Finestra- we are the ones working w/ Dutch Wood, not Michelle (at least I don't think she is). I had posted the thread to let Michelle know our experiences. Anyway, we continue to be very happy w/ Dutch Wood. They are very quick at getting drawings done, very detail oriented, have noticed and fixed things when doing markings at the house our contractor didn't have right, and seem excited about our project (which involves some unusual things that create a lot more work for them) and committed to making sure it comes out right (I think Jason spent several hours at our build-site one day getting the angles perfect for a triangular bookcase we are building to go up to a peaked ceiling). We are getting full overlay cabinets, solid wood, 3/4 inch plywood, painted finish, soft close on all cabinets/drawers, etc, full extension drawers, and pretty much all glass on uppers. Lots of pull-outs, etc. Our kitchen quote is around $35,000 for everything you see below (not the countertops, those are coming from someone else): My photoshop mock-up to give you an idea, which is almost-but-not-quite updated to the latest version: Based on my quote sheet, it looks like 15.5 feet of painted base and wall cabinets along that cooktop wall is $418/ft. To take that wall of cabinets to out 9 ft. ceilings w/o any gap (other than for crown) is an extra $40/door. Extras and additions have been very affordable, and they do also have an econo-line grade of cabinets that costs less that we are using for our closets and pantry which is still solid wood, it is just 1/2 inch plywood instead of 3/4 inch plywood (note that going up to 1/2 inch plywood is an upgrade on some cabinet lines like Kraftmaid). There are a ton of "extras" included w/ Dutch Wood's basic price as well. Tom posted a brochure here: which can be found in this thread Our cabinets will not begin to be installed until May, but we did see a kitchen in another house our builder built that was made by Dutch Wood which looked wonderful and the more I see of their work versus other cabinets I see elsewhere, the happier I am that we went w/ them.

Interesting thread! We built our home 15 years ago and had custom built (and I mean a single guy built them himself) cabinets throughout the house. All solid wood. Book matched. No stain--let the natural beauty of the wood show!. Maple in the kitchen. Cherry in the bar area. Walnut in the kitchenette in the lower level. They are beautiful, no doubt. My husband is a hobbyist woodworker and is a total SNOB about cabinetry. Then we bought a vacation/retirement home in northern CA a couple of years ago. Renovating it now. Here's how I looked at it. - The boxes for the kitchen cabs need to be solid, well built - If I get frameless boxes, I have the choice of changing the doors if I want something different down the road - I want a decent amount of options for designing the space, but I have long ago decided that I never will be a professional cook, and I don't need every single design feature (those of you who cook a ton deserve those clever design details!). - I wanted high end finishes (counter and backsplash in particular). - We have to spend a lot of money on the rest of the renovation and I didn't want to spend so much on the kitchen that I limited what we spent on other areas. So, we looked at IKEA. Don't be scared by the furniture. The cabinets are totally different. When we looked at what we could pay for IKEA cabs relative to other cabinet manufacturers, it was easy to say yes. We considered custom doors, but in the end we decided to do the doors with IKEA too. DH and I assembled and hung a lot of them. He is VERY handy, and he has said many times that it's all about the installation if you are DIY. We found a local former cabinet maker to finish the installation (we had to travel back home). Interesting thing is this guy, who is an amazing cabinet maker, said he can't stay in business doing cabinets any longer because he just can't compete with IKEA (this may be more true in CA than other parts of the country). Now, when I compare the kitchen in both homes, one doesn't feel more "high end" than the other. They are simply very different. Both look custom built. When we sell our current home, will 90% of the buyers out there realize the quality of our cabinets? Nope. I'm sure someone will walk in and say "I can't wait to paint these wood cabinets white". LOL! I will say that working with IKEA is easiest if there is one near you. The people in the stores seem to be very knowledgeable and eager to help. During their kitchen sales it is busy, so go on a Tuesday or Weds. And there is a learning curve when it comes to ordering. What made our process a PIA was doing it from a distance. I won't go into the gory details! Good luck with your decision!

Unless you obtain cabinetry from a design and build firm (which you've discovered is rather pricy) most kitchen firms aren't "whole project one stop shops". They'll handle the design and install, but won't do structural work or systems work. They may have some contractors in those areas that they'd recommend, but they won't act as general contractor on the job. You'll have to act as GC or else you'll have to engage the services of a general contractor to oversee the project as a whole. In a project such as yours, getting the right GC will be more important than even the brand of cabinetry. You can get nice cabinets from a lot of sources, but getting a contractor who can plan out the job so that the demo, electrician, plumber, and drywall guys show up at the right time with little lag is priceless. Or, you can GC it yourself and take a bit longer, but probably use higher end products because you're not dealing with the GC markup. Of course, you're dealing with the risks of scheduling etc. yourself, but it might allow you to have a better quality kitchen than can be afforded on your budget without having to cut so many of your wants.

There are finishes that can be used in the SCAQMD (south coast air quality district) of Southern California that are as good as or better than Catalyzed Conversion Varnish. UV and 2k poly being two of them. I haven't used CV for many years because yes, this state did put regulations on it that caused the forulations to be altered but that wasn't my reason. This is the nastiest tonic material to be around. Not only working with it but it off-gasses forever so when you have it in your house there are still issues with the toxicity. I started using Italian waterborne 2k poly about seven years ago and never looked back. It's harder to work with, it's more expensive, it's not readily available (I bring it in myself) but it's the best stuff I've found and we use it even in a commercial environment and it holds up really well. UV coating (ultraviolet cured) is used extensively in the flooring industry so even if you intend on walking on your cabinets you would be ok. That finish takes very expensive specialized equipment. I could have it done but don't ever have the need. Sorry to go on but this subject comes up all the time and people who aren't really qualified create the perception that we can't build great cabinets here in California. I've been building high-end custom cabinets for more than twenty five years here in LA so I do have some experience with it. Back to the original questions. "hand finished on site"? With what? Why? Are you going for that look where you see brush strokes in the finish. It's done. I could name a few but it needs to be done well. As far as painted you would never what to paint over cherry that would be a waste of money. Most painted finishes are maple with MDF panel. I do it differently than that but depends on door style and general look you are going for. Espresso stain is done a lot over oak (rifted white oak in particular) but again depends on the look. Re: boxes birch is a little less that pre-finished maple but the big different is domestic vs imported (meaning China).