Was it in your contract that the grain will be bookmatched or You assumed it will be? Bookmatched is possible but is more expensive

It says “matching slab” and we also paid an additional amount for horizontal grain. We discussed it with the salesperson before selecting the cabinets. Now I’m being told that “this is how wood looks” and that it’s impossible to match veneer that closely.

I am not expert on bookmatchingbut from I read and talking to a cabinet maker, it is possible to match veneer. It is more labor intense and it comes with a lot of material waste which makes it more expensive

If I had been asked to guess, I would have said that grain matched walnut would have been at least twice what you paid. I just built a house and remodeled my previous one, so I have seen lots of quotes!

You can search on Houzz photos and see many examples.

York Mills Metamorphose · More Info

Kitchen with Walnut cabinetry and Heath Ceramics backsplash · More Info

Downtown Townhouse · More Info

Did you show them photos like these to demonstrate exactly what you wanted? Quickly after I started doing remodeling projects I learned that pictures worked much better than words when describing something I wanted.

Yes, I agree. We showed them pictures and this is the top of the line from a semi-custom company. I’m so disappointed. It just looks absolutely terrible to me. I guess I should have asked for pictures of examples of what they had done instead of looking at the sample doors and talking to them.

Try to work out with the company. See what they can do to fix the problem. Definitly doors over fridge and microwave and the vertical grain, if they could change those, it would improve the look. Does a company have a website with the examples of their projects?

If they say it is impossible to match veneer ... how did I find 3 photos on Houzz after searching for a few seconds? I would show them these photos an ask them how did other companies manage to built something "impossible". The answer should be interesting.

I am sorry this happened to you. I have to agree with the others that have said $30k is really low for bookmatched walnut veneer. Astonishingly low. Also the words ”matching slab” do not mean ”bookmatched”. Given that price, and the way the contract omits specifying bookmatched (which you couldn’t have been expected to know), I believe they will replace the doors that have vertical grain, but the rest is not going to be changed.

As a side note, with the high-end kitchen look of horizontal-grained walnut cabinetry, why do you have an OTR microwave instead of a hood? It seems incongruous.

@chispa - I think when they say ”it’s impossible to match veneer that closely”, it’s code for it’s impossible with that cabinet line at that price point. I agree with your comment that a $60k cost would be more in line with the type of cabinetry that the OP wanted.

I understand these aren't what you were expecting. IMHO, other than the one vertical grain cabinet door that needs fixing, I think your cabinets look lovely. And honestly, I don't like the look of the grain lined up exactly from door to door. That would look boring. Once your kitchen is complete with everything in it, I hope you will see how beautiful your cabinets are.

Hello

So sorry they didn’t turn out exactly how you envisioned (but are still very beautiful). This may sound crazy, but are the doors the same size? If so maybe taking them off a rearranging them (maybe even flipping some upside down) will help you get a better flow of the grain. Just looking at your picture, it does seem that some would work better if rearranged. Especially if they told you “this is how wood looks” sounds like they may be only replacing the vertical one. If this is the case, I would have them hold off until you could see what section of grain pattern you really need to help make it more cohesive. Personally I would rather fill a couple of holes on the inside if I had to flip or rearrange the doors versus being unhappy with how they look from the outside. I really hope it gets worked out as overall they are quite lovely.

Thank you all. Yes, it’s a small galley kitchen in a historic mid-century home hence the microwave. I wish we had the space to have a hood instead. I am feeling a bit better about it. I think having seen pictures from Semi-Handmade, which is much cheaper, it seemed possible from a nicer company. This was basically my inspiration kitchen but we wanted nicer cabinets than IKEA. I think if we can get some of the doors swapped out it might look better but it will never look like this.

I agree with @Tanya, for the long run of cabinets it looks like they might match better by switching and flipping a few. As an example if you flipped the 5th one, it looks like it would flow from the 1st. The smaller doors need to ne redone without such prominent knots, a smooth line would make a ton of difference.

@labellenina - I am an experienced woodworker and if someone said "matching slabs" on my slab cabinet order I would think that meant sequentially matched slabs (which is what you are looking for).

Despite what people are telling you, you have bookmatched veneer slabs. You can clearly see th bookmatched grain. What you don't have is bookmatched sequential slabs.

Cabinetmakers may charge for sequencing slabs, but it is not a great deal more expensive to get a few 96" x 48" sequenced veneer sheets.

If I call my veneer supplier today and asked for a couple of good sequenced walnut veneers, someone is going to go out and manually check a couple of sheets (which will likely sequence anyway). I am going to pay extra for 96 x 48 (rather than 48 x 96) but I am going to get two sheets with a decent sequence match at no extra charge.

I think they are a remake at your cabinetmaker's expense. However, your cabinetmaker may disagree.

I agree with Bry--you do have bookmatched; you wanted something else. They are pretty cool, though!