No cabinet manufacturer warranty covers any labor. Ever. The install labor warranty is a totally separate warranty, and is usually for one year only. Are you sure that these aren't locally made site built cabinets? The warranty reads like the manufacturer is also the installer, which is never the case unless it's a local maker. 5 years on the hardware is pretty chintzy. Darn chintzy. They must not use very good hardware at all. Here's a copy of the warranty for my mid-grade semi-custom line, Kemper. You can see it's warranted for as long as the original purchaser owns their home, hardware included. _______________________________________ Effective August 1, 2001, Kemper Cabinetry warrants the original consumer purchaser for as long as they own their home that the Kemper Cabinetry products will be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use. This warranty is only applicable to products used in residential applications within the United States and is not transferable to subsequent owners. Should defects in material or workmanship exist during the applicable warranty period in any Kemper Cabinetry product, Kemper Cabinetry will elect at its discretion to either repair or replace the defective material or component, free of charge. This warranty covers only parts and materials of the products supplied by Kemper Cabinetry. Not covered under this warranty are counter tops, appliances, plumbing fixtures, etc. or the costs, including labor, to remove and reinstall materials and related components such as fittings, appliances, etc. This warranty shall become void if the cabinets are in any way modified, improperly installed or damaged prior to or during the installation. Furthermore, this warranty will not apply to cabinets damaged by misuse, neglect, abuse, acts of God, exposure to moisture, exposure to extreme temperatures or the effects of normal wear and tear. Natural woods may vary in color, characteristics and exhibit subtle changes as they age. For example, white painted face frames may eventually have visible cracking around the joint area and cabinet colors may darken or lighten over time. Sunlight, smoke, household cleaners and other environmental conditions may also affect the color match over time. These variations are considered to be the nature of the material in relation to their environmental exposure and are not covered under this warranty. Kemper Cabinetry reserves the right to alter design, specifications and material without obligation to make similar changes to products previously manufactured. The repair(s) or replacements(s) are contingent upon the current product offerings of styles and construction options within the Kemper Cabinetry products at the time of the warranty claim. If a warranty claim is filed after a Kemper Cabinetry product becomes obsolete; Kemper Cabinetry reserves the right to honor the warranty in one of the following fashions: To replace the affected component with a new component of the same style. To replace the affected component and any other component(s) in the residential application to achieve a uniform appearance with a similar and comparable product style of the originally purchased style. If components are replaced, Kemper Cabinetry cannot guarantee that the finish of these replacements will exactly match the finish and appearance of the components in the residential application. This is due to the changes that occur during the woods' natural aging process, affecting its color and grain. THIS WARRANTY IS THE EXCLUSIVE WARRANTY OF KEMPER CABINETRY AND IS IN LIEU OF AND KEMPER CABINETRY DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may have other rights, which vary from state to state. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitations or exclusions may not apply to you. __________________ In addition, if you order a painted finish, you are required to sign the specs for paint. ________ Congratulations on your selection of Kemper cabinetry in Black, Cloud, Coconut, Dover, Pearl, Storm, or White painted finish. Because of its unique characteristics, this finish is quite different from other cabinetry finishes you may be familiar with. Your satisfaction is important to Kemper, and we want you to fully understand the characteristics that make painted finishes so distinctive. It is important to realize that the beauty of wood cabinetry comes from the natural qualities of wood itself. Kemper utilizes only select solid hardwoods and hardwood veneers. The beauty of these genuine woods lies in the variation of the grain. The textures of those natural grain patterns often remain visible with paint finish and should be accepted as inherent characteristics when selecting painted cabinetry. On wood products, normal movement is typical due to changes in climatic conditions; this will cause hairline cracks at stile and rail and panel joints. This hairline cracking is a normal characteristic of painted finishes and will not be considered a reason for product replacement. When ordering painted maple 5-piece styles, the door’s center panel will be constructed of MDF material. Over time, there may be a slight color shift in the paint finish due to the continued exposure to natural and artificial light sources. We mention these characteristics because neither Kemper nor your Kemper dealer can be responsible for these conditions and variations. Accordingly, we ask that the following agreement be signed for Paint Finish orders. I have read the foregoing and find the characteristic variations of wood with painted finish are desirable. As such, I agree not to hold Kemper and/or the Kemper dealer listed below responsible in the event that these characteristics are later found by me to be less desirable than I had expected. ______________

This is one of those things where you have to the cost versus benefit ratio (pros and cons list) or whatever you call it. First, you have to have a kitchen that functions reasonably well. Only you know what is acceptable to you or not. Then you have to put a $ value to what you want. If this is in a rock-bottom starter home where this type of thing will not make or break the impact on how the home/decor is perceived or matter at the time of sale, it probably does not matter. If you are trying to see it this works in a house that cost a $5M, then I would say that you need to suck it up and pay the $ because the rest of the kitchen should commensurate with the level of the decor/furnishings in the house. I have given two extremes of positions. I am sure your house is somewhere in the middle. There are ways to help soften the impact if you want to put the frig there as others have listed. Personally, if this is a typical home, I would spend a little extra money to get a reasonably attractive frig that is counter depth (or recessed into the wall) to have a GOOD work flow in the kitchen. I would consider that a the layout trumps the decision making process when I am at an impasse.

