Thanks, very helpful. Especially about noting the warranties. We're looking at a custom guy, too, whose work I've seen and it's good -- but I'd be concerned about warranty issues down the road. Given that we're going with flat slab doors, the kitchen designer will also price out a custom shop, as she thinks it may be price competitive given that we're going with such a simple design. What I'm hearing, though, is that natural wood veneer shouldn't be more susceptible to delamination, chips, peeling, dents, etc. than the fake wood laminate? On the more affordable end, I really like the look of Semihandmade and smile everytime I see my new bath cabinet. And I drool over online photos of Henrybuilt, Kerf, Build LLC's SPD, and others outside our price range. I don't have the same emotional response to the wood look cabinets. Just for ideas, I've been in several of the high end European showrooms, and while they're sleek and well done, it's not the same as real wood. I was going to convince myself to go with the fake wood if it would be more durable, but if I can have real wood (probably walnut or teak, likely grainmatched vertically), that's my preference. Would appreciate any other thoughts or advice, thanks.

I like the handles installed as well as I really like things to look fairly symmetrical. I have the same handles throughout, going left-right or up-down depending on if they are on a cabinet or drawer. I just felt that nothing on a drawer would be like introducing a third element. It is personal preference - a lot of people like to mix knobs, handles, etc. That's what is so nice about being able to design your own kitchen - you don't have to live with someone else's preferences! By the way, my handles don't get in the way and they are quite large. Hope this helps!

I didn't put a pull on that spot in my kitchen for the simple fact that I'd be the very one to pull on that darn thing even though I'd KNOW it wasn't real. As far as how it looks, IMHO this is one of those little insignificant details that people agonize over when they shouldn't because in the end, it looks just fine either way. I can say this because believe me, I agonized over dozens of these kinds of details and four years later, I can only look back and laugh at myself for being so worried about them. If you feel strongly that it will look better a certain way, then by all means, do it that way. If not, then I'd say don't bother. You won't miss it if it's not there and it's one less thing to worry about.

I would not install a towel bar there, as it might encourage you to hang a wet towel on that cabinet front and that will degrade the finish of the wood over time. If you lean against the sink while you stand at it you may not want to put any hardware on those at all because it would be pretty much at your hip height and be uncomfortable to lean against. If you can get the fronts off, you could install the tip out hardware but I would look inside the cabinet and measure the distance from the sink to the cabinet to make sure there's enough space for the hardware to go inside there first. Several people with tip out hardware have ended up not wanting to use it because their loved ones kept placing too wet sponges in there and it created problems so they ended up sealing it shut. if you use a cloth rather than a sponge I don't see what purpose having a tip out drawer would have.