Before & After: Classic & Timeless
Our client knew what she wanted stylistically but didn’t know much about the functional side of cabinets. “I knew I wanted white or off white cabinets, but didn’t know about all of the available options. Kate took the time to educate me on framed vs. frameless cabinets and offered options that worked with my budget. The pricing was comparable to competitors but Cabinet Solutions USA had the frameless cabinets and better options. We had heard horror stories so we expected the budget to go off the rails, but it didn’t!”
The home was built in 1991 and the kitchen had never been updated. The cabinets were old, worn out, outdated and small – the soffits limited the upper cabinets to 30″. “We wanted to maximize our storage space and design a better island. The old island was this awkward two level, L-shaped mess that we couldn’t even serve on. It was completely non functional.”
Our client and her husband like to cook, bake and entertain so we designed the space with those preferences in mind. For example, we put the ovens near the island so that the cook will have a large space to place trays when they come out for cooling. “We used to have our drinks in the garage, but that has been moved into the kitchen so everything is in one convenient space when we’re entertaining.”
To accomplish the dramatic aesthetic and functional results, we started by talking through how our client actually wanted to use the space. “There was a particularly bad corner of the kitchen that was so hard to work with, but Kate worked really hard to come up with a solution and helped us to figure out how the cabinets could go into that challenging space and still look great. I used to have to dig way into the corner to my things out, but the new lazy suzan brings those things to me.”
The contractor took the kitchen down to the studs, removed 6″ of wall to make room for new shelves and changed the location of every appliance except the cooktop. The pantry was moved to the other side of the kitchen. “That corner used to be so tight. We were able to make the pantry smaller because the new cabinets fit so much more.” We found creative ways to maximize storage space, including a narrow pull out for cookie sheets, spices and cutting boards.
Our client is very happy with her new timeless, classic look. “Everyone who comes into our house says wow, it looks bigger because it’s brighter and lighter. People love it so much that it makes me feel good.”