Choosing the Right Products

When I knew we were going to go ahead with this remodeling project, I was most excited about getting new kitchen cabinets so I started researching products and pricing immediately. I quickly discovered that there is are huge price differences between stores and brands. Name brands that you think might be better quality because of their reputation really might not be. Or they might manufacture one or more lines of lesser quality. We started looking at Home Depot and were quoted a price of just under $20.000. I choked up when I heard that and began doing some more research.

There are many companies online that will design and manufacture your kitchen cabinets from your own measurements. Then they will send you the cabinets already assembled or they may offer to send the cabinets unassembled. The best on line company I worked with was Kitchen Resource Direct. I was very close to actually placing an order with this company, which is located in Tampa, FL. They offer a huge line of solid wood cabinets with dove-tail drawers and quality construction. Their kitchen designer was awesome to work with. Then I talked to a friend who had just placed an order locally with Appliance Center. They carried a line of cabinets that I fell in love with- Choice Renaissance. These solid maple cabinets are made in Cleveland, Ohio and they are reasonably priced yet quality cabinets. The manufacturers keep the costs down by limiting the options you can order. What they excel at is quality. The drawers are all soft-close- no extra charge, and are made with dove tail construction. The price came in at just over a quarter of what Home Depot quoted me.

I placed the order and was told it would take four to six weeks. The rep gave me some door samples to take home which I used to match paint and other products. Now we were ready to get some quotes for labor, which would include carpentry, electrical and plumbing.