I can't see the difference, lol. Whatever it is, it looks lovely to me. I think you won on this round.

I know if it was me, I'd be bugged too because I also prefer thicker rails. I would definitely check your contract, but like the others have said, it does look beautiful as is.

I think that this is a happy accident. I agree with the others that this looks more bespoke than what you specified. Also, compared to the photos that Nosoccermom posted, I prefer the look of your new cabinets to traditional shaker (no offense to anyone who likes those). Someday, if I go shaker, I may spec your mistake :).

I would look at the PO and contract to see what was specified. That will be the place to start. Also, any written communcation on the subject (email, notes, text).

Is it possible that you are comparing these rails to the wide rails that you originally wanted but decided were too expensive, and so these ones seem that much narrower to you? I only ask because I know that is exactly what I would be doing. I would also try living with it as is for a few days to see if it really is something you don't like as opposed to something you didn't expect.

I really like the look as well. I think it says "designer" as opposed to "off the rack". :)

I hate to be the lone dissenter, but it sounds like you originally wanted larger rails, settled on standard size because it wasn't that big of a deal to you, but now you are left with even narrower than standard rails because of a mistake. Is it worth bringing up? Why wouldn't it be? You already had to compromise with standard size and now you have to compromise again. I don't understand why they didn't see this. Maybe they did and hoped you wouldn't.

Just adding my voice to the chorus to say how much I love those cabinets, as is. But you're the one who will be living with them and you've every right to question the discrepancy if you don't love them.

What do the rails on the uppers look like? And on the lower doors if you have them?

(I have to say that to me the unequal rails, i.e. uppers/lower narrower than the side rails make it look like the fronts are a bit distorted, that is, dragged sidewards.)

Thanks for all the responses! The cabinet doors all have the standard width rails all the way around. Here is a picture of the whole kitchen, and the island, where one of the drawers lines up with a cabinet and the two different top rail widths are next to each other, and then my master bath vanity where you can see how the wide drawers have the skinny rails, and the rest of the vanity has the standard ones.

My husband and I decided to compromise by replacing only the drawers in the vanity to be standard all around for now, and I will just move in in a few weeks and live with the kitchen for a while to see what I can stand or not I guess.

Well, now that I've seen the rest of it, I'll change my advice ...... I'd be asking for a do-over.

Well, it is easy to see that this was clearly a mistake on the builder's part, one that becomes much more noticeable with the doors added. Have you spoken to the builder about replacing them down the road if you decide you can't stand it? I'm surprised that a custom craftsperson wouldn't just replace/fix the issue without being asked! I'd also be concerned that a fix in the future might result in a slightly different color/finish. I'd want that fixed NOW.

Yeah that's no good. It's gotta all match!

Okay, seeing the whole thing changes my mind too. yeah, that would bug me a lot. Have you talked to the carpenter yet?

I did talk to him today after my original post, and told him we want to for sure change the drawers on the master bath vanity, which he said he would. I am just still mulling over the ones for the kitchen. I've been looking at shaker kitchens on pinterest all night and it seems that what he's done is in fact "a thing," BUT it is not what I asked for so I am just kind of trying to decide if I do indeed want him to redo all the ones in the kitchen as well. :-/

Yes, now seeing how you have the drawers next to doors, that would definitely bother me. The rails on the doors should line up and be the same size as the second and third drawer. Only the top drawers having the skinnier rails.

The mistake really stands out on that vanity (if it's that last photo) because they actually got the narrow drawer bank correct. Notice only the top drawer rails are skinny but the next two drawers are equal size. Then the larger drawer bank on the left is all skinny rails again.

That's pretty bad that they didn't say anything and delivered it like that. Were they hoping you would not notice? Someone clearly dropped the ball here. I would not call that "a thing", I'd call it what is is. It's a mistake in this case.

I would want them to correct all the larger drawers. You can live with it as it is for a couple weeks or so until the new fronts are ready. It doesn't hold up installing countertops or anything. Then changing them out is no big deal.

That is a complete do over of the wrong drawers. rebunky it's also obvious on the kitchen sink run of cabinets.

I absolutely would not live with the kitchen as is. It's wrong. Someone screwed up. Like you I prefer thicker rails all around, but to have two different rails widths looks just off.

He needs to remake the drawer fronts to match the door fronts IMO. Or he needs to remake the doors to match the drawer fronts.

it would bother me to look at the mismatch between the top rail of the drawer top and the top rail of the door next to each other. They should align.

the cabinets are beautiful and I'll bet he will want to make this right. Talk to him and gently point out the inconsistency.

It would have bothered me from the beginning but with the cupboards added into the mix, I couldn't live with it. My need for consistency wouldn't let me.

