Whether it's in the kitchen or the bathroom, new construction or a simple remodel, cabinets add tremendous function and design style to your space. With so many decisions to make when choosing cabinets, our professional cabinet designers are here to walk you through each step and streamline your project.
CFM offers an unsurpassed selection of door styles, wood species, and finishes to help you build the perfect solution for your project. All of our cabinetry is made-to-order and constructed in the United States. Our non-commissioned cabinet designers are here to help you get the perfect cabinets for your space!
Follow the steps below in our cabinet buying guide to help prepare yourself for a visit with us.
Step 1: Get Inspired
What are your personal tastes? Everyone is different! Traditional, modern, or contemporary? Framed or frameless cabinets? Do you want stained wood, painted or laminate? What type of storage options appeal to you and how you work in the kitchen? Take a look at some of our inspirational ideas and let us know what you like.
• Traditional Cabinets
Traditional cabinets typically feature more detail, often in the form of raised panel doors or bead board designs. Colors range from clean whites and creams, to reds, tans, and a variety of wood tones.
• Transitional Cabinets
Transitional cabinets have a sophisticated look that hits the sweet spot between traditional and contemporary. It blends the comfort and warmth of traditional design with the clean profiles and muted colors of modern looks.
• Contemporary Cabinets
Contemporary cabinets are usually frameless. Lines are clean and straight, molding and mill work is minimized while storage and open space are maximized. Appliances are often seemlessly integrated in with the cabinetry.
Step 2: Measure & Photograph
Room Shape. Start with the overall kitchen shape (square, rectangle, etc.). Next draw in all the appropriate obstacles such as doors, windows, or structural elements that will not be moved.
Measure. Working out from the corner, work one wall at a time. Most people find it easiest to start with the longest measurement on the wall, notate it, and then measure the distance from the corner to the obstruction such as a window, notate it, and then measure the obstruction and mark that down.
Rounding. Although, we want the measurements to be as accurate as possible, rounding to the nearest quarter inch is perfectly acceptable. We can always ask for clarification and double check prior to the final order.
Layout. Mark the location (or desired location if moving) of your kitchen components, such as the sink, oven and or cooktop, refrigerator, and any other significant appliances.
Ceiling height. Don’t forget to include the height of your ceiling with your measurements. This is critical in determining what size upper cabinets will be best for your space.
Take pictures. Pictures are worth a thousand words. Take a couple wide angle photos to share with your cabinet designer.
Step 3: Schedule a Cabinet Design Consultation
Meet with one of our expert cabinet designers and discuss your cabinetry project. During this visit we will provide you with an in-depth review of our cabinet lines and the numerous options available in your budget. We take this opportunity to learn as much about your project, your lifestyle, storage needs, make some preliminary product selections, and establish a rudimentary budget for your project.
The goal of this meeting is for us to learn as much about your project, your needs and goals, make some preliminary product selections, and establish a rudimentary budget for your project. Make sure to bring your ideas, room sketch and photographs! You will leave this meeting with a good understanding of the price ranges available for your project.
Step 4: Get Your Design
Once we have a basic understanding of your project and budgetary goals, we can get to work on your design. We will take all of the information we learned about you during our Cabinet Design Consultation - your lifestyle, your habits, your flair for color or pension for cleanliness - and we will tailor every detail of your cabinet layout around those preferences. Our cabinetry expertise allows us to personalize all the details of your project while remaining within your budget ensuring that you get the maximum value out of your purchase.
Note: We require a $250 design retainer before we start your design to ensure that we can dedicate the appropriate amount of time to your layout. Should you decide to move forward with your cabinet purchase, the $250 is credited towards your cabinet order.
Step 5: Review Your Design
After we meet with you for your Cabinet Design Consultation, we get to work on designing your space. Whether it is a small bathroom vanity, or an entire homes worth of cabinetry, we use state of the art cabinet design software to lay out every detail of your space.
We make sure to include as many of your needs that were identified during your Initial Design Consultation into the cabinet design as possible, all while doing our best to stay within the confines of the budget we identified with your ballpark estimate. Once your design is complete, we meet with you again to walk you through the cabinet design, going cabinet by cabinet to make sure no detail is overlooked.
Timeframe: Typically 3-5 business days for CFM to design your space, followed by a 30-60 minute appointment to review the cabinet design.
Step 6: Revise & Finalize
After we meet for your Cabinet Design Consultation, we get to work on designing your space. Whether it is a small bathroom vanity, or an entire homes worth of cabinetry, we use state of the art cabinet design software to lay out every detail of your space.
How you will use the space?
Where will you store your crockpot?
Is the silverware drawer in a convenient location?
Do you have a place for your mixer?
Do the cabinets efficiently store all your dishes?
After you have visualized your new cabinets, verified the measurements with your installer, and thought about what changes you need, call or email us and we can fine tune the design and get it ready for order.
Timeframe: Depends on the amount of revisions requested. Typical turnaround time on revision requests is 1-2 business days.
Step 7: Order and Install
Once all the details for your new cabinets are ironed out, it’s time to order. Within 72 hours of placing your order with us, we will release it to our vendor for production.
Production time for cabinetry differs my manufacturer. Some cabinets are in stock and can be shipped in as little as two weeks.
Made to order cabinetry is typically produced in 8-12 weeks, but depending on the manufacturer and material selections, can take as long as 22 weeks. Up to date lead time information will be provided during the consultation process.
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