There is little, if any, difference between Medallion and Schuler other than the names of the cabinet styles and finishes. Both cabinets are manufactured in the same facility, and both lines are often delivered on the same truck. There are extensive options for customizing regardless of which you purchase. When we did our kitchen, we used both Medallion's and Schuler's spec sheets. We found nothing in the Medallion line that we couldn't get from Lowes in the Schuler line. At the time, Lowes gave us a much better price than either of the two local Medallion dealers. As far as the finish, Medallion/Schuler has one of the best for cabinets in their price range. I'm not sure what you mean by "patina" and the "feel" of wood, but perhaps you might look at some species other than oak, and some other finishes.

I've had my natural maple Dynasty cabinets for a year and a half and love them! Very well made. Our contractor usually uses Merrillat but I read bad reviews about them and wanted better quality. Dynasty was running a sale at the time and they were maybe $1,000-$1500 more than Merrillat...negligible in the grand scheme of a remodel for a much better quality cab..I think Merrillat is considered low end, while Dynasty is solidly in the middle. If you can wait for a sale you will get a good deal. I think we ordered our cabinets in September.

Did you find any use for the back of the shirt? Sorry, Flamey, I forgot to answer this. The ties are cut from the shirt back, and also the (optional) pocket. I had the hardest time finding a suitable shirt for my son-in-law's apron because he's so tall. One of the shirts I bought, cut, and then rejected was by Banana Republic, made from 100% Irish linen. I ended up using the back as a cloth in which to wrap Bonesy-the-outside-cat's heated disk in her dog house. I told her no other cat in the neighborhood has such an elegant wrap. :-)

I'm a KD (signed in with to avoid "branding") About half my work is upper end, the other half mainstream. Just took a look at 10 "semi" or slightly better kitchens, 160 to 20 sq ft, nicely detailed, fully functional. Cabinets were between 12 and 24k. No reason you can't do a fine kitchen in that range- all the ones over 20 were in a slightly "better brand" but 3 in that brand were under 20. North Jersey will be 10-25% higher from what I've seen. Making a kitchen completely functional adds between 7 and 10% usually. Since you can pay more than that for plywood, a glaze, paint, cherry, a door style...I see no reason not to make functional kitchens. Just do it carefully. Semi-custom is just a price point. In framed cabinets it means pocket hole frames- (frameless is harder to explain). You can still get custom sizes, reasonable modifications and good details at the price-if you look around. Finish, wood grading and customer service are the things that vary the most. Price spread is roughly 10% but can be as much as 20 and as little as 0 (for the same two brands). THERE IS NO BEST. Take a rough plan and have it priced as is at a few places. One you make up that has everything you think you want and a correct amount of cabinets. That can give you a rough idea for budget. Details will be missing so allow 10% more. While you're at it pay attention to who you are dealing with. That should be a bigger factor than what brand. IF you run across someone who indicates that they want to add some details tell them to price that as an option. (but put them on you're short list to go back to).