We really liked the KraftMaid line. While it was more expensive than Ikea, there were more options for cabinet sizes, making it seem more like a custom kitchen. We loved the painted maple doors (in Canvas, a creamy white colour), but unfortunately they are a bit out of our price range. A good alternative is the thermofoil door (MDF with a laminate coating), which is less expensive, but still available in a nice cream colour. The KraftMaid cabinets also come with the soft close hinges and full -extension drawers, which are things we really want.
The biggest downside of the Lowes kitchens? The timelines. With the Ikea kitchens, they have everything in stock so they will be ready whenever we are. With Lowes, the kitchen installer won't come to measure the space until after the drywall is up. Then, it will take 4-6 weeks for the cabinets to arrive. After that, we'll still need to get a countertop installed. Given that we aren't sure when we'll be ready to drywall, it's really hard to estimate when the kitchen could be complete.
We're going to check out a few more options before we make our final choice.
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8 comments:
the lowes kitchens are really pretty (we've also been in there dreaming). timeline/budget (mainly budget) have made ikea win out for us. good luck with your hunting. altima kitchens looks like they have nice stuff too. :)
Hi Pip! We went and checked out a custom kitchen place today - such beautiful options but definitely a lot pricier. It will come down to budget in the end, but it's good to see what's out there.
We seriously considered the Kraftmaid thermofoil line too. They offered a frameless line which we liked. Some drawbacks were that everything was extra - toekicks, valances etc. - and they didn't even offer a glass front option. You would have to order a cabinet door cut out and source the glass yourself. We also looked at Altima (VERY expensive) and Aya.
You do have to wait for manufacture and installation, and there is a price differential, but the difference in quality made us choose the semi-custom route. You're welcome to come over and look at our Aya kitchen if you want. Seriously, just let me know :)
This is going to sound crazy but I live in the same hood in an identical house. I don't have a blog myself but I read enough in order to help me figure out how to slowly and lovingly (emphasis on the slowly) transform these beautiful houses into something modern and usable for my family (myself, husband plus 2 kids).
Sorry I did have a point here. We had a new kitchen installed, after pulling out the dining room/living room walls and installing a steel beam. Now for the crazy part, we ended up with a high end kitchen from a custom kitchen place because we made inquiries about their floor model displays. We ended up saving 50% of the list price of a custom kitchen with all the bells and whistles. My point is that sometimes its worth asking.
Good luck with the renos!
p.s. i look forward to any future post about how to make our side doors and basement steps useful with that terrible angle.
Wanderluster - thanks for the offer. We're still looking into a few other kitchen options, but we might just take you up on your offer to see yours!
Erin - thanks for the suggestion. We will be sure to ask about floor models. And, as for the side door and steps, we haven't come up with anything to fix that problem yet!
We just went with an Ikea kitchen...I can't tell you how happy we are with the product. I vote Ikea all the way. The service is less than ideal, but if you know what you are doing and know what you want, it is worth the savings.
we just finished our full renovations of the kitchen and went with a kitchen installer. As we did the work of the drywall ourselves, we were painting at midnight the night before install but the good news - they come in and just install and get it done. literally in 3 days i had a working kitchen (minus counter tops - we used drywall for the two weeks that took to come)
pick what you love. if you love it, it will be worth whatever time it takes.
Jen, the new IKEA catalogue just came out. Worth taking another look. I will ask my dad since he worked in construction and my cousin who recently renovated his house about Kitchen places. I know my cousin went to this place for his countertops because it was more affordable (marble or granite).
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