Colors Announcement

From time to time the Manufacturer discontinues colors that are less popular to keep larger supplies of materials on hand for more popular colors.

Sometmes we agree with their changes. For example. I can't say I've ever considered a Nirvana White kitchen. Just too far out for myu tastes.

But sometimes a color I like will be discontinued. Satin Taupe while not that popular is one I like.

Here's how cabinet color discontinuations work. First, there will be an announcement that some colors WILL BE discontinued when current supplies reach a Reserve Level. This means that the factory will always have colors they offered in the past (reserve level) for parts orders in the future. So if you have a set of cabinets in, say, laguna blue, and someday need an extra panel or replacement door for some reason, you'll be able to get these.

It is also the case that colors that will be discontinued only once reserve level is reached for that color.

Here are upcoming manufacturer discontinuations. Note that these are currently available and the factory will be able to provide add-ons or parts for them later. But no NEW orders are necessarily apporved. So if you see a color you love, don't wait. Order in advance.

10 - APPLE GREEN 11 - LAGUNA BLUE 15 – RUBY RED 17 – MATTE IVORY 18 – MATTE CREAM 19 – MATTE TAUPE 22 – FUCHSIA 28 – AUTUMN BLUSH 32 - SATIN OLIVE 33 - SATIN TAUPE 41 - BRUSHED ALUMINUM 44 – ALUMINUM SCREEN 45 – COPPER SCREEN 46 – METAL RIDGE 53 – WHITE LEATHER 54 – IVORY LEATHER 55 – IVORY NIRVANA 56 – IVORY RIDGE 58 – IVORY STREAM 61 – WHITE WICKER 62 – WHITE WAVES 63 - WHITE PEBBLE 68 – GRAY ALLIGATOR 70 – PEARL HALO

Butcher Block Countertops

You see manmade countertops everywhere you look. From online magazine photos, Pintrest, local showrooms, and in just about every new home or apartment complex built in the last ten or twenty years.

Laminate is inexpensive and familiar. My mom had it in her kitchen.

Marble (and other natural stones) is often the priciest, sometimes importted in giant super heavy slabs for the finest kitchens. Like museums?

There's quarts. Silestone, various resins and other solid surface (non-pourous), concrete and the one we still love the most, Butcher Block.

It's true that wood counters have to be treated and cared for. But their initial price is so low for the beauty factor that they have to be considered, unless you are just certain that manmade non-pourous surfaces are best for your needs. They also look great in modern kitchens with modern cabinets while being most traditional. After all, it's called BUTCHER BLOCK. They used to cut meat on a heavy square piece on sturdy wood legs. Very sturdy, very functional, very stable. It didn't crack no matter what you dropped on it.

In planning your remodel, in plotting the budget, it's possible butcherblock counters are best. You save THOUSANDS and can spend on higher quality appliances, for example, which will make for greater enjoyment of your new kitchen.

This is my opinion. Write me if you have another.

European Kitchens in the US

We help our clients create beautiful, affordable modern kitchens. Yo can call them by many names, including the name of our company! Modern family kitchens. Cause that's what we do.

We'e noticed that people who want a modern kitchen call the style of cabinet many different names. Flat panel doors, slab doors, European frameless cabinets and some think of white modern cabinets only.

So what does European or Euro-Style really mean? Ultimately it means what a person thinks it means but, having seem European kitchens I can tell you a bit on this.

First, most European kitchens are small, or smaller than US kitchens. The 30 cabinet kitchen with island is unusual. As do people who have million dollar apartments in NYC, their kitchens, in buildings built 50 or more yearas ago, are tiny.

So how does this affect the cabinets they use?

First, keeping a kitchen clean when it is tiny is a special challenge so flat panesl doors are always preferred.

Some even save on space by making sure the handles are not sticking out far.

But more important, making sure every inch is used to it's best advantage is the key consideration. You really need a professional designer to make that happen. Also, having cabinetry that can be customized so as to rule out dead spaces and wasted spaces, or using counters for appliances that could be stored if the kitchen is well designed, are both vital.

