About half of my kitchen is the same Brookhaven cabinets that sarahandbray has. They are wonderful -- well made adn beautifully finished. Since I just saw a thread about cabinet depth, I will point out that standard wall cabinet depth on Brookhaven is 13" and allows you to fit larger plates and bowls in your upper cabinets. Don't get trapped into thinking that wood is necessarily better than composite materials. There are different grades of wood (generally plywood) and MDF, poarticle board or other composites. I've had plenty of plywood around here for home and school projects. In fact, there is a sheet sitting under concrete blocks on my driveway because it had some serious warping issues. Plywood is very vulnerable to warping. I can also tell you that in the two years since I had my cabinets installed, I have had several water issues -- my plumber didn't connect the prep sink properly. I had a leak inside the cabinet. Even though I mopped it up and thought I caught it fairly quickly, the bottom of the cabinet bubbled in places. No -- it wasn't MDF or particle board. This was inside my all wood Woodmode cabients on the island. On the other hand, I had water run through the pan of my rangetop and down into the cabinet belwo when someone turned their back on the new and fast flowing potfiller. I was sure there would be a problem, but you would never know. Similarly, the main sink and faucet were also not connected properly (the plumber was the source of the bigger pains in my remodel). I have had water in the bottom of that cabinet at least three times before everything was caught and hopefully fixed. No problems there either. Both the rangetop and main sink cabinets are Brookhaven. Another thing -- my KD ordered the cabinets on the end of each run with wood sides -- not because they wood was better but because she wanted to assure that the finish was the same on the ends as on the front (I have seen the two materials with the same finish and they do look different). Overall construction and finish should be more important that generic terms like "wood" or "MDF". I have heard of Crystal here but don't know anything about them personally. I don't get the imprssion that they are on par with Brookhaven though. If Brookhaven and Kraftmaid are within a few hundred dollars, I have no doubt that I would pick Brookhaven -- for the finish (which also has a lot to do with how well your cabinets last over the years), the added inch of depth and the overall quality. Plus, you have the Woodmode company behind you if you have any problems.

I've gotten several quotes from different Kitchen Designers and your price range is pretty similar to mine. Brookhaven was about 25K. Midcontinent was 20K. Showplace was 24K. Dynasty was 22-24K. Diamond / Kraftmaid around 20-22k. My original plan was to go with Midcontinent from a KD that I trusted, but he needed to relocate to take care of his parents. Upgraded Midcontinent cabinets seem to have a pretty good reputation. Looking at the specs online, I think they might use a bit thinner shelving, etc, but I'm not sure how that would affect daily use. The KD that relocated recommended a colleague who carries DeWils. They're have a nice reputation and per the KD, don't charge very much for customization. I'm currently working on the final layout and we might be able to get inset cabinets for about 22K. All the previous quotes were for full overlay, so it's a good price. There are real Kitchen Designers and there are "cabinet stores" that have some kitchen designing experience. The former might mark up their cabinets a bit more, but I believe it's worth working with them if the budget allows.

I have Brookhaven -- for the superior finish, the 13" deep uppers, the ability to pick certain pieces from Woodmode if needed, and for the frameless construction. I was also reading a lot of delivery and damage problems with KM orders around that time, but it's been 3-4 years now (can it be?). I had a water leak under my sink after they were installed (plumber didn't tighten things when he finished) and even the cut edges where pipes came through the box showed no sign of damage from absorbing water. I have other cabinets in Woodmode and I'm not seeing any difference in the wear on them. I'm happy with both.

It has been reported on this forum that prices vary widely for Brookhaven among dealers and that hardware stores that carry the line may be the cheapest. The three preliminary quotes I received varied but not by a really huge amount, but then I have a tiny kitchen. Shops that sell BH may be able to get volume discounts and incentives and the like. The KD at the place I used said, "Nobody pays list," so maybe it was true at her place. She felt WoodMode, Brookhaven's custom line, was over-priced so she didn't sell much although she said she would have made more money. WM finishes are even nicer than BH's nice finishes, and we ended up buying a few cabinets in the WM line because we wanted/needed a few cu$tom $ize$. After nearly three years, we are pleased with our painted Brookhaven cabs. We like BH's more matte painted finish than other lines. Virtually everything was perfect on delivery. I think an after-ordered shelf was a tiny bit crushed, and they replaced it without question. In over three years on this forum, I have seen no BH complaints, esp. no QC complaints. Sadly, I have seen a number of QC finish complaints re Kraftmaid ordered from the Big Box stores. They are eventually resolved, however. Brookhaven's white melamine interiors make it easier to see in the back of cabinets than our old wood interiors, so I don't mind it a bit. Also, it means I don't have to line the shelves. With Amish cabinets, would you have face-frame (vs. frameless) cabinets, and does it make any difference to you? Would the finish hold up as well as factory cabinets, or is your family not hard on things? Would Amish cabinets enable you to get totally custom sizes, or is that not much of a factor in your space? Best wishes, Donna