I went to Domain in Temecula CA yesterday to look at their bamboo products. The wood looked high quality and nicely finished. The contractor there showed me how to assemble drawer boxes and spent lots of time going over details. The self-close full-extension drawer slides were from a Chinese company (of course) called DTC. Everything was pre-drilled, and shelf undersides were even routed to hold the metal pins precisely. Hinges were soft-close six-way adjustable and looked great. Shelves were beautifully constructed with a bamboo veneer over birch ply core. The edge treatments looked perfect (no obvious edge tape lines.) There is a one-year warranty but could not find separate drawer slides on the web that matched for a possible upgrade. I do not know how long it would take to get their own spare parts if needed, but they have a large modern warehouse with the full kits stocked. The dovetailing on the drawers looked very precise and fit together easily by hand with a snug fit. The main assembly is simple, but more time would obviously be needed to make small adjustments and installing molding to fit uneven walls, etc. The finish carpentry will determine how good it looks in the end I believe. My main concern remains longevity of the drawer slides as other mfrs do not use the same drilling pattern if an upgrade were needed.

You may want to start by hiring someone to come over, measure and get close to a design you want. After getting that plan, tweak it and re-think it and then re-measure several times. This way you have a plan and can get estimates from several RTA sites and save money. I paid $300 and although it was basic and some measurements were a bit off it took the edge off it all being so over whelming. In retrospect I could have saved on the $300 as there was not much changing on floor plan that could be done except move the range over a foot to help with congested corner and I have since changed colors, finishes, drawers ectÂbut I guess I just needed a little confidence jump start. It will cost you more for a design if you have many changes in floor plan and want a lot of detail. Once you get a design done or you choose to do it yourself you can always post layout here and get help improving it before you go online for bids. I went with Conestoga RTA's and will be getting them soon, so no reviews yet but Chad at cabinetmakeschoice was very helpful to me.

With Scherr's and Barker's you won't need clamps. What we did was arrange for an installation carpenter to do the install. We did the assembly. We also arranged for our installation carpenter to help us if became necessary. It didn't. We were able to assemble them without assistance. We saved 40% by doing our own assembly. Having used Scherr's, I would suggest that you consider the three US companies, Scherr's, Barker's or Conestoga by the Cabinet Joint. You will know what kind of material you are using. If you need help, it's a phone call or email away and they will speak English. No formaldehyde, glues or strange chemicals. You get what you buy. Spend a little extra and get a lot more.

Conestoga Wood Specialties manufactures high end RTA cabinets at it’s American factories. You can buy them online through The Cabinet Joint. Assemble with wood glue and either a finish nail gun (costs $150 with compressor) or finish nails and a hammer. Assembly is not difficult. The drawer boxes are pre-assembled. Assembly videos are available on the site. Prices are not posted; you must get a quote. Most RTA brands have a limited number of door styles, finishes, materials, etc. CWS has as many or more options than major pre-assembled brands such as Kraftmaid. Big price determinants: particleboard vs plywood, door style and birch drawer boxes vs maple. Available in standard sizes but they are fully customizable to 1/16” in height, width and depth. Comparable in quality to Schuler line at Lowe’s. I spent $13,000 on 18 cabinets and trim, including optional top and bottom finish panels and special order galley rails. White maple cabinets, plywood construction, full extension soft close Blumotion drawer glides. My kitchen is not barebones. It includes twin 34” wide pantries with 5 adjustable rollouts each, 4 30” wide 3 drawer base cabinets, a 39” wide refrigerator surround — all of these things added to the cost, but I still saved about $10,000 on comparable Schuler cabinets. The vertical spacing on the pantry rollouts can be changed easily without tools for even greater storage efficiency. Here are some photos as I was nearing completion: