade to get it as well as a staggered cabinet over the microwave (~1,000). But here's the kicker: if you get the hood, you can do it but they don't give you a price break even though you're only getting the refrigerator built in. So you are paying 1,000 for a wooden box :(

Another option to consider is doing the hood myself. I would have to hire a cabinet maker to move the microwave and make a new smaller cabinet wherever I put it. But I could also get him to build the refrigerator built in as well. Remember the hood as well as the involved appliance upgrade is about $3600 :O I can get a hood from home depot similar for $600 or less and to get it installed maybe another $100?

I'd make a trip to some local stoneyards & see if I can find slabs of that specific light grey granite, so you can visualize what a whole slab of that might look like. That would either confirm or eliminate that choice. Then you'd be between the black granites & white quartz. I noticed the model has different countertops for the island & perimeters. They won't allow you to mix granite & quartz? Have you found pics of kitchens with Torquay? Oldbat2be has it in her kitchen. Her kitchen is heavily used & she hasn't complained of it staining, as far as I know.

The white cabinets - I'd be surprised if the builder had his crew paint them - especially since they offer glazes. I would think they'd have a source for white cabinets. Do they have a sample door?

edit: another thought to rationalize getting the countertops you love now - when you replace, you'll have to pay a plumber to reinstall sinks & faucets. Or they might damage the beautiful wood floors.

Cambrian Torquay in the Mountain West. 3 cm XL slab 59.6 sq ft. apps 50 sq ft countertop and fabrication. 36 linear ft finished edge-flat polish. 4 ft appliance edge. 1 undermount sink and 2 holes. 2 bids $3950-4400. I had an opportunity to look at the slab and on a white kitchen island, it is too white! I have marble and porcelain marble with silver grey blue walls and a floating walnut cabinet in a MasterBath. The Torquay in that room picked up the grey. In my kitchen remodel it will be too white! Galaxy white, Alaska white, Hymalayan white are mid range granites at $3100-4000. Summit white would come in under $3000. Vote for range hood. Agree with extra molding above cabinets if you are willing to scratch stacked cabinets. Oh, depending on the granite slab and what yard it may have white, black, cream, brown, purple, grey and iron stains of yellow or orange.

Range Hood Costs. Custom or semi custom wood enclosure sky is the limit, $800 to???. Venting to outside wall, elbow plus 8-10 feet run plus exterior vent plus labor about 2-4 hours in a remodel and less in a new build, hood insert $500-800 plus fees..$3000 may be ok or a bit high. My hood addition DIY approximately $700-800 with supplies and hood.

"But I could also get him to build the refrigerator built in as well."

Just make sure that you have the space left to build the "box" for the fridge, plus the above fridge cabinet should be larger or pulled forward.

If not, you have to move all the uppers to make space fort the panels. (Not sure that I'm explaining this properly.)

I like the light granite. is there any way you might get a sample to test for staining? Personally, I wouldn't go with dark perimeter and white cabinets, plus wood on a navy blue island. That's 4 different materials/colors.

Regarding the dark granite - I have black granite and the only time I see dust is if I don't wipe down the counters at least every other day. Even then, I really only see it if I look for it.

Most people wipe down their counters daily (we do), so I don't see an issue. (There's one corner that doesn't get wiped down every day, but like I said, unless I'm looking for it, I don't see the dust. I do try to wipe down that corner at least every 2 or 3 days.)

Building in a refrigerator:

http://s182.photobucket.com/user/Buehl/slideshow/2008-2009%20Remodel/Kitchen/220%20How%20to%20Build%20In%20a%20Refrigerator?sort=6

BTW...if your refrigerator is on an interior wall, it can often be recessed into the wall behind it 2 or 3 inches. That helps with a standard-depth refrigerator.

Keep in mind, though, that then door of a non built-in refrigerator must stick out past all walls/counters/cabinets/end panels on either side to allow the doors to open fully. That's why a counter-depth refrigerator is really only counter-depth when it comes to the refrigerator carcass/box. The doors + handles stick out another 5 or 6 inches beyond the carcass - so CD refrigerators are really 30" to 31" deep.

Thanks to all for your comments - they have all been helpful!

