From Blueprint to Reality: Cabinet Design Center’s Guide to the Perfect Kitchen Cabinets

Transcription

Bella Bennett: Hey everyone. Welcome to the Cabinet Design Center podcast. I’m Bella, and today I’m super excited because we are talking all about kitchen cabinets. If you are thinking about remodeling your kitchen or just curious about how to upgrade your cabinets, you are in the right place. Joining me today is Joe, the owner of Cabinet Design Center.
If you haven’t heard of them yet, they’ve been helping homeowners create beautiful and functional kitchens for over 20 years. Their team knows how to blend style with practicality to give people the kitchen of their dreams. In today’s episode, we are going to cover everything homeowners want to know about kitchen cabinets.
From choosing the right materials and styles to maximizing storage and staying on budget. Joe is also going to share some great tips on keeping your cabinets looking brand new for years. Joe, welcome to the show. How are you doing today?

Cabinet Design Center: Good morning. Welcome. How are you? Thank you so much. I’ve been great.
I’m so excited.

Bella Bennett: Thank you. Thank you so much. Awesome. Alright, let’s dive right in. So, Joe, when homeowners are thinking about remodeling their kitchen, what is the first thing they should consider when choosing their kitchen cabinets?

Cabinet Design Center: Yeah, first thing, we like to see what they like. You know, you have to listen to the homeowner first.
So show me your style. Show me your inspiration. The most important thing is to listen to the customers. I know many designers that are going to come up with a cookie-cutter idea and they’re going to do copy-paste, and you can see the signature of the designers throughout their old jobs. What we usually do is try to listen to the customer first.
You have to keep in mind when a customer calls us first, they already have a vision of how they want their kitchen to look. So we try to get some ideas from them and then we’re going to make it much nicer and incorporate some layouts and show them exactly how it’s going to be.

Bella Bennett: Amazing. Amazing. That’s a great starting point.
Once they’ve figured out their needs, how do you usually help your clients decide on the best cabinet style for their kitchen? I imagine that it can be a tough choice sometimes.

Cabinet Design Center: Yes, so cabinet style—we can talk about two things. First of all, the cabinet construction. So we have three kinds of cabinet construction.
We have full access, that people call frameless. We also have a face frame, and we also have inset cabinets. So it’s based on the style as well as the budget. And we show the customers—we have all of that in the showroom—and we show the customer the differences, the pros and cons, the price tags.
And we let the customer select whatever they want. Sometimes we also come up with two different kinds of styles and let the customer select which one they like. So we’re doing the same job, we’re designing the same kitchen in different kinds of manufacturers with different kinds of options, and the customer builds it together with us from scratch.

Bella Bennett: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Got it. And I know homeowners often hear about stock, semi-custom, and custom cabinets. What are the biggest advantages of choosing custom kitchen cabinets over the other options?

Cabinet Design Center: Yeah, so we have semi-custom and we have custom cabinets, but also some RTA. So the advantages—
First of all, with semi-custom, you get a shorter lead time.
Custom will take a little bit longer. Price-wise, custom is always going to be a little bit more as well, but with custom, there’s nothing we cannot do. So you can customize the size of the width and the height, and we can do so many different mechanisms. But it also depends on the budget. If you have like a, I don’t know, like a $250,000 home, we’re not going to give you a custom line because that doesn’t make sense. So when the application makes sense, when we try to answer all your wishlists, then we bring you to custom.
Many times in the custom line, you can get special species of wood textures, finishes, that you cannot get in semi-custom. So the other thing that’s extremely important to understand is the lead time in custom. Everything has to be perfect—it takes about 12 weeks to get those cabinets.
With the semi-custom, we can get it much sooner. So it all depends on the customer wishlist and their design, of course. If the design will not allow for semi-custom, we have to upgrade it to custom.
We will show the customer the way to do it. But many times we take semi-custom cabinets with a couple of custom components to save a lot of money and stay on budget. So you don’t have to do the whole kitchen with custom. You can take some custom components. Sometimes we can do like perimeter versus island in a different finish as well with the custom line, and the rest will be in semi-custom. So we can mix and match and see based on the customer budget and wishlist.

