We have what I guess are "high-end" custom cabinets from Plato Woodwork. I can remember asking myself the same question - what is the difference. Some of the first cabinets I'd seen - that were very nice - were Durasupreme. I later visited a friend's KD showroom where she had a nice display with three different cabinet lines in three different price ranges - including Woodmode and Brookhaven. Woodmode had thicker doors/drawers than Brookhaven and she said there were more steps in the finishing process for Woodmode. Neither of those things really seemed to make Woodmode worth more money to me - it was that Woodmode allowed more custom options. She now also carries Durasupreme line which is more moderately priced - and likes that line because it is good quality, more economical but does allow for more custom options. We recently looked at some newer homes - potentially relocating. These were generally pretty nice homes - not cheap by any means. That is when I really realized the difference between "high end" and what I can only think must have been "low end" cabinets. The doors/drawer fronts were practically paper thin compared with mine. They just seemed cheap and flimsy to me - there's just a lot less material there. They looked nice at a distance until you opened a door or drawer. Of course the drawer boxes are completely different as well - as others have pointed out. I probably would never have noticed this before I redid my kitchen and became TKO - though my 30 year old cabinets were not thin and flimsy either.

My version, my design, of a small house might be quite different than yours. The front of my house (not yet finishied) is to the right (in this photo), and there's a front porch all the way across, which is 48 ft across. The depth dimension is 37 ft (not counting the 38 ft for the garage). BUT, it has 10 ft high walls plus 7/12 roofs, plus the large rear-attached garage. The doors to the 3-car garage are hidden from the street. It's a large corner lot, with the long driveway to the right side of the house. The heated/cooled area is right at 1,720 sq ft, but the house looks a lot bigger due to the porches and large garage, and the height (even thought it's a single-story). The side porch is for my outdoor kitchen (BBQ grille) and the french door leads to the indoor kitchen. It's all very well insulated (BIBs), and cooled by a 2-stage 3-ton Trane. I built it good enough to be our last house. BTW we're living in the motorhome while we finish the house.

Yikes, that's a bummer and would drive me nuts. In fact I only have a couple of pet peeves, but when I see a nice kitchen and the ugly side of a fridge sticking out, it drives me nuts. I'd go counter depth any day to avoid it. I'm sure you can come up with some type of solution. Or maybe it wont bother you once done... Good luck.

Muscadine