Here's what I'm thinking:

Hood + appliance package - $3,600

Refrigerator cabinet - $1,080

White granite - $1,800

Cabinets painted white - $1,000

I'm well aware they are ripping me off on the hood and refrigerator built in and I could definitely hire a cabinet maker to come in after the fact and rip out the microwave and cabinet, move the microwave, build a new cabinet above it if needed and build the cabinet around the refrigerator. I'd have to buy a new oven and a hood and install those... But, in the end, would I be saving enough money to justify tearing apart my new kitchen? I'm thinking no. And there's some benefit of being able to move in and just be happy with it for a while.

no stack. no quartz. It's just hard for me to justify these right now. These add about $7,000 to the cost. And I'm not sure I'd be THAT much happier.

DIY projects for the future:

1) white subway tile ceiling to floor on the far wall with the hood/oven as well as backsplash. I'm also getting glass cabinets on that wall - they were cheap (relatively)

2) molding the side wall cabinets to the ceiling. I think I can do this myself with a lot of help from youtube and such. I may also mold above the cabinets next to the hood or I may leave the above area exposed to show the tile - try to make it a focal wall.

3) Paint the island blue

I'll try to update with a picture in the future! Thanks again!

Agree. Good cost vs wants analysis. Took a look at costs for cabinets in a our remodel. 3 glass prepared cabinets 2500+, xl panels, 37 inch refrigerator cabinet, extra 2 layer crown, blocking labor to bring cab out 1200+, 36 linear feet of factory painted cabinet 2000 +/-. The cost of the appliances may be the near true costs. Some refrigerators can be greater than 2000. Gee, I wish new builds the next street over were not $800-900,000. A designer who has worked for a non-custom builder states they try to keep cost at 70-75 per square feet. The custom build in our area $140-180 per sq ft. Consider having the finishing carpenter due the molding, it will be done and you will not regret it. Your new home is lovely, enjoy!

Nsandridge - I just realized that the light grey granite sample you showed us looks like the Kashmir White granite in the attached thread.

Help! My light granite is turning dark

Question, What would you save if you put in the cheapest countertops they offer? Laminate?

I would do the 42" uppers, the appliance package, and since you want the white cabinets, I would do the white.

Then once you're in the house, I'd go to the stone yards and find a granite you LOVE and have it put in after the fact. Why should you pay an upgrade for something that you're "settling" for when you could have what you love?

As for tiling with subway tile? It's a relatively easy job to do yourself and HD has white subways for very little money. One of the better bargains.

And yes, you can paint your blue cabinet.

Additionally, I know you said you expect to be in the house 20 years, and I hope you are and enjoy every second of it. However, it's always wise to keep in the back of your mind that situations can and do change. Job change, Family change, needing more space, needing less space, you needing to move closer to family or friends, etc.

Just as an example, DH and I bought our condo 6 years ago and assumed they'd have to carry us out. Well after 6 years here, we've decided we want to build a house. Thankfully we did not over improve our condo for the building or the area and we're walking away with a pretty penny. You never want to be the most expensive house on the block, because you most likely will not get it back if you ever need or want to sell.

I'd prioritize as follows with basically the idea that you are working from the inside to the outside. Get the underlying layers right and adjust the outer layer:

1) Get the cabinet structure right (height, sized for the appliances you want).

2) Get the cabinet finish you want for most of the kitchen. In most cases a factory painted finish in a paint booth is going to be preferable to one painted on the site. If you want a small part such as the island a different color do that later.

3) If you need to upgrade the appliances to get them in the right place within the cabinets I'd do that. If you like the appliances the builder is offering I'd upgrade now but if you don't like them I'd stick with the basics and replace when they break.

4) It sounds like you want a custom touch in the kitchen that a tract builder can't really offer with their granite/backsplash choices. If so I wouldn't pay to upgrade anything now and would plan to do that later. Some people prefer Silestone and Caesarstone marble-look quartz over Cambria (they might also be less expensive and have better predictability in appearance -- plenty of threads here on these issues).

