For the custom sizes required in my design, Barker is not an option as it does not offer the level of dept/height/length control I need. The doors will be slab style in white oak rift cut that I assume are less subject to problems because they are made using veneer with no miter joints. I am worried however to select an inset door style as they will show much more error/ tolerance/ warping problems. What I read is that Conestoga has a 1-year warranty versus 5 years non-transferable for Barker. Conestoga uses 1/2" plywood vs 3/4" for Barker main cabinets components. Conestoga does not say much about what they cover: "Conestoga Wood Specialties warrants that all of our products are free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of shipment. Natural characteristics found in wood will not be considered defects. Wood will expand and contract in accordance with its environments." Barker has a more detailed list of exceptions that makes you question what a cabinet warranty covers anyway. "Any solid wood product will respond adversely to extreme conditions–especially extremely low or high humidity conditions. Mitered doors joints are especially subject to movement under these extreme conditions. Gaps that may develop in door joints due to these conditions are not subject to replacement under this warranty. Please be aware that wood expands and contracts. With painted cabinetry, this natural process will create open joints in the painted finish. An open joint line is not considered a defect and it is widely accepted in the kitchen cabinet industry. Some people think joint lines actually add to the appeal of painted cabinets. The finish will still protect the surface, and the structural integrity of the joint will not be affected. These issues are shared by every manufacturer of painted all wood cabinets and are not unique to Barker Cabinets. Wood may expand and contract differently from cabinet to cabinet. Even joints within the same cabinet may behave differently. Some joined wood may not show any joint lines, others may be slightly visible, while others may display easily visible joint lines. Joint lines also may occur due to the repeated impacts from normal everyday use. An exposed open wood joint can be damaged from prolonged exposure to water or heavy moisture. Therefore, wipe off any excess moisture from cabinet surfaces as soon as possible. Discoloration: All Paints, especially lighter colors, are susceptible to discoloration due to airborne particles such as cooking, grilling, tobacco smoke, fireplaces or candles. Prolonged exposure to natural or artificial light may alter the finish color. Moisture may also discolor the finish" G.

I used Scherr's cabinets in my DIY kitchen remodel, and I was really happy with the quality of the construction, and with how easy they were to assemble (by the end it was taking about 10 minutes to assemble a wall cabinet) Additionally given the adjustable leg-levelers that come with the cabinets, the process of installing the base cabinets so that they were perfectly flat and level was relatively easy for a complete cabinet installation novice to do. Also I cannot speak more highly of the customer service at Scherr's, before the sale in the planning stages, during the cabinet build process as I emailed in some last minute changes and tweaks, and after the the cabinets were finished and shipped. During installation (which was about two months after the cabinets were shipped to me, due to other parts of the remodel taking longer than I planned) I discovered two problems caused by one of my last minute changes, (changing from one brand of drawer slide to another) they changed the drawer slides they included but didn't change the program controlling where the holes were drilled. When I contacted Scherr's about the problem they responded the same day and shipped a fix for the problem to me within about three days. I was also very happy with the final price from Scherr's (about $17000) I ended up with completely custom, shaker style, quarter-sawn red oak cabinets in a custom-colored finish that are both beautiful and functional, for only about twice what it would have cost for the nearest comparable kitchen cabinet setup from Ikea. I cannot compare the cabinets to Conestoga's RTA cabinets, since Conestoga was a complete non-starter for me, given that I was only interested in frameless-style cabinets, whereas Conestoga only seems to offer face-frame style cabinets.

Kountry Wood was the "value" offering at a design store here in Mich called the Kitchen Shop-there are a few of their design centers scattered in this area. I thought the product was good -liked the finish. They are Amish made. Because of the presence of a complete design and install center handling them, I know they would work for the price point maybe better than other cheaper cabinet lines where customer service can be a hassle to correct things or tweak something in the plan/etc. Now I have just looked and see that the Kitchen Shop has dropped them and picked up Waypoint and Wolf cabinets-never heard of them. KountryWood is still in operation...looks like they have streamlined their offerings-just maple, oak, and cherry. I believe they had birch and hickory previously. What I notice is some interesting stain options on maple and a white paint....some dark stains for oak. Other cheaper cabinets I don't think would present you with the finish they give you and now stain offerings to boot. Might be good. If you have a design center handling them it might be a good end product for a lower investment in your cabinets while ending up with a good durable product. I felt the door finishes when handling/looking at them were superior to Ikea. But Ikea has certain aspects that make it desirable as well.

There's a lot I can't love about this design, especially since you state that it's mainly a one cook show. It's really not optimized at all for one person. At first I thought perhaps you were making obvious concessions in the design to try to accommodate a second prep area for two cooks at once but it just doesn't look like a very functional working kitchen to me, sorry. Things that give me pause: 1. I don't understand the prep sink. It takes away from the most usable prep area of the island, IMO. It won't be practical to prep in the 18" to the left of that sink so in reality you'll use the corner by the range and big sink for serious prep jobs. But meanwhile you've compromised the ability for the island to accomodate even non-water prep by putting a sink in the most useful area of it. I would consider eliminating that sink and putting a second sink in the butler pantry instead. 2. Not understanding the dw in the island, not close to any water. I'd move the dw's to be on each side of your main sink, and put trash on the island. 3. Having the ovens so far away from the cooktop would drive me batty. I use the oven every day for dinners and having to navigate an obstacle course around family at the fridge or sitting at the island when rushing a dinner, or worse, navigating through congregating guests and partygoers when trying to get the hot hors d'oeuvres from the ovens, would get old fast. I'd look at switching ovens and fridge, and adding fridge drawers to the island beside the micro if you can swing it. 4. If there is a way to make the spice doors beside the cooktop into single doors, you'd have cabinets that opened away from the range hood instead of into the hood. Makes a difference re. easy accessibility when you're working at the cooktop. 5. Too many lower cabinets vs drawers IMO. You can ask your cabinet maker to adjust the drawer depths so that they line up nicely. For example, in your four drawer stacks it looks like they are three 8" lower drawers. If they were a 12 and two 6's then the symmetry would be better. It will be a beautiful kitchen no matter what you do. Only you can decide if you value form over function or of you want to try for a bit more function in the design. Good luck whatever you decide.