Also there is a look we consider "Euro". It's sleek, is the best word I can think of. No early American touches. Clean, smooth surfaces, straight lines, quality hardware and utter functionality in all aspects.

Many Americans also love this kind of kitchern. It looks way more costly than shaker styles but it doesn't have to cost any more!

Our company does offer the kind of design work and the type of cabintry that can get youj a European style kitchen, with the sleek look and clean lines. You need both design and cabintry. It DOES NOT have to be expensive. You can have a high end, Euro-style kitchen for a very affordable price. We can help.

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Dental Hygienist Kitchen Remodel

Today I got my teeth cleaned and somehow the hygienist starting talking about her recent kitchen remodel (and baths). I had merely mentioned that people often worry about tiny details and overlook the bigger issues that will cost them money to ignore.

She told me she and her husband are planning to sell their modest city home. They want land out in the country. So they got their kitchen remodeled while waiting for the mortgage rates to stablize.

Two busy professionals without a lot of time went to a big box store (name starts with 'L') and bought builder grade cabinets. They seemed like an affordable solution.

Then they found a friend of a friend contractor who showed them photos of what looked like nice work. They hired him.

Now it is a few months past the installation. The hygienist told me in detail (and with her tools in my mouth, I could do nothing but listen) how many errors the contractor made. She was disappointed in a dozen aspects of the job. She did complain but the contractor quoted her $5,000 to redo things she didn't like.

So, she has a new kitchen for $40,000 but it is not her dream kitchen. I admit to being shocked at the price because I know the kinds of kitchens our clients build and for less than $40k at that.

True, you need to find a trustworthy contractor. I've written about how you do this in the past but suffice to say it might take 25 phone calls. It is a key part of the project.

I felt sad that she'd settled for what she settled for. I had this moment of realizing Modern Family Kitchens owes it to the world to promote our much better products and services because I know that had she used our expert design service for just a couple hundred bucks so as to have a professional designer on her team, she would have avoided SO MANY of the problems she was left with.

Second only to the cost for labor, is the cost of the cabinets you will buy. There are many choices but looking for the cheapest or the ones you can get from a familiar store nearby can cost you thousands or even tens of thousands for worse quality, less elegance and beauty. If you want to sell your home for a good price, installing cheap cabinets can cost you many tens of thousands.

The hygienist finished my cleaning. I think she had a great time talking about her remodel, disaster though she felt it was. She's young, she will have other houses, and she learned a lot.

However, I decided to write this down because it is true for me that promoting our business is a kindness and a service in itself. Because our designers' work is truly excellent and vital to the success of a remodel. And because our cabinets beat out just about every similarly-priced cabinet on the market. Maybe that is a bold statement but it's true anyway.

We also genuinely care about each client in a way that a big box store employee cannot.

By the way, when you have a finished design and have bought the cabinets yourself, the installer has a much easier time. No weird angles or awkward placements (two things the hygienist complained about). A design specifies the placement of each item. And our cabinets are built to order, in the US, to fit the design. This is exactly why our clients end up, one for one, with beautiful kitchens.

We are going to get our name out there to service more people. Tell your friends.

Shipping Cabinets: Tips

Buying kitchen cabinets is a large purchase. Often hidden in the price you are quoted are shipping charges. These days, that itself has a hefty price tag. But there are ways to save.

First, the factory that builds your cabinets is going to charge to get them to the dealership or showroom where you placed your order. It is often built in to the price you are quoted, not something you will see.

Some homeowners go to big box stores because their displays are obvious and it seems easy. But consider that most of their products come from overseas. So ask where your cabinets are coming from because the cost to get them, built or in parts, to the US, is part of what you will pay. Consider that some big box stores are buying parts from China from where they travel on a huge cargo ship across the world to a US harbor. Then they are trucked to a dealership. Then you'll need to pay for shipping to your home.

