What I suggest for someone price shopping is to make a simple list of 4 cabinets in "standard" construction and shop just those 4 around. Do a plain 24" butt cabinet with a finished (cabinet door applied) side, an 18" drawer base with no finished sides, a 36" tall 24" butt cabinet with one finished (cabinet door applied) side, and an 36" tall 18" wide cabinet with no finished sides. Add 1 stick of classic crown molding and one stick of wood toe kick. Those cabinets and moldings give you a mix of simple middle of the run cabinets and end cabinets and wood molding (some lines use vinyl). The pricing you get from these 4 equal cabinets will let you compare lines "apples to apples" without getting any design services. Of course, presenting your current layout to the designer while you're getting the price quote for any free ideas they are willing to give you as well as talking with them about their cabinets in general should be a priority. Good rapport with a KD is priceless, and a good quality long history of being in businesss is also priceless in this day and age. I don't do design work for free, nor will most of the other KD's I know. That' means no 20/20 work without a design deposit. If you have a list of cabinets that you want to compare prices, I will input them as a price quote only, but that won't include many needed elements like finished sides and molding--which can add 20% to a kitchen's cost--and which many of the folks in the boxes who are giving you "free" design work probably aren't including either in order to lowball you. If I have the time to do a simple design mock up for you, I will print a perspective of that out, but that "pretty picture" won't have any cabinet information or sizes on it. Now, what I will do for free is take the time to talk to you about what you want in your kitchen, both functionally and aesthetically. I will ask you where you see yourself budget wise without actually asking a hard number. I will tell you the benefits of each of my cabinet lines and where they fall in terms of good, better, and best and what that translates to in pricing. I will tell you if your description of you desired kitchen seems to be in line with your generally stated budget, or if you should rethink that item. I will point out items that you may have forgotten or that havent' received enough attention. I will explain to you the benefit of choosing my firm, both in the design achievements and the professional installers that we have to create the design in actuality in your kitchen. If there are any cabinet promotions going on, I will explain them so that you can get the most for your dollar spent. At the end of our sesssion, I will ask you to choose our firm for your project. If you choose to think it over, that's fine. I am willing to meet with you further if you want to clarify any of the above points, or want to get any input from a trusted friend or family member. However, any design work will only begin when I have received the deposit and my installer has given me an accurate measure of the space.

Rjinga, I hope you see this, since it's not moving to the top. I was out of town for the holiday, but I found your posts in my email. Thanks so much for your lovely compliments! The painted top held up well. We sold the house a few months ago, and all the potential buyers thought it was granite! Even many Realtors (who have likely seen plenty of the real thing). I never did redo the poly to smooth out the brush strokes, and never even had to touch it up. My husband and I aren't hard on things, but I did have water, perfume, hairspray, curling irons, etc. on and around the counter with no problems. It wiped clean with a spritz of 409 and a soft cloth. If I ever do it again, I will try the oil poly with a pantyhose applicator, but I definitely recommend this easy technique if you want a faux granite top.

@sushipup1 - yep! do you have an email address? I'll send you his contact info. I don't think he's on houzz, otherwise I'd just link his profile. @The Patchman Roofing Company- Thank you so much! @Oliviag- Thank you! Honestly, for the amount of time it took, I have absolutely no complaints. From demo to done, I think all in we were about four weeks and change, including waiting for countertop fabrication. It's hard remembering there was ever a different kitchen, honestly. It's so perfect for our aesthetic and our house - it was absolutely worth it!

Hi @turtlexings24, Thanks for the compliment. I am very happy with my GC. Folks on here probably won't think it was wise but...It was me. I GC'd and designed our bath renovation after striking out with about a dozen others. It was stressful but nothing I couldn't handle. Gannt charts, spreadsheets, and research kept things organized. My job is flexible enough to allow me to wfh and adjust my schedule as needed so I was here for every subcontractor and inspector. We did hire an advisor/project manager who connected us with all the subcontractors we needed, Home Improvement Partners. Troy was great and saved us a ton of time hunting for all the individual professionals we needed.