Bella Bennett: Oh, yeah. Yeah. That’s really helpful.

Cabinet Design Center: Yeah.

Bella Bennett: Once they’ve chosen the style, how do you balance making the cabinets look great while making sure they’re also practical and functional?

Cabinet Design Center: So remember we said we listen to the customer first. So we ask the customer:
How many people live in the house? If they have young kids, we don’t want to do like a huge island with bar stools. If they like to cook or not. How they like to cook. If they’re entertaining.
So many feedbacks that we used to get from our customers is like, “When I’m cooking, I don’t want anybody in my area.”
So everybody talks about the triangle, but it’s a little bit more than that.
We want to make sure that we have the working space and we have the entertainment space. So like, nobody is going to be in the way. Are you a couple that cooks together? So we make sure that each one of them will have their own space.

Cabinet Design Center: Sometimes we do additional prep things. So it’s very important to listen first before you start to jump to the drawing board and design something. Listen to the customer and tailor to specific needs. For them, it’s the most important thing—listen to the customer.

Bella Bennett: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. All right. Now let’s talk about durability.
Cabinets go through a lot of daily wear and tear, so homeowners want something that lasts. So what are the most durable materials for kitchen cabinets, and how do they compare?

Cabinet Design Center: All right, so we have solid wood, and within the wood, we have many species that can be stronger or a little bit softer as well.
We also have melamine, which is an extremely strong material. It’s also going to be splash-proof and waterproof. And we also have a lacquer finish. So durability is extremely important, and we’re also going to teach our customers how to take care of their kitchen. But I have to tell you something else—
It’s based on personality. Some homeowners’ kitchens are going to look brand new even after 10 years because they will maintain it properly. And for some homeowners, it’s not going to look as nice and new due to lack of maintenance.
So when you’re talking about natural wood, it definitely is going to be scratchable and won’t look so good if you don’t maintain it.
So the most important thing is also to work on the maintenance. And again, talk to the customer, see how they keep their stuff, and we take it from there.

Bella Bennett: Choosing a durable material is really important, especially when you consider how much use the kitchen gets.
The finish also plays a big role in durability. How does the choice of cabinet finish—whether it’s painted or stained—impact maintenance and how long the cabinets last?

Cabinet Design Center: Yeah, also the colors. So, for example, if you do stain, we are going to give you some touch-up kits and everything, but paint is really easier to maintain compared to stain.
If it’s a dark stain, many people who do rentals can stain it a little bit darker, and then we can just do some touch-up paint and you don’t see any issues down the road. So it all depends.
If you paint it, it’s much easier to match, especially if you want to get replacement doors.
But with stain, once you get, like, saddle after a while, the stain may not match, or it’s not going to be the same dye lot, so it doesn’t look exactly the same.
If you replace doors with paint, it’s always going to be the same color.
So when you’re looking at the kitchen, you also need to think about the long term and the maintenance, and how you maintain the kitchen to make sure it’s going to last for many years—
and look great for many years—and enjoy your investment.

Bella Bennett: Exactly. Great insight. Another decision homeowners face is choosing between framed and frameless cabinets. What factors should they consider when making that choice?

Cabinet Design Center: Yeah, so framed cabinets versus frameless—we try to call it full access cabinets.
It doesn’t sound like you’re losing something—it’s actually that you’re getting more. So full access cabinets will have a box construction that also has doors with European hinges.
So basically, all your moldings and all your fillers will be flush installed—flat with the doors—unlike frame cabinets, where your fillers will be inside the box cabinets.
So it creates a seamless look around the islands, around the perimeters, and around all the finished end panels.
And we definitely love full access cabinet design more than face frame.
The other advantage is that you’ll get a little bit more storage. In a face frame cabinet, you’re always going to have like an inch and a quarter around the perimeter of the opening.
So your drawer is always going to be relatively smaller compared to full access.
But it’s also dependent on the manufacturer. So if you do custom, a lot of the custom will be full access. If you do semi-custom or RTA cabinets, they’re going to be in a face frame.