I didn't go through this entire thread - but I would definitely do the stacked cabinets. We purchased a home with 42" cabinets - and after 10 years, we are taking them to the ceiling - inspired by the photo that Romy showed. I would have much preferred stacked cabinets, and it's a pita to do it after the fact. I'm not quite sure if it will look "right" in the end — but with the stacked cabinets, you are guaranteed it will look great.

Romy718 Thanks for sharing that thread. This is exactly the kind of stuff that I'm scared of. Eek

cpartist. It comes with a dark granite. Now after reading about the staining I'm very hesitant to pay extra for the white granite. Especially since I'm not in love with the look. I will go measure the counter square footage tomorrow so I can price out whether the $6k upgrade for Quartz is a good idea. If not, I think putting in the black granite and waiting til after we move in to address it might be best. And I'm with you on not being the most expensive house on the block. But I'm also thinking a potential buyer would be pretty happy to see Quartz counters.

Stan Z I think according to your priorities it's stacked cabinets + paint + hood (and necessary appliance upgrade cost) with black granite. It makes a lot of sense and I'm really thinking about it. The only thing I don't like is the lack of refrigerator cabinet. I don't want these lovely white stacked cabinets and a big ole black sided refrigerator messing it all up. What are the chances I can do this later on and not make it look bad?

jpmom. Thanks for your input! That's the bad thing about 42s. I'm not sure if you'd think its worth 3k or not as I'm sure you'll be able to mold to the ceiling at a fraction of the price. But you're right - in the end it will look different. Just need to figure out if a "look" is worth all that money to me.

Attaching the photo of the stack again.

And here's another photo of our model. This one has the oven on the wall with the microwave, separate from the stove. But it does have the hood we'd be getting.

Do they give you the option to add glass to some of the stacked uppers (or any doors)? With white cabs that will mean finishing the insides too but much easier to do now than down the road.

Yes! And I'm thinking of having the cabinets on either side of the hood glass ($120 each = 480). I'm assuming they will paint the insides. You can also get glass doors for stacked cabinets ($55 each). If I go that route I'll do all glass cabinets on the uppers on that wall. I like the look of open shelving but not the practicality so I'm hoping to achieve that with some glass doors.

And I'm with you on not being the most expensive house on the block. But I'm also thinking a potential buyer would be pretty happy to see Quartz counters.

Yes they would but realize it won't get your an extra $6000 when you sell because you have the quartz.

What it might do is if someone looks at your house and one down the block and both are priced almost the same and yours has the quartz and theirs has the ugly dark granite, then they would choose yours over theirs, but they won't pay extra for it.

And I'm thinking of having the cabinets on either side of the hood glass ($120 each = 480)

I have that in my apartment in NY now and hate it because the glass doors always seem to wind up looking dirty. However we don't have a great hood so that might be the problem. I'm constantly having to clean them with Windex.

The counters were 85 square feet. At 71/sqfoot which is what we were quoted today at a local counter shop for Cambria torquay that would be $6,035.

I was sooo certain it was going to be wayyyy under the 5,600 the builder wanted for it. And I was going to prove how much money I could save by not getting them done til after. So oops.

So why am I not going with the Quartz? Because I was super disappointed with the sample of Cambria torquay we saw in the store today. It came off very off white and the "veining" was taupe rather than grey. I've seen some pictures of slabs that look absolutely beautiful and the veining looks realistic and stands out. And I've seen some slabs that look just splotchy and boring. :/

The Ella and brittanica look too fake to me, especially in the full slab where the veining is super predictable looking I think. I was not impressed by the silestone we saw either.

So I'm thinking white granite might be the way to go. It might stain. It might darken. But when it does it'll be time to upgrade to Quartz. And I'm hoping it will last a good 5-10 years. And then we can pick out the exact color, brand and slab of whatever we want.

I could go for the black granite and save 2 grand but I'd be ripping those out asap. I think I can live with the white granite for a while and be content.

I'm leaning back to the stacked cabinets. My husband is firmly in the "12 inches of molding looks silly" camp. He said stack them or don't mess with them at all. So stack them we will. It's important to me. And it's not something I can easily change out - unlike counters.

