Built-In entertainment units & family living areas

Even with the state of the economy as it is, customers are still spending decent amounts of money fabricating custom entertainment units and family living areas.  Who knew futurist Faith Popcorn’s prediction of a “nesting” or “cocooning” would be going strong so many years later?  It seems, regardless of the economy, Americans want living environments that allow them to stay home in comfort; these living environments are not only in the kitchen, but in the living, media, and family rooms as well.

The easy accessibility of quality, affordable electronics like high-def televisions and surround sound systems has only increased the trend towards built-in cabinetry in the home. 

Recent jobs all feature the built-in look with floor-to-ceiling pieces with detailed moulding work.  Whether painted maple, stained maple, or cherry, built-in cabinetry creates a high-end, bespoke look in any home.

Hot Trend: Two-Tone kitchens

Two-tone kitchens seem to be the hot new kitchen design trend.  We’ve installed 5 custom kitchens with two-tone finishes in the past six months- a noticeable increase over last year.

The top trend in two tone kitchens is a different stained or painted island that coordinates with the wall and base cabinetry.  Many clients have opted for distressed finishes on the island.  To take the two-tone look further, some even use a different granite color on the island as well.

Distressed black island coordinates with cabinetry

Detailed view of the center island with black distressed finish- notice how the island granite is different from the rest of the island.

Above is a better view of the two different granites used in the kitchen.  You can also see how the tile work behind the cooktop ties in with the black distressed finish of the island.

white painted cabinets with stained solid cherry island

The kitchen above uses a combination of a painted finish and a stained finish.  The kitchen cabinets are solid maple, painted white.  The island is a solid cherry wood with a mahogany stain, hand-mixed by our finisher.  This client used the same granite color throughout the kitchen to tie the whole look together.   

A two-tone kitchen is a unique  and workable look for any kitchen.

Custom Manufacturing.

Many people ask why custom manufacturing kitchen cabinetry takes so much longer than stock, off-the-shelf cabinets that can be found at Home Depot, Lowes, and Consumers.  Quite simply, it’s because each cabinet is made by hand based upon each customer’s unique specifications of height, width, door style, and finish. 

fabricated cabinet boxes and doors

Each kitchen job is fabricated by one master cabinet builder- this ensures the job gets done correctly and there is no mis-communication.  Once the entire job is assembled, the entire kitchen goes to sanding.

each door front, drawer, shelf, and cabinet box is hand sanded

Once sanding is completed the entire kitchen job gets either pre-stained or primed, depending upon whether stain or paint is to be applied.  All of our stains and paints are hand mixed, so our customers are not limited like they would be with stock cabinets.

primed cabinet boxes ready for a painted finish

The primed or pre-stained boxes (and doors, drawer fronts, shelves, etc) then head to finishing, their last stop before delivery/installation.  Finishing takes the longest to complete as all paints and stains are applied by hand.  Special finished, such as glazes, are hand brushed, nothing is applied by automated machine.  Our finishes are artisan quality.

glaze being applied by hand to painted door

painted door and drawer fronts waiting for hand-brushed glaze

HGTV Kitchen Trends for 2009

A recent article on HGTV.com states that the top kitchen trend for 2009 is towards furniture grade cabinets. 

The article states that educated consumers, thanks in part to cable channels like HGTV want high-performing, high-quality cabinets.  Consumers are now paying more attention to features like pull-out garbage pails and soft-closing drawers. 

It seems Dynamic Kitchens & Furniture has been ahead of the curve!  We started out as a furniture manufacturer and have transitioned our excellent quality into our custom kitchen cabinetry.  Our kitchen cabinetry IS furniture- furniture for a kitchen!  Most of the “add-ons” the HGTV article states as being “hot for ‘09″ we’ve been including in our kitchens for years!

In terms of finish, wood-tone is still the most popular- with the maple and cherry species leading the pack.  Glazes and “aging” finishes are also very popular.  We’ve seen a marked increase in requests for hand-brushed glazes that give the “weathered” look to cabinets.

custom maple cabinet with coffee glaze

pantry and refrigerator with wet bar in background

Finally, while high-end appliances are still hot- the newest trend is to “hide” the appliances with panels that match the kitchen cabinetry.  Most dishwashers and refrigerators can be hidden with decorative panels, and over-sized, coordinating hardware is available in order to integrate these pieces into the overall kitchen design.

What makes custom kitchens different?

Many people ask:  what is the difference between custom kitchen cabinetry and cabinets available for purchase at big box retailers like Home Depot and Lowes? 

Cabinetry purchased at Home Depot or Lowes are pre-made.  They cannot be individually customized and are offered in specific sizes and limited color options.  For example, most pre-made cabinet uppers are offered only in 30″ high, 36″ high, and 42″ high sizes.  If your kitchen calls for something in between those three sizes, either the installer has to adjust them by cutting them down, or you have to settle with a size you are less than thrilled with. 

Additionally, because these cabinets are pre-made, oftentimes fillers have to be used.  This is so because oftentimes the configuration of stock cabinetry purchased is less than the space allowed for in the kitchen.  For example, if you have 37″ available for a cabinet, but the stock size is only 36″, you purchase the 36″ cabinet and add a 1″ filler piece.  There is a potential, then, for wasted space.

Finally, pre-made cabinetry is deceptively expensive.  Many times customers come to us with plans from Home Depot and Lowes and we are able to offer them better cabinetry for either the same price, or a nominal increase.  How is that so?  Because Home Depot and Lowes doesn’t INCLUDE anything like:  installation, pull-out shelves, hardware, toe-kicks, crown trim, etc.  Once all of these “extras” are figured into the price of pre-made, off-the-shelf cabinetry, the total price is much closer, or equal to, custom made cabinets.

So, what are the benefits of custom made cabinets?  They are made specifically for your kitchen.  That translates to NO WASTED SPACE (everyone wants extra storage)!  When remodeling a kitchen in an older home, custom cabinetry can take into account existing vent, electrical, and plumbing placement into consideration during the design process.  Custom cabinets come in a wide range of stains and colors; instead of being limited to pre-made colors, custom cabinetry colors and stained are hand-mixed and applied to the client’s specifications. 

Finally, the majority of custom made cabinets are fabricated with better materials.  While I cannot speak for all custom cabinetry manufacturers, I can speak for what we do at Dynamic Kitchens and Furniture, and the differences are astounding!

Our custom made cabinets are crafted out of 3/4″ hard woods.  The majority of pre-made cabinets are crafted out of 1/2″ engineered wood (or worse flake board or particle board).  Engineered woods are composited together from scraps and cuttings of wood; it is a man-made, not found-in-nature product. 

We include with our cabinetry all the extra add-ons Home Depot or Lowes would charge you for such as: pull-out shelves, crown trim, kick plate, full-extension drawers, soft-close drawers, $5.00 hardware allowance, lazy susans, pull-out garbage pails, 176 degree German Hinges, and lastly the same wood species and finish inside the cabinet as out.  That means if you have a maple cabinet door painted white, the inside of the cabinet will also be maple and painted white.

While custom-made kitchen cabinetry does take longer than off-the-shelf options, the benefits far outway the detriments.