You CAN Get What You Want

Since I did such a whiny post about the original cabinet install, I thought I'd do an update and let you know how the changes went.

When the cabinets went up, there was a HUGE piece of trim at the top of them.  I was devastated that the cabinets did not go all the way to the ceiling as I had requested.  

The finish went on and the construction continued while I negotiated with the builder and the cabinet maker.

They even came by and tried to tell me, "They look GREAT!"  My realtor came by and said, "It's kind of like the cabinets would have been done in the house's building period."  

Regardless, I was not happy.  When I finally got that through to them, they came up with some ideas to change things to make me happy.  There were a couple of solutions batted around, but until I said, "then he'll just have to remake all the uppers!" they didn't really take it seriously.  At that point, they got it.

The solution I opted for was to put a box at the top of each cabinet upper, then give it a glass fronted flip up door at the top.

The paint guy did an amazing job of staining the new wood to match the existing cabinetry.  I was afraid it would be easy to see the old vs. the new.

The cabinets went up with the glass fronted door panels and I could not be more pleased.

The glass gives the dark cabinets a little more reflective property and a bit of interest.


I like it!  I've already stuffed half of them full of kitchen things I don't use that often.

The added benefit of having the cabinet maker back out is that he readjusted ALL the doors.  The painters know how to remove the doors to paint them, but often, when they are putting them back on, they will flip left to right or vice versa.  The cabinet guy hung the new doors and very carefully adjusted all the doors so they hung right and soft-closed correctly.

I am very pleased with the outcome.

I'm glad I stood up for myself and insisted they fix it.

When you pay this much for something to be remodeled, you need to be happy with the finished product.

And I am VERY happy with my new kitchen!!

--  Sandee Wagner