I'm going through a kitchen remodel & expansion in Bay Area, CA. When we signed our contract with our GC, we didn't know that his company only allows us to choose from Wellborn and Midcontinent for cabinets. Problem is, we now have to decide which one to go with. We'd like plywood, painted finish cabinets with detailing, but Wellborn's running in the 44k range and Midcontinent is 33k (for a 300 sq ft kitchen). Are these reasonable quotes for custom cabinets? I'm shocked at how much cabinets cost these days! Costco's cabinets (not painted, but plywood) run in the 10k range but I guess we're stuck with Wellborn or Midcontinent. Does anyone have one of these cabinet brands? Do you love your cabinets?

I have painted maple Mid Continent in my laundry room and I'm glad I didn't go with them in my kitchen. Granted, they made me sign that I would be able to see the joinery gaps, etc. in the finish (and boy, can I!) but I also have painted maple Shiloh and I don't see any of my joinery in the finish. Mid Continent made me sign a form basically telling me that I would not be happy with the finish whereas Shiloh did not. That should have been a clue. Admittedly, this is a soft white painted finish; maybe other shades are better executed?

The in-laws just had Kraftmaid installed within the last two months and they seem to be happy with them thus far. They were going to have ***** (a major name) reface them and when the sub-contractor came out to measure he told them they could have brand new cabinets for the same price (I'm sure ***** would be less than thrilled with that kind of sales pitch but it was too good to turn down). We visited them in October and I was impressed with the self-closing feature (brand new thing for me - I've really been out of it in terms of what's new in cabinetry). Of course, most (all?) of the companies have self-closing features but I've noticed that, since being back home and visiting cabinet stores, some don't seem to close/function as well as others (which could be a result of being in showrooms (?)). We had custom cabinets in the last house and the quality was terrible so in comparison, the Kraftmaid seemed well-made. I had Amish-made custom cabinets in the house before that and thought the quality of the Kraftmaid was more in keeping with those cabinets (which were built in the pre-self-closing era but were very well made). Unfortunately, Wellborn Forest is not available in California - at least not according to their website, although Wellborn appears to be available. I've always had the impression Wellborn were well-made cabinets but I don't know anyone who has owned either line. I've been somewhat leery about Schuler because they're owned by the same conglomerate that owns Medallion (Elkay) and when I googled Medallion a few weeks ago this is one of the first 10 entries that came up (and from Gardenweb): "My frustration with Medallion Cabinet Co." I haven't ever looked at Koch cabinets because even though their website indicates they're available in California, they don't list dealer names and require a phone call for more information. I'm weird in this way - but a little thing like that aggravates me. I've actually emailed a handful of cabinet companies for more information on dealers and have never heard back from any of them (apparently the economy is better than I thought). I'm curious about Big Blue. Is it a store like Home Depot or Lowe's?

@Jim S You asked me earlier where I was seeing negative reviews for Wellborn, and I'd have to go back exactly to track down each one, but I'm like a reviews searchlight looking absolutely everywhere to find any negative reviews I can on a company and then comparing them with others. So, I'll do specific searches here at Houzz, then look on various forums online to see what people's experiences have been, and if there are any consumer reviews websites or mentions on social media, I'll pick up on that as well. When you find a company that hardly has any negative reviews and rather has many glowing reviews about customer service, quality and durability, then those are the companies that interest me. Plato Woodwork in Minnesota is one such company, and they do a frameless line called Inovae. Another is Bentwood based in Texas literally within walking distance of my house, so I could really save on shipping if I went with them. They do a frameless line called Harmoni. Have you looked at Brookhaven, the framless line of Wood-Mode? Brookhaven is a well-built frameless line. UltraCraft is one of the better made frameless lines and may actually be a little less expensive than the previous lines I've mentioned. If you are seeing fewer negative reviews for Dura than Wellborn, by all means go with them if you're comfortable with what you see of the quality, service and pricing.