Hi Meg- I am working with a custom cabinet guy right now- my cabinets are due to be installed July 20th, if you are near Shrewsbury MA (he's in Millbury) and can wait till then, you are welcome to see them.

We're doing white, shaker style inset cabs. He's been fantastic to work with so far.

Price is 12K installed- we have a medium to small kitchen (10 x 10 ish).

here is his info:

Al Loader, Loader Cabinets, 508-865-9012

thrilledtoremodel - thanks for the suggestion. I'm hoping to place our cabinet order before than, but everything takes so much longer than I expect that I may get in touch with you so I can see your cabinets installed. (We're only a few towns away) Are you able to see them being built? I'm not sure what kind of questions to ask of a local cabinet maker - any suggestions?

You can email me anytime at jklmrider@yahoo.com

I am going to visit him either this week or next to see them being built. (he builds the boxes, but orders the doors- it was too time consuming/cost prohibitive for him to make doors also)

I don't know what questions to ask really- what I did was go see 2 of the kitchens he had done, and thought the cabinets looked great. I also asked those people what he was like to work with- and they all said fantastic.

And i LIKE him- I think that's the most important part!!

boxerpups - thanks for the suggestion! Has he made cabinets for you? Do you know if he has any photos of his cabinets posted on the web? Meg

Hi Megma,

Chris Russell made cabinets for my neighbor's kitchen.
We were going to use him to put in new cabinets in our own
kitchen. Instead we decided to keep the cabs we have. The
reason I know he is so easy going is she raves about Chris
Russell.

My neighbor's kitchen is amazing. There is a curved
counter, detailed drawers, doors, molding... Not sure if
there is a website or not. I do have a cell phone number
on his card. (978) 337-2902

And another kitchen GC closer to where I live
Christopher Cahill (603) 465-7124
I think they work together on large projects. Not sure.
I do not know Chris Cahill but have heard good things.

And a third company but this one is NH 603)525-6687
D. Huntington
I believe they work on the coastal towns like New Castle,
Rye and the Lakes Region too.
I have no idea what they are like but I have heard they
create kitchens for the wealthy & famous... Sununu, Steven
Tyler, Umma Thurman, woodwork in the State Capital of NH,
Adam Sandler,...

I think Chris Russell is probably the best best.
I hope it works out.
~boxerpups

boxerpups - I appreciate your taking the time to give me more ideas! I'll post once I've made a decision.

There's also Custom Kitchens in Franklin, MA. A link to their website is below. You can see an example of their work by looking at HoneyB2's kitchen on FKB.

Here is a link that might be useful: Custom Kitchens

I used Country Craftsmen in Uxbridge. Ask for Patty or Billy. They did my Butler's Pantry. Very good prices and exceptional work. They have also done three of my neighbors kitchens. Everyone is thrilled. Here is the link to my panty. They travel all over MA, but are a personal small family operation. Their phone number is 508-278-2307

Here is a link that might be useful: Country Craftsmen Butlers Pantry

Hi Meg - I purchased my cabinets from Modern back in 2005. My uppers are painted and the lowers are cherry. I had a few issues during the installation, but no problems since then. And back then their price was the lowest quote I had received and their cabinets are beautiful! Have you toured their facility?

So the problems during installation:

1. During the install I noticed one of the sink base doors was cracked (the back side so it's wasn't too noticeable). Modern said it was probably my contractor who had cracked it. I couldn't prove otherwise so they split the cost with me.
2. But my biggest problem was my KD's measurement error in the layout. I would suggest you use a different designer. You can email me for the specifics: starpooh@gmail.com

Here is a link that might be useful: email starpooh

starpooh - I'm glad to hear that you're cabinets are beautiful! I haven't toured their facility and probably won't since I'm in Massachusetts. My KD has one of their kitchens in her showroom, but it's painted cabinetry and I'm planning on getting cherry stained. I have a few quotes for cabinets now which all are very close - I think it makes the decision process harder!

Does anyone own the Dover Woods Cabinets? They have a US office in Dover NH - any NH owners on the forum?

This is an old thread but thought my comment might be helpful for someone searching for information. We installed Dover Woods cabinets over 20 years ago and they still look and work great. They are painted cabinets and we've had the lower cabinets repainted once (oil paint with a brush). This is a big benefit of painted cabinets. Stained wood is just harder to freshen up when they get dinged and worn, e.g. around handles/knobs, near the sink. Would purchase again.

We've had Dover kitchen cabinets since 1996 (23 years). Still perfect, maple stain Newport recessed maple finish

We have Modern Cabinetry maple shaker style since 1999. Still looking great and much as I am tempted to paint have to admit the maple wood finish still works.