Designing Your Dream Kitchen:
Our Expert Guide to Kitchen Cabinet Design
We love helping our clients design their dream kitchens! Our clients are often surprised by the differences in cabinetry providers. Looking for cabinet stores nearby? Many people want more than just a store that sells cabinets—they want expert kitchen designers and top-notch cabinets at fair prices.
At Dean Cabinetry, a family-owned business, we understand this. We’re committed to providing excellent service and quality products. Let’s work together to create your dream kitchen. Read on to learn more about the kitchen design process and custom cabinet features.
Understanding Kitchen Cabinet Design
At Dean Cabinetry, our skilled kitchen designers will work closely with you until you’re completely satisfied with your design. They can help you consider different ways to set up your kitchen.
A helpful concept is the ‘kitchen triangle,’ emphasizing the sink, stove, and fridge, the key areas you frequently use. It’s vital for these areas to flow well and be comfortable in your kitchen design.
Your kitchen designer can give you good ideas you might not have considered. For instance, one of our clients had trouble finding a spot for their family to relax and eat in their small kitchen. We suggested adding a peninsula to their design, and it became their favorite part of the new kitchen!
Kitchen designers know about the latest storage and cabinet options that can customize your space to fit your needs perfectly. They may recommend specific inserts or rollouts for your kitchen cabinets based on your favorite cooking tools!
For homeowners, selecting the right cabinets involves several choices, each with its unique advantages. Stock cabinets, also known as prefabricated cabinets, offer affordability but may restrict design options due to standard sizes.
On the other hand, custom cabinets provide limitless design possibilities and top-notch quality, albeit at a higher cost and longer wait times.
If you’re looking for a compromise, consider semi-custom cabinets, striking a balance between customization, cost, and lead time. They provide more flexibility than stock cabinets while remaining budget-friendly and quicker to acquire compared to fully custom options.
Our team collaborates with trusted prefabricated cabinet suppliers to ensure your choice matches your style and budget, guiding you through the spectrum of choices for your kitchen needs.
Custom Kitchen Design Process
In our custom kitchen design process, we begin by addressing key factors that shape the project’s direction. The budget is paramount, influencing styles, layout, and cabinetry options.
Then, the timeline and appliance choices come into focus, followed by decisions on construction type, door style, and finishes.
Further refinements include moldings and trim, cabinet inserts for organization, and cabinet hardware to add a personal touch to your kitchen.
Kitchen Cabinet Materials and Finishes
The materials and finishes you select for your kitchen cabinets significantly impact both their durability and the overall aesthetic of your kitchen. First, consider the construction materials for cabinet boxes, partitions, and shelves, typically made from plywood, MDF, or particle board.
Plywood, the strongest but pricier option, is suitable for various applications. MDF, crafted from sawdust and resin, is strong, temperature-resistant, and cost-effective, with a smooth, grain-free surface. Particleboard, budget-friendly and melamine-coated, is ideal for interior use but lacks structural strength.
The doors and drawers of your cabinets are what you see the most, and they come in different materials. Solid hardwood doors and drawers, made from woods like red oak, maple, and cherry, are tough and can be stained to show their natural patterns.
Kitchen Cabinet Storage Options and Organization Systems
Not sure how to organize your kitchen? Luckily, there are plenty of innovative kitchen cabinet storage solutions available!
Pullouts are a popular storage solution and can be used to hide and easily access your trash and recycling bins, spices, cooking utensils, pantry items, and more!
With stock and semi-custom cabinetry, you may have filler space between cabinets depending on the size of your cabinets and the dimensions of your kitchen. Fortunately, filler space is a great place to add a pullout!
With custom cabinetry, we can build the cabinets around your desired locations for pullouts. If kitchen size is an issue, you may want ceiling-height cabinetry to utilize vertical space.
A kitchen island can house appliances like a microwave drawer or cooktop, as well as cabinets for storing cookware. Our design team can help you choose the right solutions for your specific needs!
Lighting for Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinet lighting can be both functional and aesthetic. Under cabinet lighting is a popular feature in custom kitchens to improve your visibility while prepping and cooking. Your kitchen designer will want to know if you choose under-cabinet lighting, so they can discuss light rail molding options with you.
Light rail molding is a decorative trim for the bottom of upper cabinets. It hides under-cabinet lights, reduces glare, and adds style to your cabinets. It’s available in various designs to match your cabinetry.
Lighting for glass second-tier cabinetry is also a popular option to show off your decor or fancier and less frequently used items like crystal glassware.
Maintenance and Care for Kitchen Cabinets
Your kitchen cabinets can keep shining for up to fifty years – that’s pretty impressive! To keep them looking their best, you just need to do a little regular cleaning.
Simply dust your cabinets every few weeks using a duster or a soft cloth. If you accidentally spill some food or drink, no worries, just clean it up right away. Along with these small steps, we suggest giving your cabinets a good deep cleaning, both inside and out, once a year. This easy routine will help your cabinets stay in tip-top shape for years to come.
For small nicks, dings, and chipping paint, you can use touch-up paint to keep your cabinets looking clean, smooth, and like new. Just make sure that the touch-up paint color and sheen match the cabinets exactly.
Working with Dean Custom Cabinetry
As a small, local business, we aim to be the best choice of cabinet makers in CT, providing the highest level of service as well as quality cabinetry solutions to our community. We’re proud to have over 160 5-star Google reviews!
We encourage you to read through our reviews as we think our clients say it best. Regardless of the project size–stock, semi-custom, or custom cabinetry–we treat every client with the same level of care and attention. We love helping each and every client build their dream kitchen!