I just looked again. Ugh! I just wanted to add that I hope you tell them to fix the rest of the kitchen with confidence. Trust me, even fixing those drawer fronts, they will make money. Do not feel bad for one second!

Wow- different story when you include all the pictures! Why is there no consistency between doors and doors? That is bizarre. I would definitely redo.

Yup - they need to fix it - that lack of consistency is problematic (between the doors and drawers) as well as in even the smaller 12' (or 15" drawers) having the thicker horizontal styles.

Interesting how people's responses change. Just saying :)

It is interesting when we are given all the info instead of one picture :)

I think your kitchen looks beautiful and I wouldn't have even noticed. My draws are the same as yours and never noticed - only 2 banks though and don't abut other cabinets - really small kitchen. I'd be a bit nervous though with replacing if the color doesn't match. I'd start with just the vanity too and I'm sure they'll let you keep the originals in case the color is off.

I didn't care for it when it was just the drawers either. Makes a good argument for a slab drawer at least on the top.

@Kiko:

Maybe I'm just a step ahead :) :) (like thinking about the doors, silly me)

I would want them replaced. The big drawers look odd.

Now that I see all the photos, I agree they should all match. I like the look of the slim upper and lower rails. It seems like it would be an easy fix.

Regardless of who likes what, if you asked for one thing and got another, you're absolutely within your rights to ask the builder to provide what you wanted.

Is this something that'll essentially always gnaw at you, or do you think once your countertop, hardware, and accessories are added it'll blend in?

If "gnaw at you" is true, demand a re-do.

If "blend" is true, ask for a price reduction.

I'm not seeing a problem.

Really? Look at the last pic posted at 5:56, especially the left drawers and the doors next to them. And then compare to the set of drawers right of the doors.

It took me quite a while to see it! If you look at the left bank of drawers (three drawers) you can see that the top rails are quite a bit narrower than the adjacent doors and the drawer stack further down the line. I don't think I'd notice once the counters go on, but that is not my forte and certainly not my wallet paying for something I didn't receive!

I notice on nosoccermom's example, a narrow rail was used on the top drawers to allow room for hardware on the inset panel. Then all the other rails on drawers and cabinets are wide. It could be the case with your stacks they went narrow on the top drawer for hardware but then decided the whole stack should match.

White Kitchen Cabinets | Shaker Style | CliqStudios · More Info

NSM, I asked about the upper doors earlier, wondering how I'd feel once seeing them installed above that stove run. But I admit, I didn't even think about if they had any other base cabs with doors next to drawers. That's where the inconsistent rails really bothered me.

My Schuler shaker cabs are the sugar creek door style. It's not a wide shaker rail to start. But they still have the top drawers with the narrow rails so the pulls fit better. They look real similar to the example NSM and snookums posted.

Bad photo, but here's my cabinet showing the narrow rails only on the top drawer. The next two bigger drawers have the rails that are equal to the side styles.

Joe and any others not seeing it very well. Maybe this will help. If you enlarge the photo below, you can see it better. Notice on the left side drawer stack, the middle drawers' top rail is almost half as wide as the adjacent door top rail. Then notice the other small bank of drawers more to the right. It does not have the narrow rails on the two bottom drawers.

That's the inconsistent detail that will drive some of us batty. Of course, I had to get out my high power granny glasses to really see it, but once I did....Oh the horror! Just kidding!

I think at the install stage many of us are at the height of TKO, (total kitchen obsessed). We want our dream kitchen to be perfection. Yes, and I know perfection is not possible, but that doesn't matter at this point!

Once it's all installed and we ding up a few cabinets or chip a countertop edge or two, only then does the TKO start to subside for most. Not all of course. Who me? :-)

Amy, please update us whenever you get a chance.

You're right, rebunky. You asked about the upper doors.

As far as redo: It would bother me, and not just for drawers and doors with different width of rails right next to each other, but also a row of doors with wider rails on top of the whole row of narrow railed lowers. ESPECIALLY, if I had specified differently. OP was obviously thinking this through.

Now I see it. What does your contract say?

I was tired but see it now. Thanks.

I decided I'm going to ask him to fix all the drawer fronts in the kitchen too... our contract is mostly verbal. The written part basically boils down to "shaker cabinets in this layout, painted, installed." All the specific design has been just in conversation. He is very old school, doesn't even do email. His notes are on a clipboard.

I will update after I talk to him!

Thanks again for everyone's opinions!

So, update....

I talked to my cabinet guy and sure enough, the company he orders doors/drawer fronts from (Decor-ative Specialties) has 1 1/2in top and bottom rails as the norm for ALL drawer fronts. So he is re-ordering the fronts as "doors" instead. I am going to pay for them because it will only be about $350, and I feel bad that this problem came up. It turned out to be nobody's fault. I would never in a million years have thought his door company would randomly make ALL drawer fronts with the same narrower rails, and it's not his fault for just ordering drawer fronts from his normal company. It's a bummer to pay for the fronts twice, but it is what it is!

