Mustbnuts, Are you from Canada? I'm in BC and we put Columbia cabinets in our last house, and ironically enough, the ones we just replaced in this kitchen were also from Columbia. Very well thought of here in BC, their manufacturing plant is just a few minutes drive from where I live. I went (by mistake) to their showroom not realizing they don't sell directly to the public anymore- and what I saw looked gorgeous. We were going to go with Merit- my design that I shopped around to get quotes came from them- gorgeous cabinets and the finish was very rich as Mystery said- but in the end I went with a much less expensive company- and no end in sight to the problems I'm having with them...sigh! Either one would be a good choice- make sure you see the cupboards in the exact finish you want- and see how 'custom' they can make them.

They are a local company here and as far as I know, had a good reputation. They had a beautiful showroom in Richmond but it closed down and they seem to have transitioned their business model somewhat. Being you may be in the US, I'm not sure the customs/duties/hassle of importing would be a good idea if there are issues with the supplied cabinets. I'd use a local cabinet maker if possible as they can take measurements and address any issues with the build onsite. Luckily my builder had a source for good, reasonably priced custom cabinets.

Hi there. I was just doing a search for Merit cabinets and came across your post. Can you tell me which cabs you decided to go with? If you chose Merit, are you happy with them? There isn't a deal close to me so I can't just go see them in person easily. I have a quote on Diamond, but a KD told me today that Merit pricing would be similar and more customizable than Diamond. TIA!

Thank you, bossyvossy and mimipaddv. I really appreciate your insight. As I look at pictures, I find myself appreciating the glass fronts more and more. I don't think our cabinets will qualify as "high end." :) In fact, we had been considering IKEA and custom fronts, but I am not sure those will work given our timeline and the size options for IKEA. Right now, I am leaning toward Omega Dynasty cabinets. Our KD thinks she can get us something very nice for less than 20K. She also mentioned that we could use Merit cabinets if we needed to bring the costs down; she said she prefers Dynasty and thinks it's built better but that Merit is also very nice. I have quotes from Kraftmaid (which came in higher than I expect from Dynasty; is that normal?), and Siteline (21.5K) and Greenfield (25K). Reviews on Dynasty seem to be good, so I can't see a reason to spend more. Best of luck with your bigger window, bossyvossy!