Given current gas prices, it's clear that shipping is going to be a big part of your cost. Realize that the shipper is charging the manufacturer who is charging the dealership which is charging you. Everyone is marking up their prices because each is a business. All of this ultimately gets passed to the consumer. Beware of buying mediocre quality but paying premium because, with all that shipping, only then can the cabinet dealer make a profit on a sale.

Are there ways around this? How can you spend your money on the best quality cabinets without also paying thousands of dollars to cover all those shipping costs?

Buy American. Buy brands that are at least assembled in the US. Few manufacturers can claim 100% American made these days. Hardware especially would cost a fortune. Even high quality hardware is made overseas.

Our line is built right here, in California. It is built to order. And, best of all, once your cabinets are built at the factory, you can arrange to have them shipped directly to your home, cutting out the middleman! This can save you thousands but it will also enable yo to buy higher quality cabinets because the greater part of your money is paying for cabintry and not shipping.

This is kind of unique. We recommend you look twice at how this works because the numbers are much higher than with many other household purchases. Be smart. Buy American. Support smaller busimesses. And save!

Buying Kitchen Cabinets Online

The majority of consumer purchases as done online these days. But for big ticket items, like a car, we usually go to a dealership to see and testa car we are considering.

Kitchen cabinets for a remodel or for a new build are also a major purchase. Some bigger cities have cabinet retailes and even smaller cities have big box stores that sell cabinets.

So, what are, or can be, the advantages to buying kitchen cabinets online?

The local store has to charge you for the store itself, and its employees. That will add to the price of your cabinets. The local store might have very few color/finish choices and your new kitchen will look the same as thousands of others in your area. The local store, when you go to look, will have employee sales people who often work on commission and will be encouraging you to buy what is best for them or for the store. These are just examples. You might just find something you love and service you like to go with it.

Still, buying online has many advantages. There are many many choices. Because of this, most sites that sell cabinets will offer free or low cost services, or consultations with experts, not store employees but professionals.

The design of your kitchen is the key to success. Make sure any local store has professional designers to work with you. Ask them about their credentials. And about commissions, as mentioned above.

Online, you can see exactly what you are getting. A good design service will have a written agreement to ensure you get what you are paying for. Design is so important that you simply don't want to scrimp. A professional designer who comes to your home can cost upwards of $1000. But it is not at all necessary to come to your home. Kitchen designers work with measurements, as well as your preferences and ideas. If you can measure, you can save yourself many hundreds right up front. Most kitchen designers these days will use video, phone, email, your choice. They will make sure your design is complete and that you love it.

Another big advantage to buying cabinets online is that it's usually very straightforward and very simple. It takes a bit of time and lots of communication to make sure you are buying the items you need and want, but, again, your time investment will save you a lot of money.

Another way, beside stores, people get cabinets sometimes, is through their contractor. This might be the worst method. Here's why. You contractor is buying what is available to him, encouraging you to use this line, and then marking it up.

Maybe the best tip of all is to buy cabinets, as well as appliances, flooring, tile, paint, etc. yourself. Choose what you want and have a skilled contractor to install these things. But don't buy materials from a contractor because you will almost inevitably pay more and get less.

If you like modern styling, this tip about buying online because vital. Few cities have modern cabinet stores although they can be found in large cities, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, etc. The prices will astound you! However, quality modern cabinetry can be bought online at a much lower price. You might have to do a bit of research but you really can save many thousands of dollars buying cabinets online.

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How to Arrange Your New Kitchen

You have probably known that a triangle arrangement of stove, sink and fridge is the ideal for workflow in a kitchen. If you are remodeling or building a new kitchen, this is, logically, the arrangement to work towards.

However, every house, every kitchen and every homeowner, the end user, is different. So the question becomes how to arrange your new kitchen so as to create an ideal workflow.

Say you have awkwardly placed windows. Traditionally and sink goes under the main kitchen window (for looking out at the farmyard?). But this might not be an ideal placement for you. Surely you wsnt the kitchen to look good, and it should, and that workflow arrangment DOES look good and it feels good, too.

Since the dimensions for layout will vary, since you might or might not be able to move appliance positions or electrical, or other features of your existing kitchen, a strategy has to be worked out so that you have it all.

Who can do this for you? Can you do it yourself?

The answer is, 100% of the time, you need an experienced kitchen designer and, hopefully, cabinets that can be customized since fixed sizes will result in dead space and awkward placements.

A real kitchen designer who has the exact measurements of your space, knows the goals you have for the project, and is willing to listen to your concerns, evolving preferences, and budget issues, is the person you want to help you.

Because help is available. We help people work out the very best layout for their individual circumtances. There is nothing cookie-cutter about it. You want a professional kitchen design service and a real and expert person who truly wants to help you.

Don't settle for less.

Kitchen Designers are Experts

Over the years we have worked with many kitchen designers. Almost every one did excellent work, beautiful professional designs for our clients that enabled them to purchase cabinets without confusion and to install their new kitchens also without confusion.

By confusion I mean that feeling of not knowing if you are really buying the right items or getting the best deal or quality. A great completed kitchen design from an expert will help you enormously in this regard. In fact, a designer who doesn't take the time to ensure you ARE purchasing the right items, is somewhat lacking.

Now there are kitchen designers and there are kitchen designers and they are not all the same. Some are in fact kitchen design experts. They've designed thousands of kitchens and they are very familiar with the cabinet line you have chosen and can use it to your best advantage.

Be wary of cheap design services. Also of very expensive services. It should cost no more than $500 to get a pro design. This is not what you will pay if you require the designer to travel to your home. But it isn't necessary at all. A designer works with MEASUREMENTS.

An interior designer, on the other hand, might need to see your house, see the light and adjacent rooms. But this is very different from the job of a professional kitchen designer.

A kitchen designer can sort of see the future. The future kitchen you will create with the design. And they can ensure it will be beautiful. They need only measurements and your preferences. They need communication to flow easily from you to them and them to you. Lots of communication.

You choose the colors, the tile, the flooring, the lighting. You can do this. But for kitchen design you need a professional.

Sometimes, especially with new builds, an architect will do kitchen drawings in the blueprints for the house. This is fine but it is not a kitchen design, only a general layout. A real kitchen design means an inch by inch look at your space and desired functionality and creating drawings and a list of parts you will need to achieve the beauty and functionality you envision.

So take those blueprints and hire a kitchen designer. We design "online" meaning you send us your drawings, photos, blueprints, our data forms, and measurements and our expert designers get to work for you. They take the time to review proposed layouts and tweak them for you as you consider your options. It is not instant. It can take a week, a month or a year, that is up to you and how much time you have to work on the design with the designer.

It is very exciting to create a new design and then to see photos of the finished kitchen. It is a process and takes care and expertise. We seek to earn the trust and exceed the expectations of our clients. We only do expert design and we care about out design clients and their modern families.

Accessible Kitchens

You can have an awesome kitchen designed just for you by an expert kitchen designer for a very reasonable price, The key is to choose a line of cabinets that is customizable and a designer who is familiar with this line and can create what you need with it.

Among kitchen cabinet suppliers, kitchen cabinet dealers, most kitchen cabinet found online, customization is not that common, especially at good prices. You can have anything custom built built but the cost is often much more than you would pay for ordinary stock size cabinetry.

Most kitchen cabinet dealers are re-selling manufactured cabintry and occasionally you will find one that can customize your cabinet sizes. Some kitchen design experts can design accessible kitchens. The trick is to find customizable cabinets and an expert who can design with them, for a cost no higher than for standard cabinetry.

We have a line of American made kitchen cabinets that are highly suitable for accessible kitchens. They are built to order and length, height, width can be made to order. Need lower or higher counters? No problem. Need easy access to cabinet interiors? Just let the designer know. Our designers design inch by inch, working with our clients day to day via email or phone.

Accessible kitchen cabinetry should not cost double or triple the cost of standard kitchen cabinets. Watch out for scams. All you need is a good kitchen designer and a line of customizable cabinets that you like aestheticly. You can have what you want and need at a reasonable cost if you look for, and find, both.