Bella Bennett: Yeah. All right. Let’s talk about storage. Honestly, storage is always a big priority, especially in busy kitchens.
For me, it’s the top priority. I can’t even imagine not having enough space in my kitchen. Good storage keeps things organized and prevents a mess while you are cooking.
It just makes the whole kitchen run so much smoother. So, Joe, what are some innovative storage solutions that homeowners can incorporate into their kitchen cabinets?

Cabinet Design Center: Yeah, so I’ll tell you a story. We have many customers. I had a great customer that came from Manhattan, and she had such a small kitchen. Then we designed it with a lot of storage, and she said, “Oh, I don’t really need that much.” And in the end, she filled it up.
Storage is never enough, so we always want to make sure we add as much storage as possible.
We have a lot of solutions for storage. I always think that getting a cabinet to reach all the way up to the ceiling is a great idea because it looks more custom when you finish with a crown or with fillers touching the ceiling.
It looks like the kitchen is tailored to your walls and ceiling. But people say, “Oh, the cabinets will be too tall.”
So we have a great mechanism that can bring the shelf down, and you can reach the top shelf without needing any kind of step stool.
Another thing for storage: many times we do back-to-back cabinetry in the island. Even though it’s going to look like a panel, we’re going to use push-to-open cabinet doors so you can get additional storage.
So when you do a storage design, you want to think about two things:

• Day-to-day life—whatever you need to use on a daily basis.

• Seasonal storage—stuff you don’t use every day. Stuff that comes out when you entertain.
  Those items we’re going to put in harder-to-reach places.
  And then, for day-to-day life, we’re going to make it very accessible next to the working area.

Bella Bennett: I absolutely love that. Amazing. And when the space is tight, like in smaller kitchens, how do you design cabinets to maximize the space without making the kitchen feel too crowded?

Cabinet Design Center: Yeah, so the most important thing when you do a small kitchen—and by the way, smaller kitchens are harder to design—

Cabinet Design Center: In a larger kitchen, every inch counts. So you need to make sure that you have a nice flow. And when you have a nice flow, the kitchen will look much bigger.
For example, in a smaller kitchen, we always recommend adding a little bit more in terms of panel-ready, integrated appliances.
So if you’re going to have multiple cabinets and a dishwasher in the middle, it’s going to look much smaller. But if you put a cabinet door that hides the dishwasher—surprise—then the space will feel much larger.
So we do panel-ready dishwashers. We do a lot of panel-ready refrigerators—it’s really trending today. And it also creates less visible material in a small kitchen and makes the kitchen look much nicer and much bigger.

Bella Bennett: Yep. Are there any built-in cabinet features that homeowners absolutely love and find the most useful?

Cabinet Design Center: We have an amazing accessories line that’s kind of like hardware within. Like I talked about before, we have the shelf that you can bring down.
We also have a motorized shelf that can come from underneath the cabinetry. And we also have a motorized shelf that can come up from the countertop.
We also have a special mechanism for spices. We have a mechanism for organizing pots and pans.
We also have a lot of full pantries—when you open the door, the pantry comes to you, and you don’t need to dig or walk inside the cabinet. You can also swivel it and access everything.
Of course, we’re talking about the Lazy Susan that everybody has, but I’m a bigger fan of a blind corner mechanism. The integration between the corner cabinetry will be seamless, but once you open the door, you can reach inside with a cool mechanism that will pull out to you. It’s very accessible and very cool because it’s also hidden.
You know, we want to keep some surprises for whoever’s going to open the doors. I love it so much.

