Realize this is an old thread, but hoping bridgeboodoo or others might be able to comment on their experience with Knight Kitchens. DH and I are doing a new kitchen as part of an addition, and we have looked at about a dozen brands. Knight is our #1 choice so far but we are based on long island so I am a little concerned about the distance and whether customer service would suffer without someone nearby. Any advice appreciated. Their quote was substantially lower than Rutt Regency, BH, Mouser. And comparable to KraftMaid, Decora, Thomasville, Mouser Centra. But the dimensions of the cabinet boxes themselves are much thicker through night. Not sure if I am missing anything.

There are a few different kinds of kitchen designers. VERY basically, you have the kind who work for cabinet shops and work with/represent the lines of cabinets sold by the shops. Or you have independent kitchen designers, whom you pay, by the hour or the project. Independent designers may have a wide variety of services they offer and how they charge for those services, so you really need to understand what they're expecting to do for you, what you're paying for, and what your options are. This is not at all saying that's bad, it's just to say that, if you're trying to compare, the apples and the oranges and the bananas and the pineapples are all in the same bag, so just know which one you're pulling out. It sounds like you're going to cabinet shops with their own designers. If you have any kind of house plans an idea of what you want, you can ask for a preliminary sketchy design and brain-picking session, and get a quote on the cabinet portion of the design you come up with. Just walk in and say "I'm looking for a quote on some cabinets, I brought my house plans," and they'll do what they do a dozen times a day. You can go to several shops and do this. As many have noted, don't assume you can't afford something. My Woodmode quote came in the same as a slightly lower-quality line. The independents -- again, depending on how they work -- they may have a free initial consult, at which time you can see their portfolio, chat with them, they can maybe look at your kitchen or plans and offer a few thoughts, and they tell you how they work and expect to get paid. Some might do a quick pencil sketch, some might do more. Some get paid by the hour, some by the project, some oversee construction (like the design/build firms) it gets complicated. And as paulines said, compatibility is a consideration, as even just buying cabinets can drag on. How do they handle a tricky request? How do they explain things? Is the person called away every 2 minutes? Do they try to "upsell" everything, or do they really seem focused on finding what's really right for you? How do they treat their staff? Does the business seem well organized? If there was a problem, like a damaged cabinet, do you feel like you could talk to them and they would try to fix it? Price is important, but it isn't everything. Good luck!

30K cabinet budget equals a 60K-90K overall budget. You're slightly above midrange average, unless your kitchen is larger than an average 12x12 or you have 10' ceilings with cabinets to the ceiling, or you have it chock full of drawers, glass, and gewgaws like legs and feet. In that quality range, immediately rule out Aristocraft, Merillat, Bishop, and local parts assemblers. The solid middle grade next tier up (Kemper, Medallion, Dura Supreme,) would be a good bet to give you a lot of choices for your budget, but because how some upgrades are done, i.e. as ''upgrades'', the next upper mid grade tick above (Dynasty, Adelphi, Brookhaven,) might actually end up being less expensive in some designs. This is where a good experienced KD comes in. Up in quality and price from upper mid tier would be Omega, Woodmode (which you didn't ask about but is the custom side of Brookhaven), and Plain and Fancy. Local true custom guy's quality could be anything from mid grade on up. Their longevity and quality is mostly determined by their wood selection and finishing process and materials. Finish quality is most of the price difference when you get past mid grade in any line. Factory finishes are mostly just plain tougher than local. It just costs too much to do one offs compared to buying in bulk and using assembly line efficiency. You're approaching the cabinet shops like you are acting as the GC. Otherwise, the GC would have given you a recommendation to his preferred supplier that he has worked with before. Some cabinet shops maintain a GC license. Some don't. Some will give you a referral to a GC, and some won't. Some have in house installers, not GCs, and some have associated independent contractors. Some only sell cabinets, and don't deal with any installs at all. Those are usually the places who deal with contractors only. Edited to add: 130sf of countertops is over twice that of an average kitchen. Most kitchens average 50-60sf of countertops. 130 is HUGE. I'd be very suspicious of a lowball no frills quote being that 30K quote in Adelphi with that much cabinetry. I'd expect it to be double that for a well appointed kitchen at that level. 30K is a pretty low budget to get any kind of quality with a kitchen that is 2x the size of the average kitchen.

Thanks @User.