I've built several banks of cabinetry with uppers. In my MBR I have, well, actually those are 18" deep cabinets. Kitchen ones I cut down to fit along a wall. It's a 16' 10" Tansu style. I am still in progress, but it's fabulous, if I do say so myself. In my dining room I have a 6' w x 90' tall bank of wall cabinets that I've built in. A new take on a boring pantry, I guess. :) Laundry room the same. 72" w x 90" tall. I get "orphan" cabinets are a reuse center for $2.00 each. Base cabinets are $5.00. I wait and stalk them until I can find some nicely made, plywood cabs. I use my own doors and have veneered the sides to make them look like one unit. I am all for and love this idea! Yeah!

Dear Johnny Dollar, My kitchen planner/cabinet rep was the one who suggested alder with this stain to soften the redness in the wood. I had initially wanted natural maple, as in our old kitchen. The light color of maple just was not right with the madre perla, the new oak floors, and all the other colors. The softness of the wood was never discussed and this is the first time that I have heard about it. We are almost empty nesters, so this kitchen will not get as much wear and tear as in a family with young kids. So far no gauges or dents or chips. The cabinets were made halfway across the country from where I live, so staining was not done on my premise. The finish on the cabinets looks very even.

Much depends on the style of your house. In an open, contemporary house, I'd prefer seeing more continuity between cabinets in different rooms. They don't have to all be exactly the same, but there should be some elements to tie it all together. When done well (see CPartist's thread), different cabinetry is absolutely breathtaking. I actually had to consider for a few moments how many different cabs CP had; the only reason I even remembered that she had different ones is because her powder room has the cutest little antique vanity... Then I thought of her white kitchen... And then remembered her master bath was dark.... If your house is more traditional, or eclectic, you have a bit more "freedom" to play, but there still needs to be some overall elements to tie it all together. Since ODD referenced my house (thank you ODD), I'll use mine as the example. First there's an overall "feel" and "theme" to my house. The feel is craftsman and the theme is roses. There are lots of elements but they all help tie it together and it not only relates to the cabinets. The first is the overall colors in the house. I used 3 basic colors (BM Wilmington Tan, BM Fernwood Green and BM Cotton Balls) and with the exception of the BM Caliente and SW Rose Embroidery, my 2 other colors are variations in shade of the three main colors. However even my secondary colors have been repeated throughout the house. The caliente on the interior front and friends' entry door and on the walls of the guest bathroom, and the Rose Embroidery in the powder room and the guest bedroom. Secondly, my trim throughout the house is the same. I have a hatband that continues around every room and hallway with the exception of the upstairs guest bathroom and my baseboard is the same everywhere. All my trim and woodwork throughout the house, with the exception of the kitchen cabinets are painted Cotton Balls. I only used painted cabinets and trim or dark stained quarter sawn oak in the "main" rooms. And with the exception of DH's office I kept the stain color the same. My studio and my closet have slab doors in a white stained oak. However both rooms are not main rooms and being separated a bit there is room to "play" a bit. All cabinet doors (with the exception noted above) are either shaker plain, or shaker with a detail that mimics the grid on my windows. Some doors are full overlay and some are inset, but again it's the same two styles throughout. And yes, in bathrooms, there is room to play a bit more and be a bit more daring. Hence the vanity in my powder room or using a pedestal sink in my guest bathroom. Now having said that, picking cabinets can't be done in a vacuum anymore than picking colors, flooring, etc. It all has to work as a whole and it all needs to be thought out in advance. What is the feel and style of your house? What feeling do you want to evoke when you and friends walk in?

As with all good design, matching everything exactly isn’t the right call. You want your space to be curated and custom, and if you choose the same hardware throughout the house (especially in different rooms), your home will feel builder-grade and boring. Your hardware should be sisters, not twins—meaning sharing some similar elements but not the exact same. For example, if you have a more modern aesthetic, pick 2-3 hardware colors and choose all modern hardware. That way, the space will feel cohesive and custom without feeling boring. We have some ideas about hardware, fromour favorites to everything you need to know about hardware to what paint colors go best with what hardware. Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress!