Price and country of origin is a pretty good index of quality. Your Kitchen Designer should be working with you to determine your actual needs here. You may not need “best” when “good” will do. If you have not hired a KD, then pay a retainer and hire one. It’s the best money you can spend on your project.

I agree with Sophie, that hiring a KD can really help you. But, I would not just hire any KD from Lowes or Homedepot as they might direct you to the cabinets that they are selling. Rather hire someone with no cabinet line affiliation. Ask friends at church, fitness classes, family, realtors, (just like if you were searching for a doctor) ask for a list of KDs that they would use. Interview and then hire the one you find works well with you. From there they can give you some ideas of which brands for your budget and plans. There are many KDs who use/prefer more than one cabinet line and that is good. Find someone to help you navigate the project. Sometimes inexpensive will wind up being more expensive later because they are falling apart or need to be replaced.

Here are a few links but these are just suggestions to help you think and plan.

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/hanging-kitchen-cabinets 

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/kitchen-cabinets/buying-guide/index.htm

https://www.mainlinekitchendesign.com/general/kitchen-cabinet-ratings-2017-reviews-top-selling-cabinet-lines/

http://lovehomedesigns.com/best-kitchen-cabinet-companies/

Thank you. How much would I expect to pay for KD?

It depends. The more help you need, the more you pay. Expect it to start at $500 for a retainer to get started.

tln1, the price you pay your KD will pale in comparison to the headaches and hassles they will help you avoid as your remodel unfolds!!

Also, do not rule out custom cabinets. We paid far less for our custom cabinets that the big box cabinets or "semi" custom cabinets.

Sophie has a great website that she recommends people read and I have added a few to that.

Kitchen
websites that are helpful

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/new-to-kitchens-read-me-first-dsvw-vd~4306041[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/new-to-kitchens-read-me-first-dsvw-vd~4306041)

http://starcraftcustombuilders.com/kitchen.design.rules.htm#.Wq1aeWrwaM8

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2767033/how-do-i-ask-for-layout-help-and-what-information-should-i-include

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638270/faq-kitchen-work-zones-what-are-they

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638304/faq-aisle-widths-walkways-seating-overhangs-work-landing-space-etc

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638376/faq-how-do-i-plan-for-storage

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2699918/looking-for-layout-help-memorize-this-first

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/things-you-added-or-removed-that-you-love-regret-in-your-kitchen-renov-dsvw-vd~4273188[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/things-you-added-or-removed-that-you-love-regret-in-your-kitchen-renov-dsvw-vd~4273188)

Some qualifying questions: Where do you live? How much can you spend on cabinets? What's your overall budget? How big is your kitchen? What are the kitchens like in your neighborhood (think comps for resale)? Do you want/need a lot of extra functionalities or lots of decorative touches?

If you have an unlimited budget and don't care what it costs, I'd choose Woodmode. They make a quality cabinet with a lot of great styles, finishes and options and I have to say, that of national brands, they're one of the best.

I don't see why one can't use a good KD who works for a kitchen/bath store. Once you have settled on a brand by visiting several stores, you can select a KD who seems to know his or her stuff.

I am not sure why an independent KD is necessarily better than an experienced KD who works with a cabinet shop. In terms of income, I would imagine it is pretty hard to make a living being solely a kitchen designer and a standard interior designer isn't necessarily a kitchen designer.

I am having custom cabinets built because the cost for the custom cabinets is actually less than having semi-custom cabinets built with the kind of design and functionality I want.

However, I did spend a good bit of time visiting various kitchen stores in my area before I decided go in a different direction in terms of getting cabinets and I met some designers who are certainly capable of putting together a good layout - especially since I view it as a collaborative effort anyway. There are certain kitchen rules - ordering sizes - clearances - technical stuff - Code stuff that I don't have knowledge of. However, any kitchen designer is not a mind reader so I had significant impact in terms of working with my designer in terms of features that I want in my design. I would expect that would have been true if I had gone the more standard route except that I would not have been able to realize my design and function as fully as I am able by having them built by a local shop. I checked out his work in two condos currently being built and they are both beautiful and extremely well made.