Bella Bennett: Yeah, I love how you’re explaining things in such a clear and practical way, so thanks a lot for that.
And now let’s talk about trends and aesthetics just a little bit. Trends are always changing. What kitchen cabinet colors and styles are really popular right now, and what makes them so trendy?

Cabinet Design Center: Yeah, so when you’re designing the kitchen, you always want to be on-trend, but on the other hand, you also want to design something that will last.
So we want to make a timeless design. That’s the reason we’re seeing more modern designs today—not necessarily contemporary, but clean lines, less is more.
That way, you’re going to fall in love with your kitchen for many, many years and not feel like every couple of years you need to keep up with the latest trend.
As designers and industry leaders, we always go to the latest home shows and see what’s next. So we just came back from the 2025 KBIS, and over there, we discovered a lot of cool things coming into the market—simple, smooth, and clean line designs.
As far as color, we are going back to earth tones—lots of creams and whites and some warm wood tones.
Again, if you design that way, it’s not going to be trendy—it will last for many, many years.
So if I have a customer who wants a specific item that’s very unique for their kitchen, we try to help them create some elements that incorporate that—but we don’t design the entire kitchen to be extremely bold.
We do some components that will be very nice, but we want to make sure you’re still going to love your kitchen 10 years from now.
Kitchen renovations are very expensive, and we want to make sure you’re not changing your kitchen every season. We want to design it nicely for many, many years.

Bella Bennett: Yeah. Yeah. And I’ve definitely been seeing some of those styles lately. And what about hardware? How do cabinet hardware choices affect the overall look and functionality of a kitchen?

Cabinet Design Center: So when you talk about hardware, we can talk about a couple of things. First of all, the handles. We have many cabinets that have no handles—it’ll be push-to-open.
Or they can also have integrated handles or hidden handles underneath the cabinet lines so you barely see them—minimized as much as possible.
We also have hardware on the cabinets. Many times we can incorporate metal strips within the cabinets.
We want to mix in some metals, mix some materials together, and create a nice design. Sometimes I call it the jewelry on the cabinets—the signature touch.
We also have interior hardware as well. So we can take cabinets and add interior hardware from a different manufacturer, and we can mix and match.
Not everything has to be custom. We can get a regular semi-custom cabinet and add all the bells and whistles for that kind of cabinet—even if the cabinet line doesn’t offer it.
We can bring it in, outsource it, and install it for the customer. And it’s going to be like a factory install.

Bella Bennett: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And when it comes to the installation process, once homeowners have picked their dream cabinets, what should they expect during installation?

Cabinet Design Center: Yeah, so for installation, we have installation days.
The most important thing is the customer needs to prepare the job site. Make sure the kids are not there, pets are not there.
Many times they have jobs, and you know, pets start to run around and be on the job site.
The most important thing they need to expect is that in a dry install—just cabinet-only—it will take only four to five days to start and finish the cabinet installation process.
Sometimes we need to do it in two stages.
Many times we have hatches that go on top of the countertop, so we need to install the cabinet first, then the countertop, and then the hatches that go on top of the cabinet and countertop.
We do a lot of appliance garages that will have no wood bottom.
So what you need to know is that during a lot of the adjustments in installation, we’re taking all the doors off.
And the customer always says, “Oh, where are the doors? When will it be finished?”
So we tell them, “Don’t worry. All the adjustments and the fine-tuning will take place at the end.”
We take the doors off, we install all the cabinets. I know it’s a scary moment to see all the cabinets without doors—it’s like seeing a man with no teeth, you know?
But later on, we come back, install the cabinet doors, put on all the hardware, and then it looks amazing.
I love to see the impressions—the happiness, the smile on the face.
And I tell you, in retail it’s one thing—you buy retail, you sell wholesale. But in cabinets, you’re creating something from scratch.
Even though you purchase those cabinets and we are dealers for those beautiful lines of cabinetry, I feel like we are making something from scratch.
You can have many designers who will design a little bit differently, but you come in and put your signature touch—our signature touch.