Oh Creek, hang in there and do what Blondepegasus suggests. Five years ago I was where you are now, but it seems like yesterday! =) Now that the 'lil buggers are older and a bit more safe it is the perfect time to begin moving their things out of sight. That is liberating and energizing in itself. You'll be amazed at how little they actually play with once you start sorting. I so understand, believe me. My youngest just turned ten. He is a walking tornado, and all boy besides. Moving the toys was the start. I often would do my projects at night, staying up later than normal but in a way it was therapy, at least I was moving forward. It can be discouraging, VERY... toys, slop, mud, socks, wrappers, cars, rocks, sticks all still find their way into the house. But my painting is mainly done, the walls decorated, tweaks done here or there. It happens in stages. I did the big visual stuff first. Painting,wall decor, furniture moving because it provided the biggest visual change AND little hands couldn't move/break/slobber on them too much. True despair would set in when I would come here and see beautiful tablescapes and vingettes, clean clutter free homes, and green lush plants tucked artfully in corners, all of which only would get messed and neglected in my "lived" in home. I gave up and concentrated on clean surfaces during the weekend and projects that could be done one step at a time. We still can't have a coffee table because it won't stay clean and I refuse to aggravate myself by pretending that "this time" it'll be different! ERRG! =) What about the kids you ask? Often they would work or play on their own stuff while the living room was torn apart spread out with crafts on the floor, watching Spongebob on the couch shoved in the middle of the room, making forts under the dining room table. You can be sure that wherever you are they will want to be there too, but it was and still is some our best fun, we were together. I'd take the time to actually watch Spongebob, help with the fort, have lunch in the living room, and we'd do a lot of talking and listening, and dance and sing on different days. Fast forward us to now being 10 & 15 years old...they still come in and out, ask if I need help, offer feedback, perch on the couch filling me in on their thoughts, run through carrying a wet dog, make me watch really bad SyFy movies with them which entertains us for days. I'm happy for you being ready to move on.It'll be a crazy, slow, frustrating, fun journey, but you will create some precious memories along the way. Moving the toys(most of them)will really motivate you. BTW I have real green plants this year for the first time since I found them turned over on the floor many years ago!!! =D

Really, you have quite a few issues that make tearing out what's there and replacing it a better option than attempting to rework what you have. 11K is a bit steep for refacing, but realize that you also asked for quite a bit of labor in moving around stuff. Moving old stuff is more costly than ripping it out and replacing it with new stuff. Issue #1 is the fridge location. There are several possible solutions to this, but all would require remaking a large part of your layout. Issue #2 is your DW is right in the middle of your prep zone. That complicates being able te separate the prep and cleanup functions and keeps that area muddled. Issue #3 is the paucity of actual prep space. You're mostly standing in the corner facing away from anyone who might visit you. I had a similar layout, and it always felt like "time out" punishment to me. Issue #4 is the bookcase/MW area that serves as a dumping ground rather than an area for decorative items or even a functional snack area. (Move the fridge here with the MW and you now have a great snack area.) Issue #5 is the soffits taking up valuable "overstock" space for seldom used items. That's not space you'll drag out the stepstool and use everyday, but it WILL be useful for turkey platters and the seldom used espresso machine. Issue #6 is the need for better lighting in the kitchen. You need to address this no matter what you choose. Under cabinet lighting becomes more of a must as we age because our eyes need more light to be able to see as well as we did when we were young. Under cabinet lighting puts the light directly onto your work surface where you need it. You also could probably use tweaking of the existing central light fixture into a couple of semi flush lights and possibly some recessed lighting. Issue #7 is the lack of proper landing space around your range, which is one of the things you hope your tweak will help with. Yes, it can, but your proposal doesn't go far enough in addressing all of the issues as a whole. My advice would be to take this layout to several local kitchen shops and see what type of suggestions you get offered as to how to make the space more functional. (This is after getting lots of suggestions here that can open your eyes to the possibilities.) Talk the the KDs about the various "average" costs for the different lines that they carry and the number of options offered by the manufacturer both in door style and stain as well as the thickness of the spec book (indicates the number of variations offered, i.e. the line's flexibility) For the same 12K you were quoted, I could get you all new taller cabinets in Shenendoah along with granite countertops and the installation of all of that. I'm not counting the electrical for the lighting or the demolition of the soffits in there, as costs for that will vary depending on if systems are located in them as well as drywall repair varying depending on location. In the end, for just slightly higher than you were quoted, you could have a MUCH better functioning kitchen with all new cabinets and countertops.