Helen, the KDs that "work" for the kitchen and bath store are decorators, NOT designers. They work within the confines of the products that are sold at that store. They cannot recommend products that the store does not carry.

Hence, a true designer can and does recommend a broad range of products that many different stores may carry. They may recommend IKEA based on your budget and needs.

They also work intimately with the GC to make sure your vision is brought to fruition.

I understand that. When I was initially researching, I visited a lot of different kitchen stores so I had a good idea of what brands were available within my budget.

I am working with a designer rather than someone who is affiliated with a kitchen store, I’m merely pointing out that it is entirely possible to find a good designer who is attached to a kitchen store just as it is possible to find an independent who isn’t talented.

I’m just pointing out that it is possible to find a good kitchen designer especially if one seeks out independent kitchen stores where it is likely that the designers have experience. I am assuming that someone is going to be more than a blob who floats into one store and lets whoever waits on them sell them cabinets. :-) By visiting several stores one is going to get a sense of cabinets and if one is not willing to do even minimal research, I doubt whether they really care about their kitchen design beyond it having stainless appliances, granite and cabinets within a certain budget.

i don’t even know where one would find an independent kitchen designer who is recommended as designers I am familiar with are generally not interested in smaller projects. I have an independent designer because the scope of my work is a complete remodel but otherwise remodeling my kitchen wouldn’t be profitable enough for most designers to be interested in or at least the designers I have been in contact with. I don’t begrudge the money I am paying for my designer but it is a significant expense.

"Helen, the KDs that "work" for the kitchen and bath store are decorators, NOT designers."

So overly broad as to be false.

Within 1/2 hr of me there are 2 dozen places to get kitchen cabinets accounting for a total of about 60 designers. Roughly 1/3 have formal design training, 70% have training from cabinet manufacturers (about 1/2 of that is worthwhile. to my knowledge there are 3 independent KD's a starving artist with a fine arts background, a refugee from HD customer service dept, and one who appears real but I can't find him. Then there is me I do just design but ONLY for other professionals, not consumers. For them I do design as part of cabinet sales.

It would be useful that when posting a suggestion to use an independent KD real life recomendations and rates be included.

Helen, Mark and Carolina. I am sorry my post was so misinterpreted. I tried to express that usually the designers at Lowes, etc. are usually not NKBD or AKBD certified and may not give you the best design. It was also my belief that they cannot recommend something which the above mentioned stores do not carry.

I did not mean to stir up sentiments that lead to....such overly broad so as to be false.

And some of the designs that people are uncomfortable with and post them on Houzz makes one shudder.

Kathi, you are correct, most are not certified, but I know a few who are and they are dear friends. I get tired of listening to Sophie's "independent designer" tirades, sorry.

It's okay!! I just wanted to make sure I had the correct information. There is nothing worse than when I blurt out something and it is wrong!

Forevermark cabinets are committed to sustainability with their environmentally friendly coatings. From what I can see, the most popular cabinets in our kitchen cabinet store in NJ are Fabuwood Cabinets. You can check them out. Wolf cabinets are also the next most frequent choice. Choices usually depend on a budget and people try to get the best for their money - the best combination of quality construction, material, and design. When consulting with a designer, ask for a 3D design so you can see how your idea will actually look like.

Kathi, me too! What area are you in?

I tried being an independent KD. I couldn't pay the mortgage. Yes, it was during the recession. Not the best time to start a business. I went back to work for a box store where I cut my teeth originally so long ago. So not all box store designers are useless paperweights. Yes, unfortunately, most that I know locally are. The stores do not have a training program anymore. There is only one guy out of the 30 in the region that I would let design my kitchen. The rest, no.

