Seattle Custom Cabinets

Tim helped us design our kitchen into two phases. Unfortunately Tim passed away right before making our cabinets. We wanted to post our kitchen as it was his design and vision that we worked with for over 2 years. We will miss you Tim.

I found Tim on Houzz.com. Unlike many other cabinet makers such as Canyon Creek, all the Seattle Custom Cabinets raving reviews came from homeowners, not designers or contractors. That gave me the confidence to go with SCC instead of cheaper alternatives. I had a total of 5 units of base cabinets, no wall cabinets, to manage my project cost in order to work with Seattle Custom Cabinets. From the initial engagement, to the final cabinets delivery, Tim consistently exhibited meticulousness, expert knowledge in cabinetry, and remarkable thoroughness in design. There were times I got frustrated with the amount of questions he had simply because I didn't know the answers but was so glad he had so many questions. And in the process, he helped me learn a lot. An example of his thoughtfulness. I have cook range goes on the island so I have a downdraft system. I was going to convert from electric to gas cooking. Tim pointed out that with downdraft gas range, the flame would be partially sucked downward by the downdraft function. It didn't occur to me but it totally made sense, so I kept it electric and bought an electric downdraft range. And just last week, read in the news that City of Seattle is proposing to ban natural gas in future new construction, something city of Berkeley CA has already done. While code if passed wouldn't impact my house, it's an indicator that the natural gas is getting phased out - Tim not only is super knowledgeable in his craft, he's also well versed with all the kitchen peripherals, and would caution you on things that would not even have crossed your mind. Working with Tim, if at any point that you should feel he's overbearing, you should feel grateful that he's - because it's that level of attention to detail that you'll end up with a set of beautifully constructed custom cabinets. I know I'm going to him again for my next project when I move to forever or longer-term home!

I first contacted Tim Schultz, the owner of Seattle Custom Cabinets, in May/June of this year. I began exploring options for remodeling our 1960’s kitchen, which I had given a hideous (I admit it) “facelift” in 2005. I found Tim’s company initially online, then saw his high ratings on Houzz as I did more research. I hosted my first Thanksgiving last week in my brand new, fabulous, highly functioning kitchen, to rave reviews. Tim fit us into his schedule in between projects (we were fortunately quite flexible on timing), and made sure our kitchen was completed on time and on budget. No surprises. None. A rare experience these days, in my opinion. Our house is a 1934 hybrid of cabin/craftsman/who knows what in North Seattle. To call our old kitchen dysfunctional is being very generous, and Tim took this gnarled lump of wood and turned it into a thing of beauty. We also had quite a conundrum with one area of the kitchen, and Tim designed and engineered a wonderful solution that I am thrilled with. Tim has decades (and decades) of experience, and has a great eye for design and what will and will not work in your kitchen. His grasp of his craft is truly exceptional, and once you become his client, he will champion your cause. Tim’s responsiveness to questions astounded me. I did not expect to get such dedicated customer service, even with the five star reviews! DO read Tim’s blog. Pretty much everything you need to do or know he has written about. DO check your emails frequently, as Tim asks many perceptive questions that will make your kitchen turn out better than you can imagine. DO know what you want as much as possible, as this greatly increases your chances that he can fit you into his production schedule. Thank you Tim, for a wonderful experience, and a truly beautiful kitchen that will be the heart of our home for years to come.

I had been dreaming about a new kitchen since I bought my 1908 Seattle home in 1995. Tim Schultz and Seattle Custom Cabinets ensured my dreams became reality. Tim likes to work with homeowners, and that requires an increased level of attention that Tim seems happy to provide. I can't imagine our kitchen turning out even 75% as well had we purchased our cabinets elsewhere. Tim insists that clients be ready to make decisions in a timely manner that will maintain the production timetable. Our project was not put on the schedule until we really knew what we wanted. When the project began, the more detailed questions started coming…Holy Cow! It was overwhelming and amazing at the time, and clear in hindsight that Tim was right to be sure we were prepared. Tim does have design opinions and is very willing to share them. His ideas and suggestions, which were informed by our design concepts, were nearly infallible. He obsesses each element of the design and influenced innumerable details that make our cabinets special. That level of attention is rare and truly appreciated… especially by a detail-oriented person like me. When we demoed the kitchen soffit and unknown plumbing was exposed, it required rework of cabinets that were already built and ready to deliver. Tim dropped everything and reworked the cabinets in a way that dealt with the unanticipated problem in a truly elegant way. His solution has become one of my favorite features. Tim is a cabinet designer, a historian, a philosopher and a marriage counselor. My husband and I got so much more than kitchen cabinets from Seattle Custom Cabinets. I cannot count the number of times during the project that my husband and I looked at each other and said, "Tim's the right guy!" If you care about the details, if you want input on your ideas, if you want a kitchen that makes you smile EVERY SINGLE TIME you walk in - even months after completion - be sure to call Tim Schultz at Seattle Custom Cabinets.

