Modern/European Kitchen Cabinets

Does anyone on the forum have any experience with a modern kicthen installation?

My wife and I are building a new house and have been struck by the design of Poggenpohl, Alno, Balthaup, Poliform etc. We came across Pedini as a slightly lower cost alternative @ $700-800 per linear foot v. $1000+ per linear foot for Poggenpohl, Balthaup etc.

The only cheaper alternative we can find besides Ikea is Venicia by Kraftmaid which was not very impressive at $300-$400 per linear foot.

Please let me know if there are any other mid-range values. Does anyone have experience with Berloni? What are everyone's thoughts on "upscale" kitchen cabinets?

I'd find a cabinetmaker and have them custom built.

We did have a local cabinet maker do ours but I have to say that the level of finish, attention to detail and overall quality of the likes of Siematic would have me rethink that decision for our next kitchen.

I would look into these:

Porcelanosa
Henry Built
Venicia by Kraftmaid
Scavolini

We looked at Venicia on display at Lowe's and were unimpressed.

Do you have any experience or any idea regarding pricing of Scavolini, Henry Built or Porcelanosa?

Originally Posted by gdl203

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I would look into these:

Porcelanosa
Henry Built
Venicia by Kraftmaid
Scavolini

We did some research a while back when we were looking at buying a place and re-doing the kitchen. These are the ones that I noted as mid-level pricing (i.e. between the Ikea and the Boffi, Poggenpohl price levels)

If money were of no matter I would have Clive Christian. But since i'm a lowly laymen we opted for Ikea. They are great and really functional for the price. It's the one thing I get the most compliments on from people that visit.

Can you tell me a bit more about the process with Ikea, i.e. who installs, pricing etc.? I know they used the same hardware as many of the upscale brands. Do they stock cabinets or do you have to special order? Thanks

Originally Posted by scottdurand

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If money were of no matter I would have Clive Christian. But since i'm a lowly laymen we opted for Ikea. They are great and really functional for the price. It's the one thing I get the most compliments on from people that visit.

We used Ikea in our last house and got many many compliments on it. The quality is really pretty good - not all the Bulthaup bells and whistles, but perfectly acceptable. We got our contractor to do the assembly and installation - he bitched and moaned a lot and said next time he would charge us more! But it ended up a nice job. I think the key is to dress it up with better appliances and countertops than Ikea stocks - we used marble and Miele and SubZero. It made more sense to me to spend money on the appliances than cabinets.

The overall effect was pretty nice, if I say so myself. You can also use your own hardware for door and drawer knobs to give it that higher-end look.

Another company worth looking at is Lube (pronounced Lubay). They are Italian and a pretty big company - in fact they manufacture the doors for a lot of the other Italian kitchen companies, including a couple you mentioned. But they are only just gaining a presence in the US, after a couple of false starts. Here in Atlanta, they are building a flagship showroom. We almost used them when we redid the kitchen in the current house, but in the end decided just to repaint the cabinets and again put in high-end counters and appliances. Oddly enough the paint color we chose we found by color-matching an Ikea cabinet color that we liked but had been discontinued.

Originally Posted by tattersall

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We did have a local cabinet maker do ours but I have to say that the level of finish, attention to detail and overall quality of the likes of Siematic would have me rethink that decision for our next kitchen.

You might have tried an Amish cabinetmaker. They are very good.

Originally Posted by johnapril

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You might have tried an Amish cabinetmaker. They are very good.

The Amish, they are not everywhere.

We have Ikea also. Everyone that sees them says they look great.

Our process worked like this:

take dimensions.
find style/color/etc. we liked.
buy cabinets at store (actually, I may have ordered over the phone).
have everything delivered because our car is too small for it.
I assembled all of the cabinets myself. Took very little time (small kitchen).
have our handyman install the row of wall cabinets and one row of base.
I installed the other base cabinets and open shelving (also Ikea) above.
The money we saved from doing this rather than custom made it easy to afford nice countertops.

Here are my 1 huge quid pro quos:

If your kitchen needs odd-sized anything, Ikea won't work. It's all stock. We were very lucky with this. Next time, assuming the measurements work out again, I would be happy to use Ikea again.

b

I had a new kitchen installed almost a year ago. Scavolini cabs, Cesarstone countertops, Miele appliances. Glossy white cabs, grey countertops. Sick. Very modern. I have seen many kitchens with Ikea cabs and they look great too. You will save tons by going the Ikea route. Go to www.ikeafans.com and browse the messageboards. If I had to do it again, I would go with Ikea cabs, and have about 12K extra in the bank. =) For what it's worth, I have read about quite a few homes in Dwell using Ikea cabs.

Originally Posted by kitano

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I had a new kitchen installed almost a year ago. Scavolini cabs, Cesarstone countertops, Miele appliances.

Glossy white cabs, grey countertops. Sick. Very modern.

I have seen many kitchens with Ikea cabs and they look great too. You will save tons by going the Ikea route. Go to www.ikeafans.com and browse the messageboards.

If I had to do it again, I would go with Ikea cabs, and have about 12K extra in the bank. =)

For what it's worth, I have read about quite a few homes in Dwell using Ikea cabs.

How does veneer hold up over time?

Originally Posted by kitano

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I had a new kitchen installed almost a year ago. Scavolini cabs, Cesarstone countertops, Miele appliances.

Glossy white cabs, grey countertops. Sick. Very modern.

I have seen many kitchens with Ikea cabs and they look great too. You will save tons by going the Ikea route. Go to www.ikeafans.com and browse the messageboards.

If I had to do it again, I would go with Ikea cabs, and have about 12K extra in the bank. =)

For what it's worth, I have read about quite a few homes in Dwell using Ikea cabs.

12k difference in cabs alone? or are you factoring in other ikea replacements?