The Design Process is the most critical
phase in the custom cabinet process. This is where you attempt to show
and explain what you want in your new cabinets while we attempt to
understand your desires, while at the same time making sure that what
you want will work into the space you have and into the style you’ve
requested. During this phase it is important to remember that 1) we
cannot read your mind, so be very specific and detailed (show us
pictures of what you want if possible), and 2) though we know that your
new kitchen or bath is very important to you, we are usually working on
many homes at the same time and it’s quite possible we may miss or
forget something you say. By fully understanding the Design process,
you can help insure that your new Custom Cabinets will be exactly as you
expected.
The
first step in the process is the Initial Consultation. This can
be either at your new home or at our office and showroom. If you are in
the very early stages of construction a meeting at our office is your
best bet. On the other hand, if your home is at the plumbing and/or
electrical stage, a meeting at the new home would be best. In either
case, come prepared to supply us with all the information you have
pertaining to your cabinets. Things to bring include: 1) your house
plans, 2) pictures of cabinets you like, 3) catalogs of specific design
features (doors, hardware, trim, etc.), and 4) your appliance
information (model numbers of oven, cook top, refrigerator, etc. as well
as the actual width, height, and depth of any audio or visual equipment
you may want us to build around). Armed with this information and the
actual wall dimensions of your home we will draw up what we call your
Jobsite Drawing, a room-by-room floor plan of the cabinet walls with
notes based on your input.
Step
two is to make the initial Design Drawings. We give the Jobsite
Drawing based on our Initial Consultation to our Designers who create a
digital representation of your cabinets using our dedicated cabinet
design software. Special care is taken to insure that everything you’ve
requested is practical and possible within the confines of your new
home. If something you’ve requested is not possible, or if our
experience indicates your request is not practical (for instance, the
combination of appliances you requested may put the microwave too high
off the floor), we will adjust the drawings accordingly and note on the
drawings why we did so. When the Design Drawings are completed we will
send them to you (or your builder) along with a PRT sheet (Please Read
This) that notes specific questions we have and with our price for
building the cabinets based on our design drawings.
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The
next step if that you must Review the Design Drawings. Check to
make sure everything you requested is incorporated into the drawings.
Pay special attention to cabinet heights and depths, shelf spacing, the
finish material for each cabinet, door style, and specialty items you
may have requested.
For instance, if
you wanted the bookcases in your study to be a certain depth in order to
accommodate some extra deep books, make sure we drew them that way.
Even if you don’t like the way something looks, let us know so we can
change it. If you are having difficulty understanding the drawings, be
sure to let us know. We’ll be glad to go over them with you on the
phone or meet with you to explain them. Make notes of any discrepancies
you discover and call, fax, or e-mail those to us referencing the room
number and cabinet number of each.
After studying the notes from your Review Process, we will write up a
Change Order and adjust the cabinet drawings accordingly. When the
changes are complete, we send, for your approval, the list of changes we
made along with new drawings of the affected cabinets and our new price
for the cabinets based on the current design drawings. In many cases
your requested changes will affect adjacent cabinets. For instance,
making a certain drawer stack wider to accommodate your needs may make
the adjacent opening too small to accommodate a previously requested
trash pull-out. We try to point these out, but in some cases we miss
them, so look for any inadvertent changes when you receive the new
drawings.
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The Change Order process can move very quickly or
may be quite drawn out depending on how quickly and thoroughly you
review the drawings and on our work load. In most cases, one Change
Order is all that’s needed. A few things to remember about change
orders:
1) They slow down the design process, so be as complete as possible
with each Change Order
2) We do not charge for changes as long as they are not excessive,
i.e. you do not change back and forth because you cannot visualize or
you cannot make up your mind.
3) Lumber and plywood prices change frequently and these changes will
be reflected in the price of your cabinets until you give us the final
approval to construct the cabinets based on the most current design
drawings.
Once you have made
all necessary changes and you are completely satisfied with the
drawings, we will ask you to ‘sign off’ on the drawings, giving us
Approval to begin the construction process. After you have given us
approval, we enter your job into the construction queue, print the
Final Drawings, and purchase any specialty materials to build your
cabinets. There will be a charge for any changes made after this point.
