Just my two cents because I happen to have been doing this for more than thirty years and I live in CA (southern). I see a lot of people on this site that are very happy with a good custom guy. But it is more difficult to find someone that can offer you great cabinets and a great finish than it is just going with a known brand where you pretty much get what you see. It's pretty consistent. You see a sample, that's what you get. A custom guy has to have both talents or at least know someone who does. But a good one is going to give your kitchen a lot more attention than a factory would. As far as finishes in CA...we have conversion varnish it's just formulated differently. Is it as good? I don't know maybe but any finish can get damaged if you abuse it. Personally I wouldn't have any conversion varnish in my house. It's nasty stuff to work with and it off-gasses formaldehyde forever. There are finishes that are better than conversion varnish and they can be use here in California because they are waterbased. They are Italian products know as 2K poly (two component acrylic polyurethane) That's all that's used in Europe. There's nothing better. I know I use it on my own work and I even stated importing it for sale. I'm not trying to advertise here I'm just trying to clear up some facts. If there was something better I'd be using it. It bugs me just a little when someone says they have to get a finish done outside California and I've been spraying these products all day on a kitchen I'm building and I know it blows away any conversion varnish. So if you do find a custom guy you really like I'd be happy to send him a sample and see what he thinks. And I'd also ask him to build your cabinets with formaldehyde-free board. There's a lot of cheap stuff from China floating around that I also wouldn't want to be living with. John

The island I designed here 9 years ago here is Omega. And this is custom, from a local guy that does the same tough conversion varnish finish as a factory. You CAN get factory tough locally, but you will have to wade through a lot of frogs before you get the prince. It works best if you have a good local Kitchen Designer involved.

if you can deal w stained cabinets as opposed to painted try shiloh durasupreme maybe merillat. not sure you can go w frameelss full overlay and remain mid priced so much, but maybe. but for partial reveal framed with a basic traditional raised door style you should be able to handle these lines pricing and I think the construction would be good to better. Your desire for painted is going to drive pricing up and never do cheaper painted cabinets. Lots of drawers which should be chosen, will spike it up. You have to pick and choose your priorities. If painted is a must I'd go at least into Shiloh or durasupreme.....showplace is another. You say no accesories or fancy extras but when the specs are done there are requirements to make it fit together . find a good designer /showroom as they will know how to work w your budget once you provide it....in their cabinet offerings they have a few lines, and steer you properly. When people need to be strict w budget , whatever reason....I think is the time to employ a designer...and sometimes custom will surprise you as custom can offer basic and end up not really high priced ......and give you a special small detail to make you happier than you may have thought.

Not sure where you are located, but I found that having custom cabinets was equal in price to semicustom and I got exactly what I wanted. Hope you found what you were looking for with the new designer. If not, repost this in Design Dilemas.