cjc123, sabjimata, flwrs-n-co, jkom51, mtnrdredux thanks! We are really enjoying the new space. It is so much more functional and easy to work in. Ginger25 and jenhp: "Blizzard" is warmer than the pure white or organic white from Caesarstone. I think it works better with the rusty Danby marble than those purer whites. Here are some closeups of the Caesarstone, as requested (these are in artificial light): You have to get REALLY close up (3 inches in this case) to see the fine speckles. From farther back but as close as a foot, it reads solid white: Elba1, the uppers are 37 inches tall. The trim between the cabinets and ceiling is under 2 inches, just enough to tie the cabinets to a little bit of a crooked ceiling. There is also a 1 inch light rail underneath the uppers, to hide the under cabinet lights. The ceiling is 8 feet. I thought about incorporating some glass, but I wanted to avoid breaking up the space, for a more contemporary look. If my ceilings were higher, I would have considered a top glass section as well!

Okay, here are the shots of my main living space. You can see in the last photo the new color I painted in the foyer/hall area. I was trying to work with that family for the kitchen since it's all open to each other. I just remembered (duh) that my fireplace insert is that dark green/black a couple of you mentioned. So it would make sense if that color was carried into the kitchen. I love the idea of something distressed. I'm not sure if I can get dh to go for white walls - although we have some white doors and windows. I have also considered using wood inserts in the cabinet doors and on the backsplash. Also, there are a couple of posts currently on the kitchen board about cabinets painted to mimic wood or at least the colors of wood. What do you think about that as an option? budge - I totally agree about the counters. Trying to make them work has been the biggest challenge. I'm just not into them...even though I have green trim outside and a huge green metal roof. If I could be sure painted counters wouldn't be a big pain to maintain, I'd go for it. I saw on Color Correction on HGTV recently where they painted over ceramic tile counters with some sort of epoxy. I haven't had any luck finding out on the internet what product they used...but it's still on the back of my mind. patricia - great idea about the bathroom refinishing pros. I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to check into that. Can I say thank you again and not sound like a broken record?

Ok, this is a long post with lots of pictures. I am going to try to give you as much background (and details of what I went for) as I can to help you compare KM with a cabinetmaker. I have an older house (1932) and not a single wall is plumb nor is a single floor or ceiling level. My ceilings are less than standard (most of the kitchen is about 92", the slanted roof section that caused the most headache is less). There are 2 kinds of custom cabinets (both shaker style inset) that were in the house when we moved in. We hired a cabinetmaker on the recommendation of our flooring guy who made some built-in bookcases and a tall bathroom cabinet. This same cabinetmaker made cabinets to match the KM cabinets in my kitchen (and I absolutely wish I had hired him to do the whole kitchen, but I found out about him much too late). The instructions I gave the KD was that I did not want anything fancy--no moldings at the top, and no scribe (which I really dislike) because I wanted to keep a clean look. We decided to go with KM cabinets because it seemed most were pleased with the product, and the style seemed like it would work with our home. In my case, the two different KDs I went to would not release the kitchen plans until I had signed a contract, so I did not have a list of cabinets nor did I have any idea of what each individual cabinet cost--I only had a total cost for all the cabinets. The quality of the KM cabinets I would describe as OK (at best). Cabinets are about paying attention to the details and so many custom cabinetmakers meticulous. To me, a lot of the details of the KM cabinets seemed like they had shoddy workmanship (I will give you some examples below). With KM cabinets, anything that was not a basic cabinet (like an end piece that needed a filler, or a side that needed to be finished) was an extra and the costs added up like crazy if the standard cabinet design was altered in any way. Another disadvantage for KM (and any cabinet "line" versus an individual cabinetmaker) is that if and when something goes wrong, it takes roughly 4-6 weeks to have a cabinet replaced. With a local cabinetmaker, it is pretty much instant. The only disadvantage to a local cabinetmaker that I can point to, is that the finishing of the cabinets is one more process. You most likely will not find the baked on finish (and I admit, that is a nice feature IMO). Here are some examples to the points above: KM Huntington doors and drawers are made with solid stock frames, but the inset is "skin" (which is thin and not a solid piece of wood). This is what the KM doors look like (the interior): And this is what the skin looks like on it's own: This is the same door style that my cabinetmaker made with a flat back (inside) with a more substantial panel: This one little detail may not look like a big deal on it's own, but that little lip on the inside of the KM doors (especially on the trash drawer) catches more dirt than I would like and it is just one more thing to clean. DH doesn't like the fact that the cabinets clatter whenever you shut them, again this is because of the fact that the center panel is so thin compared to the rest of the door. We don't have that problem with the custom set. The KM drawer fronts are simply screwed to the drawer. The inside lip tends to catch a lot of gunk (what you see here is wood dust from the install): KM talks about the dovetail joins in the drawers. These are meant to add strength to the drawers and they are a mark of fine cabinetry. I was appalled when I saw the joins on the drawers in my KM order. My kitchen only has 5 drawers and two are ok, but here is what 3 of the 5 look like: The non-KM drawers in my house were of a lesser quality (they are not dovetailed, and they are plywood, not solid wood) so they are not a direct comparison, but they have held together quite well for over 10 years without anything pulled apart. I do not have the same confidence with the KM drawers. The KM full-overlay will drop to the frame if you have any fillers (I know there is something they can put on an overlay, buy that is an additional cost). Two standard upper cabinets placed side by side look like this: Lower cabinets with top drawers look like this: And those fillers (extended styles I think they might be called...I will have to look it up) look like this when placed between cabinets: When you get to the end of a wall, your choices are: extended style (end) scribed to the wall, a gap, or a moulding. Here is what each looks like: I think the scribe looks the best. For the KM option, you need the extended ends which is an added cost. I asked the cabinetmaker to match the rest of my kitchen (and I didn't want it to stand out with all the funky odd overlays that ended up in the rest of the kitchen), so this is how the cabinets line up in the alcove (the stain is not on yet): To give you an idea of the difference in quality, this is one of the tall cabinets the same cabinetmaker did for my bathroom (the panels I asked to keep open because I plan to insert fabric, and it is painted instead of stained). The floor, wall and ceiling in this room is uneven (but you would not know it from the cabinet): For me, I could do a direct cost comparison in the alcove (because this wall had to be re-built same for one upper cabinet). The cost for the KM pieces (end panels, doors, one cabinet and filler pieces) for the alcove was about $1600. labor to install was $1000 (total roughly $2600). The same alcove using a single cabinet from KM (about $300-350) was $800 for the cabinetmaker (materials and install), $160 for a specialty pocket door hinge, and the staining (estimates were about $250-300): total on the high end--about $1610. Important to note that the cabinetmakers price includes install. Also note that if you are going with a granite top that is 2cm with KM cabinets, it will need a plywood under layer (that was an extra $300 that no one mentioned in any estimate but came in as an "extra"). Again, it would have been part of the package with the cabinetmaker. I know that every case is different and a lot depends on the individual cabinetmaker as well as the particulars of your space and preferences, but if you can get drawings to an individual, take a look at their work and talk to a few clients, I highly recommend it. Oh, one more thing. When you asked about the "full overlay" cabinet at the shop you mentioned and got a blank stare, I bet you if I said that to the one we hired it would have met with a similar look. To him, it was either inset or overlay (and if it was overlay, it was just a matter of how much...and in the KM cabinets vary from cabinet to cabinet (as you can see from the photos) even though it is all still called "full overlay").

