Progress photos - cabinets

 

Our custom cabinets have arrived and the cabinet maker has been hard at work installing them.  You might be wondering "If they're on such a tight budget,  how and why did they end up with custom cabinets?"  As always, it's important to shop around and collect bids.  We looked at several larger cabinet manufacturers and as it ended up, the custom guy came in lower.  It's really a win/win when you get custom cabinets, because you know that you're getting a piece to fit exactly into the space. 

We spent quite a bit of time on our cabinet design.  Here's my cabinet wish list:

Kitchen

• white cabinets with a simple Shaker style recessed panel
• simple crown molding to top the kitchen cabinets
• lots of drawers with built in rolling shelves, for easy access to pots, pans, casserole and serving dishes
• a built in desk in the kitchen to function as a place to put mail, cookbooks and my laptop - the finished height for the desk at 32" to comfortably house a person sitting on a chair
• butcher block cutting boards, undermounted beneath the countertops
• a large island for storage and baking

Great Room

• cabinets set at 36" to house things like: board games, throw blankets, audio/visual equipment
• built in shelving above the cabinets to display books, pictures and other things

Mud Room

• upper and lower cabinets to store cleaning solutions, keys and all sorts of random junk
• room for a utility sink

Office

• maximize the window seat by putting in built in cabinets that can function as filing cabinets

Laundry Room

• white, melamine cabinets to stay on budget
• room for a utility sink
• lots of countertop space for folding laundry and ironing
• drying bar for wet clothes
• sewing counter set at 30" to allow for comfortable sewing

Guest Bath

• knotty alder cabinets to add a more masculine feel (FYI: stained cabinets happen to be less expensive than painted)
• two set of drawer banks for plenty of storage
• enough elbow room to comfortably use the sink - in other words: make sure that you allow for a bit of room when placing dual vanity sinks
• countertop height at 32" for comfort

Master Bath

• white cabinets with a simple Shaker Style recessed panel
• a built in hutch in between the two sinks, in lieu of a medicine cabinet
• enough elbow room to comfortably use the sink
• countertop height at 36" - a bit higher than your traditional vanity height, but ideal for washing your face (we had this height in our old home and loved it)

Wondering about paint colors? 

• All cabinets, millwork, doors and ceilings: Sherwin Williams SW7008 "Alabaster." 
• Guest bath: Sherwin Williams SW3119-B "Burnished Walnut" stain

And finally, here are the progress pics:

Built in filing cabinets in the office



Kitchen cabinets with half of the island installed

Kitchen cabinets with the entire island installed

Kitchen cabinets, looking at the space for the range and vent hood

Kitchen cabinets - the empty space on the wall will house the dishwasher

Lots of drawers in the island

Great room cabinets

Great room cabinets and shelving

Powder room vanity

Laundry room sewing counter

Laundry room upper and lower cabinets

Guest room cabinets

Built in hutch between master bedroom and master bath

Master bath dual vanity
 

I also ordered hardware for our cabinets from Overstock.  While I love the look and feel of solid brass knobs and pulls, they just weren't in our budget.  In talking with our cabinet maker, he said "You can order a $50 pull or a $5 pull, and the $50 one isn't always going to be better or hold up longer."  Just in case, I ordered a few extra knobs and pulls in the event that we need to replace them. 

 

While our plumbing fixtures are polished chrome, the cabinet hardware will be satin nickel.  In talking with our designer, she recommending mixing no more than 2 metals throughout the house.  That means all of our light fixtures, door hardware and plumbing fixtures will be either polished chrome or satin nickel. She also suggested that we try and stay less than $5 per knob/pull. 

 

 

Stone Mill Satin Nickel Nantucket Cabinet Pull - $2.95/ea

Stone Mill Satin Nickel Round Cabinet Knobs - $2.75/ea



Clear glass cabinet knob from A Look In the Attic - $2.29/ea



Clear glass cabinet pull from A Look In the Attic - $6.99/ea



For the laundry room cabinet hardware, I wanted to add a bit of sparkle, keeping the space fun and feminine.  I found some beautiful glass hardware at Look In the Attic.
In the end, I was able to all of our cabinet hardware for less than $400!