We will try to live with the refrigerator not having a cabinet around it. I'm hoping we can remedy this on our own if we're not happy with it. One of you mentioned there needing to be enough space on the sides of the fridge for the panels and I did check that out today. it'll be tight. There's maybe 3 inches on either side to the cabinet but I'm hoping we can still do it.

Any of you have advice on how many base cabinets I should convert to stacked drawers? any reason to get less? It seems like a good idea considering my base cabinets are currently a disorganized piled up mess.

I would do stacked cabs & painted.

However, you should do what YOU most want.

Don't forget the money the builder wanted for Cambria is in addition to what you are paying for the regular granite! So if you figure $40 a foot for granite plus quartz upgrade its pretty pricey (well over $100+ per square foot) .

And Cambria Torquay... well... This sums up my opinion unfortunately (and the saga continues). http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3737215/variations-in-quartz-sample-vs-slab

ETA:. Do as many drawers as you can! We did all drawers with the exception of sink bases and garbage pullouts.

Spend that money on drawers. The key to zen and happiness is drawers.

Good point Erica about the granite!

I hope you can get Cambria to make it right. But, if not, you'll still have a gorgeous kitchen no doubt.

Is this drawer overload??

To me that looks really busy. We have 3-drawer drawer stacks in our kitchen. I think they are 7-10-13 on the outside. In our island we did two, two-drawer, drawer stacks that are deep enough for crockpots, etc. We also have spice/utensil pullouts that separate the stacks on the cooktop wall.

Unless you can think of a really good reason to have some cabinets (with rollout shelves, no doubt) such as, you will use some for certain pantry items, I would say go with all drawers. You can make more than one of them 3 drawer stacks, or wider stacks (if they allow you to!) to reduce the "busy-ness" look; also using lighter hardware would help with that. Also, some pullouts such as trash, recycling, dog food bin would have a cabinet door front. To me, the practicality outweighs any concern about looks.

Can't really tell from that picture how wide the drawer stacks are but I would want at least one 32-36" stack near the cooktop for my pots/pans storage

I have all drawers except my sink base (pull out drawer), my trash bins, a corner susan and a cabinet that is too narrow for drawers & is for vertical storage. You will love, absolutely love, all drawers. I am so thankful to have discovered this kitchen forum - for many reasons - but all drawers is the biggest.

I'm with Erica. As many drawers as you can. One of my favorite things about our new kitchen.

Thanks guys! I'm glad to get your feedback on this because I was really thinking of only doing 2 cabinets with drawers. I'll ask on Monday about the specifics on what they can do as I'd like some deeper drawers and maybe some that go the width of 2 cabinets to make them look better.

Drawer stacks are listed as $250 each in our manual but that's all I really know.

I am planning on getting a double trash can pullout ($250)

I'm planning on getting the chrome version of the hardware in the picture.

heres a picture of the wider drawer stack. I think it has a cleaner look.

The window wall has an odd number of cabinets (5) so I'm not sure how to plan this out. A skinny stack in the center and 2 wider stacks? Maybe do the deeper drawers near the stove to hold more pots/pans? Thoughts?

There are multiple threads on drawers & we can link you to several of them or you can start a new thread with your perimeter & island dimensions & drawer width options. I would do more 3 stack drawers as those drawers will be deeper than the 4 stacks. You've got a lot of cabinets so you'll have plenty of top drawers for utensils, etc. It will add to the cost of your kitchen but it will be the best money you will spend. Also, you'll want vertical storage for above the ovens.

Get drawers, drawers, and more drawers!

For any lower cabinet that you do not have planned for a drawer, think about exactly what you will put in it and ask yourself, "can that go in a drawer?"

Drawers it is! Thanks guys! I will ask some more about it next week and make a new thread if I need some advice. You all are so sweet!

I would rather have drawers than the second stack of cabinets. If it comes down to cost, go for the drawers. I have an "all drawer" kitchen compliments of GW. It's the single best thing that I have learned by hanging out at this site.

I wanted to show you what my kitchen with a modern dropped soffit looks like. These are 42" cabinets with a soffit built above them. The soffit feature is done after the cabinets are installed. In my case it is a series of framing covered by drywall, paint and crown molding.

We are glad to see Cambria is a consideration for your project. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to us at 866-226-2742. Thanks!