No, I'm not certified. Almost no KD actually is. I have philosophical differences with the NKBA that I won't go into here. But, the bottom line is that it costs a lot of money to get certified if you do not have a design degree. The education requirements used to be able to be satisfied by the fairly extensive training programs that the box stores had in place, but no more for that.

Even though I could probably teach many of the training classes, to get enough credits from taking the NKBA training modules would cost a fortune. I, and many other very capable designers working at box stores or dealers will never becone certified because of that.

But, I have only had one person in 20 years ask if I were certified. Which is why the box stores discontinued their investment and connections.

The knowledge and experience level of the individual designer is what is really important here. Yes, that is hard to discern without certification. But it is part of the due diligence required to do a remodel.

Indianapolis suburb.

We had our kitchen redone 3 years ago.

Our good friend is a GC and he had a cabinet guy.

I know, I know. This could have gone so wrong on so many levels and EVERYTHING was great!! I had a vision.... my husband, son and sister helped me find my voice and my GC and cabinet man listened and did what I asked instead of what they thought. They did make a couple of suggestions, but for the most part, they just got out of the way!!!

I find it very interesting that you asked about cabinet brands and how to choose one and it ended in a discussion about store designers vs interior designers.

I think it's because there are many choices within one's cabinet budget for well made good looking cabinets.

The real difference for a great kitchen would be the designer. A mediocre designer working with the same cabinet line would probably not design as good a kitchen as a really talented experienced designer working with the same line and budget.

At least in my opinion, once one has visited a variety of different cabinet sources, one would then have a good idea of which lines are within one's budget for an apples to apples kitchen.

GreenDesigns, thank you for the clarification. I am kinda green when it comes to a lot of this. Of course it costs a fortune to get certified, because why wouldn't it?

Helen, you have great insight and acumen. I think you will do well for yourself!!

Here's a link to the National Kitchen and Bath Association list of benefits for hiring/working with a certified designer and the levels of expertise needed for each type of certified designer. If you are hiring someone specifically to design your kitchen, don't hire someone who "designs" kitchens, even if they have a design degree. Hire someone who's gone through the training, which includes being tested on codes, construction, plumbing and electrical issues, workability and functionality as well as design.

The people who sell cabinets may or may not be NKBD. Getting your NKBD is dependent on several things: Having an employer who will encourage and support you, having the time in your life to study, being close to one of the testing sites or having the money and time to travel to one. Less populated regions probably won't have one at all but that doesn't mean the designers who also sell cabinets aren't good designers.

One thing that an independent designer lacks is the extra exposure to different cabinet lines, features and new introductions that a company rep provides to a cabinet dealer. Sophie would have you believe that all retail designers are stupid, lazy and just plain greedy, and that's simply not true. Generalizations like hers are, by definition, never true and never applicable to an entire field.

As someone who tried the independent route, has worked at dealers, and at box stores, and who knows Sophie from the local NKBA chapter, I think you should lay off of the criticism of Sophie. She IS right about a large majority of designers. kitchen designers included. Too many of them do not take the job seriously. They focus on aesthetics and not functionality. And don't know codes. They are more dilettantes who like the title, but not the actual depth and complexity of the very real work under the surface.

Someone who designs two kitchens a day at a dealer will either achieve some competency at it, or be gone. Dealers do not employ people who keep costing them money with mistakes. That doesn't translate to creativity. Just technical competency for being able to open your refrigerator doors. Except we have seen SO many instances on this forum where even that basic competency wasn't there.

We have 3 local CMKBD's locally, and those years devoted to getting all of that paid continuing education has resulted in one of them moving from pillar to post in a series of short lived jobs at local dealers. If she wasn't married to an IT guru, she would have had to go into another field entirely. She has never recouped that financial investment in certification.

The other just happened to marry into a construction business family and started her own decor shop, totally unrelated to kitchens, and not with any money earned from her kitchen business. She too has never actually technically earned back a dime of the long years obtaining the title. And does nothing real world with it.