After an afternoon of calling around to other companies, I spoke to Tim who was by far the most knowledgeable and experienced custom cabinet maker I spoke to in Seattle. He's been doing it for 40 years and despite his busy schedule he spent an hour on the phone with me explaining the options and common pitfalls in the the style of custom kitchen I'm looking to build. I have confidence that were I to hire him the job would be done "right" and built to last. He was very generous with his time and expertise today, I truly appreciated it.

We cannot attest to his workmanship. But I can attest to his poor bedside manner and lack of customer service. If you want to partner with a company this one is not it. They do not care about your ideas, Tim the owner not only talked down to us he told us to leave his office when I suggested he work with our architect on what he perceived as design flaws. He basically wanted to re-design our project and take over rather than work with us or our team.

We were over the moon when we found Seattle Custom Cabinets. We have a 1928 house which needed an updated kitchen but wanted dearly to maintain the charm of that period styling. Tim to the rescue. We achieved the vibe of an vintage kitchen but with an efficiency which comes of an updated space. Working within the space feels like the difference between a wringer washing machine vs electric! Our contractor, with fifty years of experience, announced these are the finest cabinets he has ever installed. My husband marvels at the craftsmanship of the custom peninsula that was designed and built for us. Tim and his team are meticulous in both the design and execution of their product. Cannot speak highly enough of Seattle Custom Cabinets.

We had the pleasure of working with Tim during the remodel of our 1910 home in Bellingham, WA. Using photos of the space stripped down to the studs, measurements taken by our contractor, and many phone and email conversations, Tim was able to create the kitchen I dreamed of without ever having stepped into the space. We chose to work with Tim despite the distance because I felt confident he would produce a historically appropriate kitchen and include all of the current amenities we desired. I am the type of client that has a vast collection of kitchen photos and who spent hours visualizing the space. I would imagine some other cabinet makers would feel I was a burden, but Tim included me in the design process and construction and was always receptive to my input. Since much of the design was done over the phone, if I ever had trouble visualizing what we were talking about, he would quickly draw the options and go through them while we talked. His knowledge of all aspects of cabinetry is astounding and it is clearly through his many years of work that he has found what works. During our first conversation we gave him the budget and the timeline. There was no extra expense tacked on when it came time to decide on how many pull out drawers would be inside a cabinet or when we asked for a custom wine rack in another. When additional costs of a remodel keep popping up, the cabinets stayed within the budget from start to finish. We first talked to Tim on February 1. Cabinets were completed ahead of schedule and were delivered mid May. The time I spent talking to Tim was always one of the more reassuring parts of this process because it quickly becomes apparent how skilled he is. Remodeling a home is a stressful time in many regards. But the day the kitchen was finished, I was both thrilled with the results and had this strange desire to do it all again, in a different needy house of course. And if this were ever to happen, I am certain I would work with Tim again. Now when I see photos of beautiful kitchens online, I find myself saying "I like mine more."

Where do i start with Tim. Hes literally a kitchen genius. He has worked on so many kitchens that he truly understands the best and easiest way to build out a kitchen. Our project was relatively easy and he helped me through the process as i decided to GC our project ourselves. I was very specific on the look and feel of our kitchen specifically, i wanted a black kitchen with brass hardware, true to time with modern accents. It was risky but in the end the exposed hinges and craftsmanship of the cabinets were amazing. To top it off i was pretty pushy in terms of timeline as i wanted the whole project done in 6 weeks start to finish. Tim delivery cabinets on time and even a bit early. We had some issues with installation from our carpenter and Tim graciously sent his team over to help align everything and make sure it was a proper install. He even sent his team on a saturday to install our our hardware. He is so detail oriented and I seriously love everyone on his team. They are all fantastic wonderful human beings that enjoy their craft.

Tim and his crew were recommended to us by a local designer for a total kitchen remodel. We came to Seattle Custom Cabinets a bit late in the game, the same week our contractor began demolition. After having a conversation with Tim about our needs and whether or not he could squeeze us into their schedule, we decided to take the chance that we could work it all out in time to coincide with our projected installation date. Tim's strongest recommendation to me was that I be prepared to make decisions right away - indecision slows down any project. So I did! He listened to our needs and how we wanted to maximize the space in our small 1912 kitchen, adjusted dimensions to fit our new appliances, and pretty much built us sturdy and beautiful custom cabinets for the price of semi-custom. It's important to note that Tim and his crew are very detail-oriented - you will learn more about cabinets than you ever imagined you could. But, if you want to make informed decisions, this is the company you want to use. I always understood why Tim made the recommendations he did and, even if I disagreed with him, my decisions were based on good information. We came in right on budget and pretty much on time. My contractor was very impressed with the quality of the work and how carefully marked each piece was so there was no confusion when in came to installation. Another note: if you want painted cabinets, you'll have to find someone else to paint them as this shop doesn't do it any longer. As you'll see from the photos, the quality of the cabinets is evident. I highly recommend Seattle Custom Cabinets.

