It has held up great! I have a couple scratches from kids cutting without cutting board and dent from someone dropping cast iron skillet. There is also a dull spot near sink. I see it but rest of my family doesn’t, I think because I know I said don’t let water sit overnight. Overall I would do it again. I still get compliments and people are shocked I did it myself.

Hi, Your post is great. I am seriously considering using Barker. If I do end up going with RTA, I will definitely measure the height/width of every single cabinet as soon as they arrive. I can start planning the inspection early. :) That means clearing the living room or something. Yes, remodeling = problems. All those remodeling shows on TV make it look fun, but that's fantasy. :) I had bathroom cabinets done. I bought them at a local kitchen showroom that ordered them from a company in another state. They sat in my house (in boxes) for months while other work was completed in the bathroom. The day they were finally installed: 1) The linen closet door was missing; Oops... it was sitting in their warehouse; 2) The installer messed up two doors when he put the handles on; they were crooked. When he straightened them, the original holes were visible (image of me smacking my forehead). They ordered new ones... that took like 6 weeks. When the 2 new doors were delivered, the installer did not bring the linen closet door. I called to remind them of that. The answer was, "Huh? What door?" They searched the warehouse, but could not find it anywhere...and THEN the manufacturer could not find my order to make a new one (it has been too long for me to remember why...), so the local kitchen dealer had to pay a local cabinet maker to make a new door (and it was gorgeous - the finish was slightly nicer than that of the rest of the cabinets). I'd love to know who this local guy is, because I'd hire him. LOL. I only did a vanity and a linen closet, but they were very expensive cabinets, They were built perfectly. That was my first project... many other things went wrong in that bathroom. It put me into the mindset of "problem prevention" with subsequent projects. I try very hard to ask a million questions and take measures to prevent problems, but it's impossible. I don't have a crystal ball. Just about everything I've had done after that has had issues, too... :( The important part, as others have commented, is how the contractor corrects the problem. The only thing I would have done differently today would be: Drive to the kitchen showroom myself on day one and say, "Please give me my door." Still wondering how a door disappeared, and what good it did anyone. :) Did it accidentally end up in the trash? Did someone later find it, take it home, and make a tabletop out of it? :) My only request: Could you please post photos of your beautiful Barker kitchen? :) Thanks!

@julieste The general contractor will do everything EXCEPT install the cabinets. Traemand doesn't doe the construction work but you will need your final design BEFORE your general contractor can get started as they need to know exact measurements and where all the electrical and plumbing needs to be. Our process was: 1) Come up with our design and find a general contractor. This meant measuring, measuring, measuring and checking with a contractor (electrician, plumber, hvac) to make certain what we wanted was even possible as we needed to move plumbing, electrical, A/C ducts, and remove a wall. I played around on the IKEA site (very frustrating but also very educational) and finally paid $300 to Inspired Kitchen Design (IKD) to do a couple of design options for me. I learned about IKD here on Houzz and although their designs weren't perfect they did help me refine what I wanted. Once I had their design I went to IKEA (a few times) and also had them do a design for me which they sent to Traemand for an estimate on the installation costs. I didn't buy the cabinets or contract for installation because I didn't want the cabinets delivered and in the way during construction, but I did have a good idea of the costs. 2) Construction was done by a general contractor. In our area no one has experience or wants to do the installation of IKEA cabinets so first we had to find someone who was willing to do just the construction portion and let me use IKEA to do the cabinet install. You don't want someone unfamiliar with the IKEA system to learn on your kitchen install so make certain if you have non-IKEA people do it that they are very experienced. We had lots of construction work to be done before we got to the cabinet installation. I removed a wall to open the space up to our TV room, we then had to build a small wall to bring electrical to the island, we removed a dropped ceiling, moved all of the AC ductwork that was in the way of my new kitchen plan, put in all new lighting and ran new electrical wiring, and then put in a new high ceiling, and moved the plumbing line to the sink. The general contractor does all that work before you get to the cabinet installation. They need detailed design plans to assure that everything is going to fit perfectly when the cabinets are installed. 3) Once we got to a point where we had a ceiling and walls we could have the cabinets installed. I ordered the cabinets about midway through the process and had them delivered but waited to finalize an install date. During that period my contractor had questions about how the island would be secured, who would build the base for my peninsula, etc. I was able to talk with the Traemand estimator to get the questions answered. That process was actually much easier than I anticipated. I had Traemand build the peninsula base (I was using upper cabinets as lower cabinets and they have no legs so they need to rest on something, plus I was installing a floor AFTER installation of the cabinets so I needed to assure enough clearance that the doors would open after the floor install.) 4) IKEA/Traemand installed the cabinets. That was a two day job. When they left the appliances were in place but not hooked up, electrical work needs to be completed, countertops need to be templated and installed, plumbing needs to be reconnected. 5) The countertop man came the following day @Hannah(he is part of my general contractor agreement, not IKEA) and measured, You don't need to use IKEA countertops. I'm actually using two countertop people as I have a mix of quartz counters in my prep areas and a wooden bartop that is being made by a different person. 6) After my counters are installed (about 3 weeks from now) the tile person will come to do the backsplash, and finally the electrician will be back to finish the electrical hookup, hang the hood, etc. and the plumber will come to hook up the sink, dishwasher, etc. It seems like it has taken forever but I've done remodels before and have tremendous patience with the process. We also had Thanksgiving and Christmas in the middle of our construction which slowed things down. My husband mentioned that my first email to a contractor about getting this project started was Feb 1, 2019 so it will be just over a year from start to finish. Actual construction didn't start until Nov 11 when they did the demo of my old kitchen so I figure we will have had about three months of actual construction.

I just took delivery of a Keeks replica today. I ordered mine on Sunday. Given that the the different options of wood and cushion combinations to choose from I would think that the 8 month lead time you mention may be attriuted to a rare combination that was ordered. Mine is the antique brown leather on palisander. It came in a very securely packaged box and required minimal assembly. Mine had no foul off-gassing smell of the foam that is often reported, and while I'm not an expert on leather, it does seem to be very high quality aniline. I only have two complaints: After sitting in the chair for a few hours the foam does feel a bit firm. This is not a chair that you will just sink into, at least not before it's good and broken in, and I mean VERY well broken in. As I am not a very tall person I bought the standard size, but after assembling and incorporating into my living room, I would definitely recommend the taller version. It's not that it isn't comfortable it just seems a little awkward along with the other, taller furniture. Aside from that, I love it... If don't continue to use it in my living room it will definitely have a place in my home somewhere.