Only #3 has really done anything with that certification, and she too is married to a contractor partner who shares as much credit for the successes as the design end of the shop. It's what allowed them to be cost competitive, and control the quality of the jobs. And all of that saved money and business savvy went into purchasing a local kitchen design shop which does quite well.

I used a KD from a store that sells cabinets, so they only had a few lines available. He was certified and created an awesome very functional layout. I actually went to three different designers (who all happen to use difference cabinet companies) and went with the designer I liked working with the best, so that's how I chose my cabinet company. The cabinets are brookhaven (part of woodmode) and I love them so far (just got installed 2 weeks ago!). I think lots of brands are really good and it all depends on your budget.

While I would agree with the advice to hire an independent KD, I found that to be much more difficult than expected. I did web searches, looked the the Houzz listed professionals, etc. I weeded out the KD who worked for cabinet stores and started looking at websites and reviews of the independent KD’s. What I found was many of them were actually interior decorators and the ones who likely were “true” KD’s had whole remodel businesses going and weren’t interested because I wasn’t spending $100k+ on my project. And I live in a metropolitan area. Can’t imagine if I lived in a small town. I met with many KD’s from cabinet shops and found varying levels of competence from pretty decent to suggesting things even I knew weren’t code. I finally hired an architect to help with “Vision “ and relied on GW advice and NKBA guidelines (which I learned about here) for guidance. I am now consulting with an interior decorator for final touches on decor (floor, paint and tile color, etc) related areas as that isn’t my forte.

In the whole project, do you know who’s advice most closely aligned with everything I learned on here??? My GC. I see time and again people say your GC is not a KD and while true, I lucked out to get a very thorough, very established GC who gave me much of the same advice I had read here. Is that typical? No, I interviewed lots of GC’s who didn’t know half what I learned in here. I just mention it because I have come to learn that educating myself was probably the BEST thing I could have done because it allowed me the ability to weed through the people who had no idea what they were talking about, stand my ground on things I knew were important with the professionals I chose to work with, and have what I believe will be a successful project even though I could never actually get that elusive “independent kitchen designer”. Would my kitchen be better if I had the certified, independent KD? No doubt. But reality is what it is and I just couldn’t find that person for my project.

strob06, but you did. Because you took the time to educate yourself, you were able to find a GC that fit with your thinking and the GC was able to help you find your voice and give you what you wanted. Sometimes, a person needs a KD because they have no idea what they want. They just want "something different."

I too was able to use my GC and cabinet maker (and my sister!!) to get the kitchen of my dreams. But, I spent a solid year researching and learning and educating myself on the products that I wanted, the style I wanted, etc.

It truly is about educating yourself. The people that, IMHO, have the most difficulty are the ones that demo a room and then ask, what should I do, how should I decorate, what cabinets, what countertops, etc.??

No smell from the brookhaven cabinets whatsoever, paint on my white cabinets seems very sturdy, and the drawers are so solid. Most importantly everything came in correctly, nothing needs to be reordered!

I agree with other reviewers that you have to find someone that seems to know what they’re doing, and that person can be a GC or a KD or a person at a cabinet store or an architect. All of those people could also be pretty bad! I had a designer flat out refuse to help me put a powder room in my kitchen because it doesn’t belong there, even though that’s what we wanted and there was no other place in our house for it. I had a GC design and build firm bid my project (who I didnt hire) that designed my kitchen with 17 feet of space and a 7 foot island in between the sink and the stove! Architects I found to be super expensive. I chose all my own materials because I knew what I wanted from looking at lots of kitchens on Houzz and blogs, but I briefly worked with a designer to get my permits because my cabinet company only provided drawings of the new layout and I needed drawings of my old one. She charged for every little phone call and email, even just a phone call to schedule her visit to come to my house!

You’ll find the only person as invested in your kitchen is you, and choose the people you work with very wisely, take your time!

like Steele said, plan everything down to the tile, pulls, lights, layout, flooring way beforehand too, that makes it way easier

Downsview makes beautiful cabinets, and they are custom. https://downsviewkitchens.com