1) Regarding the screws.... For the drawer faces: Pocket holes should be drilled into the face frames if they must be attached permanently vs using the hardware to keep them on. The pocket holes should have covers attached (either the plastic or wood options). I personally prefer if they are removable via removal of the hardware so they can be changed out or refaced in the future & since you're going the custom route I'd defiantly want it! Inside the cabinets: A pilot hole should be drilled prior to screw if the wood hardness requires it & the screw counter sunk (slightly below the side walls) with or without plastic caps (depending on the company). Cabinet/Wall Brace:Are all the cabinets secured to the wall with simple screws?? I was really surprised to see this! How are they making sure the bases are secured to studs & not just drilled through into the gypsum board? In the past I've seen cabinet makers use a base board across the run anchored into wall studs and the bases are then secured to the board. Holes: The hole that will be exposed once the dishwasher is installed needs to be fixed. The fridge cabinet with the double screws and the blank hole is ridiculous...whomever was doing the install rushed and didn't care about screw placement or taking the time to properly aline things before drilling. Again= Custom built should = quality control and care! Yes there are MUCH better ways of finding the studs...even just using your knuckles to knock on the wall can get you close enough that a max of 2 holes might need drilled if you miss it the first time....again, sloppy work installing. The range microwave: Did they know that cabinet was going to support a microwave/hood? I'd ask about the install and max weight support. I don't believe 2 screws is enough to hold it (especially if they only screwed it into the wall & not a support board!) but don't know...I'd just hate to have it come crashing down a year from now! *You need to make sure the cabinet makers know that screw placement & finish result is important to you and you expect no screws will be felt or seen once the install is complete. 2) Shims: Yes, it's totally normal for wood shims to be left under the cabinets. Floors aren't completely level and in a new build the house will settle over time and the floor will change so it's important that the cabinets can be leveled. This is why RTA cabinets like IKEA have adjustable feet on the base that's hidden with a toe kick. Custom cabinet makers use wood shims to level on site during install and those can then be removed or added to as time goes on and any changes are required to keep the cabinets level. 3) Fixture & Outlet Holes: Yes, it's common to have large square pre-cut from the backs before install as plumbing is different for every job & since fixtures change depending on the choices made in faucet, garbage disposal, dishwasher lines, etc they can't make exact cuts. Again, this is why a lot of RTA cabinets are backless and if the backing is ordered it must be cut by the installer to fit the existing fixture spaces. HOWEVER- I totally agree with your being upset about the range plug placement and their solution to cut another hole into the side of the custom cabinet boxes. Although- I'm not entirely sure I understand correctly if it had to go through another base to reach the outlet or just the base of that unit vs the back side where a hole was already cut? I don't know what another solution would have been.... 4) Cabinet Face Gaps: Are you doing a full overlay with the new build as well? I completely agree that the gap's should be consistent and you definitely shouldn't be able to see the contents of the drawers! If the cabinets are full overlay why is the frame not hiding the contents? If they are custom inset then I'd be very picky about how it all lines up since this is a fine craft that requires skill & time to get right (hence the excessive cost)...plus wood swells & contracts so they need to fit properly with a slight consistent gap after install.