Cabinet Design Center: We also have the construction experience since we’ve been doing construction for so many years. So we already see the problems that may occur before we even start getting to the drawing board. And that’s what we recommend.
But to see the customer satisfaction and know you’re creating something from scratch—and many times people tell us, “Oh my God, I brought so many people here, and you’re the first one to tell me to do this, this, and that.”
And you come up with ideas outside the box. This is my biggest reward. And that’s the point—I love what we are doing, and we are doing it really well.

Bella Bennett: Yeah. That’s so nice. And after everything is installed, how can homeowners properly maintain their cabinets to keep them looking great for years?

Cabinet Design Center: It’s a great question. So basically, what we do when we complete the project is provide the customer with a big folder with all the warranties of the cabinetry. But we don’t just talk about cabinets—we also include the appliances, we talk about the countertop, and we go over how to maintain and clean everything.
They will have all the information, but we do another thing for the customer to make sure they are taken care of. We always tell them: if you have any issues, instead of contacting the manufacturer directly, call us.
We always work in the area. We can stop by, take a look—sometimes it’s an easy fix.
So we also extend the workmanship warranty in addition to the manufacturer warranty. Sometimes we can fix it very easily because of our experience.
Many times, we also carry some replacement pieces in our warehouse, so the customer doesn’t have to go to a 1-800 number, talk to a rep who doesn’t know them, and try to explain exactly what’s going on.
So when they hire us, we make sure they’re taken care of—also when something doesn’t go smoothly.
It’s not just about sunny days—it’s about what happens on rainy days too. And we have the experience, the guys, and the tools to take care of things.
That’s why people really like us so much—because they save a lot of effort and a lot of time as well.

Bella Bennett: Yes. Exactly, exactly. Thank you so much for all the great insights so far, Joe. I have one final question for you.
Budget is always something homeowners think about during a remodel. What are the main factors that influence the cost of new kitchen cabinets, and how can homeowners get the best value for their budget without overspending?

Cabinet Design Center: Yeah, so budget is the first thing. We always ask, what is your budget?
Most customers don’t know their budget when they’re calling us, so we have no problem disclosing exactly what a completed project cost.
So we show them a kitchen we’ve completed that’s more or less the same size, and tell them: “This is what the customer paid for those cabinets. This is what they paid for the countertop.”
We are a full-disclosure company—you can see the numbers from previous projects.
The other thing is that when it comes to budget, the most important thing is to see how much the home is worth.
You don’t want to design a custom kitchen line that costs $200,000 if the whole house is worth $300,000.
So you need to listen to the wishlist, but on the other hand, you can also create, based on budget, a million-dollar look without spending a million dollars.
You can get something that looks extremely close with a different manufacturer and stay within the budget.
We need to make sure we answer the majority of the customer’s wishlist.
And the customer is going to be the one who makes the final call on which line to go with.
But we, as the designers, have to aim in the right direction. And we always call it the best value—it’s not necessarily the cheapest, and it’s not necessarily the most expensive.
We always call it the best value for your project.

Bella Bennett: Got it. Joe, this has been so helpful. We’ve covered everything from choosing the right cabinets to maximizing space and staying on budget. I’m sure our listeners learned a lot today. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise.

Cabinet Design Center: It’s my pleasure. It was helpful, but it also was a lot of fun. And I love to help—if anybody has any questions, we’re always here to help, even if they’re not our clients.
Many designers also come in and ask for our opinions, so we help them make selections as well.
We’re open to anything—you can ask us anytime. Thank you so much for your time.

Bella Bennett: Thank you so much, Joe.
For those of you listening, if you are thinking about upgrading your kitchen or planning a remodel, Cabinet Design Center is the team to call.
They’ve been helping homeowners bring their dream kitchens to life for over 20 years.
You can find their website linked in the show notes to book a consultation. Thanks again for tuning in, and we’ll see you next time on the Cabinet Design Center podcast.

Cabinet Design Center: Thank you. Bye-bye. Have a good day.