Why is he ordering doors and drawer fronts anyway?? A custom cabinet MAKER should beMAKING them to your exact specifications.

If they make all drawer fronts with a narrow top rail, then why are they all wide on the narrow 3 drawer stack shown in the 3rd picture of your Wednesday post (photo also used for rebunky's demonstration on Thursday)?

I'm sorry, but his explanation makes little sense. According to Decor-ative Specialites, he could have ordered the doors or drawers any way he wanted them.

Yes the whole thing is very confusing, drawers with one size front and doors with another, so you order a drawer instead of a door! But you worked it out. Great job. We all have to remember that what we are thinking in our heads is usually not what the other person is thinking in theirs.....

It sounds like you are a rational, reasonable person and had decision that will work out the best for you, your sanity, the relationship with your contractor and the remainder of your project.

Kudos.

It's easy for us to get worked up from afar - but most things are not totally black and white. Life is always a negotiation.

The doors are very inexpensive (mine are $8.85/sqft for paint grade maple frame and panel) so I imagine that is why he just orders them. The company is a B2B company. He just builds the boxes, but will do custom doors if it comes up that he needs to.

I saw the catalog and the standard for drawer fronts in print in his binder, which was nice because otherwise I would have kept thinking he was just full of it.

He said the center drawers in the vanity look the way they do because they were ordered as doors (???)

It's all a little confusing, and I will be calling his door company as well to tell them that I think their standard for drawer fronts is not the industry standard, or at least not anymore, and that they should rethink their standard makeup for shaker drawer fronts!

It still doesn't explain why he didn't order the fronts as you had specified and discussed at the outset.

Since hardware has not been installed, maybe the fronts can be exchanged and the $350 is just the upgrade cost for wider top rails?

"Tangentially, he explained to me how the small top drawers would have smaller top and bottom rails so that they could still be shaker style (rather than slab) but that the sides would be the same width as the other doors/drawers. I told him I was fine with that, and preferred that to just a slab."

"Why is he ordering doors and drawer fronts anyway?? A custom cabinet MAKER should beMAKING them to your exact specifications."

A cabinetmaker who actually made custom doors would have considerably higher prices than one who orders same. I doubt the marketplace would support him.

There is a market for custom built cabinetry.

But I don't see where the OP said these were being custom made by a cabinet craftsman.

Easy mistake to make. I know, made it myself about three years ago when ordering doors and drawer fronts from another So. CA supplier; Drees Wood Products.

When I picked up my six drawer fronts, I noticed the rails were narrower than the stiles. I questioned Drees and they explained the same practice. When ordering, specifying drawers vs doors, it specs. narrower top and bottom rails.

I chalked it up to a learning experience. In my case, was able to live with it because none of my drawers lined up with doors. I actually have gotten used to it, and think it looks good, a bit more custom.

In your case though, where the drawers do line up with doors, it would bug me, and I would have it changed. Perhaps your contractor will split the cost with you, since it was an honest mistake...

Is this something worth bringing up? Would I have to pay to have new drawer fronts made? Is this a normal thing to do? I am so upset!

__

How about NOT?

You have to have room of the drawers for pulls. If the rails were as wide as you seem think they should be you might get the pull on the drawer and would be smacking your fingers every time you reached to put your finger in. In particular Cup pulls would cause a lot of scrunched fingers to get past wider rails. And maybe you don't want cups pulls now but you or someone else could in the future. Simple bar pulls would even be a problem

It looks fine.

What you "want" is going to be a problem to use

Amy, I am so glad to hear that you are changing out to have doors put on drawers. That sounds so weird right? It was an honest mistake that you were not given a more clear explanation. Maybe this was the first time your cabinet maker used this company? Anyways, I think it was very nice of you to cover the cost of your cabinet makers' error. Forget about it and enjoy your kitchen. It will be beautiful!

Ann, from what I understand, the top skinnier drawers will still remain with the skinnier top and bottom rails as shown. Only the larger drawers are being changed out to be equal size rails and styles.

I don't think cup pulls would work well on those top drawers as shown either. If OP wanted cup pullls, the top drawer being slab front would be best, but I never heard her mention wanting them or worried about future owners. I have also noticed that people with wider shaker rails who do a bar pull will place it on the top rail that sticks out more verses the middle section. I chose Amerock revitalize pulls because the projection is nice and high and I wanted it in the middle. I have plenty space on my 5 piece top drawer as shown in the photo I posted above of my drawers.