Kitchen Cabinets

Anything inside our home which relates to color or design or fashion is 99% left up to my wife. I don't object because I usually don't care and don't keep up with styles or color schemes, etc. Etc.

We're in the process of remodeling our kitchen by enlarging it by 110 sq ft. The allows room for a new and improved island, a larger cook top, and much more counter space. When we began the planning, the "big box" designer techs were eager to help us plan to match our existing kitchen cabinets (10 year old Maple) so that EVERYTHING would not have to be replaced by new cabinets.

Now that the construction phase is done and all my tools are back in the shop, we're out there actually shopping for cabinets to match what we already have. Now the fun begins for my wife. We need 2 new Lazy Susans, a new built-in Oven/Micro cabinet, a new cook top cabinet, and a new under-sink cabinet. A few new other upper cabinets and a few spacer cabinets will finish the job.

Truth Time: We now understand that this "matching" cannot be done successfully and accepted by somebody who cares about color and shades and tints and overall design (somebody like my wife). One of the kitchen design people was honest enough to tell us that if they told shoppers outright at the ONSET of their remodel jobs that they would eventually need to scrap ALL their existing cabinets ( re-use in garage, basement, workshop ) and buy everything new in order to match - they would lose a lot of business. They are schooled this way. They allow the truth to reveal itself toward the end of the process. Once the remodel past the no-return mark, the truth about matching becomes obvious. Age discolors, location discolors, and each new lot is slightly different.

No doubt this information is common sense to most everybody else out there. Especially to someone who is in the business of remodeling or kitchen design. But, just in case there's somebody out there like us who only travels down this road a couple of times in their lives and who plans to match any wood shades other than black or white - BEWARE. You may have to exchange your dream counter top for a less expensive option in order to stay within your budget.