I am sorry I can't help with the quality of HenryBuilt. But I will say that I very much doubt the brand of the cabinets will make much if any difference in resale value of a house. Most people just don't pay that close of attention to cabinets.

A few users on the forum have used Henry built in the past with great results. Henrybuilt does not do the high gloss laminate or acrylic fronts. In that realm, your choices are almost exclusively European. Have you met Valcucine at DOM NYC? Gorgeous stuff.

Wood-mode/Brookhaven do a high gloss lacquer paint.

No brand of cabinets will help you sell your house. Well maybe if you have a Christopher Peacock kitchen it might help.

cpartist you're missing the point here I'm not suggesting that a kitchen will make or break a sale... I was merely repeating what the sales person said. The intention of my post was so ask about experiences others may have had working with HB designers, and about HB's quality and reputation in general.

homepro01, not yet, the only other two I've visited are Poggenpohl and Siematic (in the new Pirch showroom in SOHO -- fabulous space!). I doubt I would want to spend six figures for a kitchen but went to visit anyway as I've always loved European kitchens!

Being a long time TKO member of this forum, and a modern lover, I am familiar with Henrybuilt cabinets. For me, it would def increase the value of a house, if it had lots of drawers. They are most often found in the Pac NW and I am from the Midwest and the SW, so I do not see HB in real life. But I do know of them and appreciate them.

While I'm sure they are lovely, I think their quality will be missed by most potential buyers. So, order them if you like them. Please yourself. The salesman was full of himself.

I bought a home once filled with Sherle Wagner plumbing fixtures. The agent made sure to point them out to me. I had no idea what she was talking about. I just nodded my head and said how lovely. Then I went home and looked them up. I would have still bought the house if the fixtures had been all Kohler. After all, a toilet is a toilet. I liked the house. But, I wasn't willing to buy it because it had a beautiful Sherle Wagner pedestal sink. I almost had a heart attack when I saw how much it cost.

I love the look of Henry Built cabinets and they certainly look well-built. When we were remodeling, our broker told us to spend more on appliances (built-in paneled fridge and the like) than cabinets, because buyer's only care what the cabinets look like, not who made them, but they are more swayed by, e.g. A sub-zero fridge.

Agree with Hockeyfan above. I happen to love the look of the Henry Built kitchens I've seen on this site (never seen in real life, as I'm on the east coast and there aren't any show rooms outside of new York) and would certainly be swayed into buying a house with a HB kitchen. But if ikea had an identical looking kitchen, I'd be swayed by that too!

Germaine - I'd also be very interested to hear your quote and what's included (linear feet, uppers/lowers, inserts). We are redoing our kitchen next year and going modern, so doing my early research. And yes, I know, kitchen quotes are apples to oranges. But the annoying this about modern kitchens is that they are all standalone stores (Poggenpohl, Seimatic, Pedini, HB, etc) and none of them are open on weekends in our area, so it means having to take a half day off work to visit each one and talk with a designer. So there's no way we can visit them all (there's at least 8 or 9 companies that I'm intrigued by) so it's helpful to get info in advance to narrow down my list. thanks!

I only know HB by reputation which is excellent.

Just chiming in to note that you there are a number of domestic and Canadian brands that offer a range of hi-gloss options.

Ask around in your area. Aside from those mentioned already brands that I know do hi-gloss are: QCCI, Mountaineer, and NFP - all domestic covering; Elmwood (now owned by Cabico) Luxor both Canadian. I'd be really surprised if there were not several more.

There are quite a 8 or 9 ways that solid color (or synthetic) hi-gloss cabinets are done; I've only run into 3 for high gloss wood. They range from 90% sheen to hand rubbed to hi gloss foils and applied sheet material. Each has it's pros, cons and cost.

When we were remodeling, our broker told us to spend more on appliances (built-in paneled fridge and the like) than cabinets, because buyer's only care what the cabinets look like, not who made them,

Funny story going back many years when flat panel melamine cabinets were all the rage. Think late 80's/early 90's.

We, the ex and I had completely redone our small craftsman kitchen using white melamine cabinets from Ikea. (We chose them because they were the cheapest door style and we were on a very tight budget.)

We updated the appliances, countertop etc. Well the couple who eventually bought our house, came in and started raving about how wonderful our "high end" cabinets were.

I never did tell her they were Ikea. They were just happy everything was updated.

My point being is they are probably better made than an Ikea kitchen and if you're planning on staying a while, I certainly would consider putting them in if it will make you happy. I'm building a new house and we are considering it our last house so I want a fairly quality cabinet that will hold up well for years to come. If I was planning on moving in a few years, I'd probably consider something that was at a lower price point.

cp, just an aside to your aside -- we had those ubiquitous white melamine cabinets with oak trim installed in our house in 1984. The person my DH hired to hang the cabinets did them during the two-week period prior to me giving birth to my first child. I think I must have been upstairs sleeping, but when I saw them, I just about fainted - it was an old Victorian, nothing "square", and he had followed the floor level, so everything started low at one end and ended high at the other end. My DH took them all down and re-hung them, and to this day insists the guy was drunk.