Tim Schultz and his team at Seattle Custom Cabinets do a wonderful job designing and building not just cabinets but beautiful and truly functional spaces. My husband and I had the privilege to work with Tim on an extensive remodel of our house for which Seattle Custom Cabinets provided numerous pieces of cabinetry for almost every room. After discovering his cabinetry shop on Houzz, I first contacted Tim by email 3 years ago when we were just beginning to think about the cabinetry for our house. Through each step of the process Tim was a wonderful resource and a valuable team member. He has an eye for fine detail and is constantly thinking of solutions to make his cabinetry more functional and beautiful. All through the project he patiently and helpfully replied to our many ideas, concerns, questions, and suggestions. At the beginning of the process he answered numerous questions before we had even committed to using his cabinets, he met with us at his shop so that we could see the quality of his work in person, and he offered us a variety of different cabinetry options that could align with different price points. As we moved forward with our project and selected Seattle Custom Cabinets to design and build our cabinetry, we provided Tim with drawings of what we had imagined the cabinetry in different areas would look like and he then created various options for us to consider for each space. Each small detail was attended to and Tim came up with many wonderful suggestions that enhanced the cabinetry in our house. Some of our favorite features of the cabinetry Seattle Custom Cabinets created for us include: - a custom buffet with a special compartment that perfectly houses a projector and even includes a fan. That compartment is also accessible via doors in the back of one of the kitchen cabinets which lie at the back of the wall where the buffet is housed - To the left of the cooktop Tim created a special upper cabinet that magically hides the paper towel dispenser - accessed from under the upper cabinets - and at the same time created a lovely stepped cabinet interior for storing cooking oils or spices - an extra-deep cabinetry space above the headroom for our stairs that fully takes advantage of every little inch of space. For this area Tim’s team created special drawers with angled backs to match the pitch of the stairs below them. - a beautiful long island that has seating for three on one end and a prep sink. At the end with the seating we wanted to include a sneaky drawer that could pull out to store pens and paper. Tim figured out how to engineer the island to contain the drawer and still provide enough reinforcement to hold up the very heavy stone countertop - a specially designed pantry area with moveable bins which allows for a lot of different options - at the last minute I decided that I really wanted to have turned posts on the island. Tim was very patient and flexible while we together searched for just the right source for turned posts that met our specific requirements. - built in drawers and closet spaces that allowed us to maximize the space in our small bedrooms - our electrician very much appreciated Tim’s amazing electrical forethought and drawings which allowed him to easily install the electrical elements around our kitchen - using photos we found of fireplaces we liked, Tim created absolutely beautiful mantles that are so beautiful and elegant - lovely brackets that allow the shelves in our library area to be adjustable up and down while still being gorgeous to look at - for the laundry room Tim created a custom shelving cabinet that can double as a storage area for clothing bins or a drying area to dry items that lie flat. I am sure there are other features that I am not remembering at the present moment. At the end of our project, after three years of working together, we are so thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with Tim Schultz and his team at Seattle Custom Cabinets. (I should add that we were very slow about decisions for our project and there were many construction delays unrelated to the cabinetry.) Tim is a wonderful craftsman and we cannot recommend him highly enough. Although our project was very elaborate and complex, we know that Tim can do a wonderful job providing excellent cabinetry at a variety of different levels of detail and price points. If you are looking for a cabinet maker in Northwest Washington, whether your project is a small kitchen remodel or a large custom house, we would strongly suggest that you stop looking around and get in touch with Tim at Seattle Custom Cabinets right away.

My wife dreamt about a new kitchen while searching years for the perfect cabinet company. With the generous help from Seattle Custom Cabinets the kitchen finally came to fruition. We acted as the designer and general contractor, and prefer inset cabinetry traditional to the 1910 period of our home. Tim's expertise meant we could entrust him to take our ideas, incorporate them into a final design - building exactly what we anticipated. For example, one idea was a plate rail on the face of the hood vent cabinet for our turkey platter. Tim went so far as to ask us for the platter to make sure it would accommodate something that large. His creativity shows off beautifully, and we owe him a huge amount of gratitude for all of the time he spent with us to get it right. The recommendations for a superb cabinet installer and painter are another reason why we are so appreciative of Seattle Custom Cabinets. The kitchen works like a dream!