Qdog, I agree. There are many nice places to live in both PA and NJ and there are always the bad areas. The same as any other state. Call me weird, but I actually like living in NJ. Yes my property taxes are more than most people's mortgage payments, but we do live in a town with one of the top school districts. And even in a down market our property values have held steady. Also I love being fairly close to NYC. We get the best of both worlds. We are close to the best (IMO) city in the world while being able to raise our children in the suburbs. And this is just my experience so don't attack me, but I have found the NY/NJ area to have the most diverse, highly educated and sophisticated populace in the country. Most people we know are college educated, worldly and tolerant of other religions and races. I haven't found that to be the case in most other parts of the country. C

Tony Obando, Custom Woodcraft in Passaic (973-472-0824) will be making my cabinets. He gave me around a dozen references and they all absolutely raved about his work. I saw one of his kitchens in person and it was beautiful. The person who owned the kitchen was having him make more furniture when I visited his shop. Her kitchen was stained wood, but I also saw painted cabinets that he was working on at his shop, and the finish looked great and felt very durable to the touch. He guarantees his work for life. I am enjoying working with him because he listens to what I want and gives me pros and cons about my ideas without being condescending. He's enthusiastic about building the kitchen I want and the price for completely custom is, I think, very competitive.

We're building a new home in northern New Jersey (just outside of New York City). We're looking for a local, high-quality cabinet maker to build and install our kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities (and perhaps built-ins in the mudroom and library). For the kitchen, we're thinking about painted white cabinets in a beaded inset style. We don't want to go with one of the large national brands (e.g. Wood-Mode, Signature, Rutt, etc.) and would rather partner with a local company. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

@palimpsest Great memory! The cabinets were 70’s horrid style. The ktichen was a tiny room. Everything was divided into tiny spaces. I tore it all out to open the whole space up to the glass and views. Now it’s shaped like an L where the entire inside of the L is all glass and open space. So I have modified it from the original. I do not want an original midcentury home. I want an updated midcentury modern home. I have already updated it by getting rid of the claustophobic spaces, replacing all of the glass with double pane low e glass, expanding the kitchen, moving the laundry room, adding a master suite and garage, etc. Those cabinets are great! The wood is very pretty. But I agree about the gray. Right now I am thinking of a shade of green to match the aloe, succulents and cacti that are outside. Make it more of an inside out home.