Kitchen Design Wake Forest, North Raleigh

Cabinets

The main design components to think about are layout, cabinet types and features, color, and style of doors.

Things to consider:

Cabinet Type – The big question is how important is it to you to get a specific color and door style? Or are you good with picking a color and style from those readily available with stock cabinets to save money? We carry multiple nice stock cabinet lines. But if customer really wants a specific color or door style, we’ll need to show them our semi-custom, near-custom and true custom cabinet lines. And those cost more than stock cabinets.
Layout – What shape do you want the kitchen to be if you’re changing layout. Are we changing location of the three key user stations: sink, cooking center, refrigerator? Where will things be stored?
Wall cabinet height – Either up to ceiling with crown or other moulding or have a space between ceiling and cabinet crown molding. “Stackers” are top row of wall cabinets. Wall cabinets can come with solid (wood) or glass doors.
Cooking exhaust hood type – Can be either a metal appliance type hood, a cabinet hood, or a wood hood.
Island or Peninsula – Size, counter top overhang, decorative mouldings and panels to dress it up.
Cooking appliance type & locations – For cooking choose either a range or a cooktop/rangetop and wall oven. The wall oven can be a single, double or single oven with microwave combination type. Appliance width drives cabinet design and exhaust hood airflow requirements.
Other appliances – Consider Fridge location, is there a beverage cooler, warming oven, disposer, etc.
Pull-outs – Trash bin, spice rack, utensils, pots or mixer pull outs, large pull-out trays.
Prep sink or bar – Coffee or drink bar counter height, prep sink, etc.

Countertops

Click here to learn about our countertop installation process. Read on to learn the pros and cons of available kitchen countertop materials.

Kitchen countertop materials:

Granite – This natural stone will have imperfections in it as inclusions and fissures. It’s polished and sealed but you’ll feel these imperfections that give granite it’s beautiful character. Granite is the hardest counter material and won’t burn or scratch. You can knife cut directly on it, but it will dull your knives! Re-sealing granite is easy and only needs to be done every few years. Price range is lower to mid.
Quartz – This man-made product we call “quartz” is super popular and we highly recommend quartz since it is relatively hard, scratch resistant, smooth, glossy, has no imperfections like natural stones, and needs zero maintenance. It is made from 90% stone and 10% resins. Price is mid to high range.
Solid Surface – This name is for man-made material that is typically up to 90% acrylic resins with the remainder of its composition being stone powder. It feels and is sort of like hard plastic. It’s a panel product with no grout lines and can cost less than quartz but in most cases it’s not as hard as quartz or porcelain, and it may scratch or burn. Traditional solid surface market has decreased dramatically due to similar cost to quartz for counter tops.
UCS – There’s also better alternative panel materials now available known as “Ultra Compact Surfaces”. Dekton is the most widely available UCS. We only recommend this new version of solid surface material, not the traditional solid surface. Vertical applications like shower and bathroom walls are perfect for it. And it’s great for horizontal applications like kitchen countertops. In summary, generally we recommend quartz and natural stone for kitchen and vanity counter tops, and the new ultra compact surfaces for vertical. Price range is very high.
Natural high end stone – Other than granite, natural stones get expensive, such as quartzite, marble, travertine, soapstone, gemstone, etc. These really add design flare to the kitchen. Price range is high.
Wood – Butcher block counter tops are unique. They look great in certain kitchen design styles, but require regular maintenance. They can also scratch, cut and dent easily. We recommend wood cutting boards and only butcher blocks as a specific cutting surface with other material for the remainder of counter tops. Price range is lower to mid.

Backsplash

Backsplashes can reach either to wall cabinets or reach to the ceiling in some locations such as wall hoods or floating shelf walls.

Materials include:

Tile – Tile comes in ceramic and porcelain, but for walls where no one is walking on it, it doesn’t really matter, so just choose a tile you like. There are glass tiles too. Our partner tile consultants at showrooms can help you design the tile, the lay pattern, the grout color and width, and the edging. Simple standard practices look great and simplify this for most customers down to selecting a tile and a grout color. We recommend tile backsplashes for looks and budget reasons. Price range is Low to High
Counter top material – We can have your counter tops extend up 4” or all the way to the bottom of wall cabinets instead of using tile. The price range is high compared to tile.
Metal tiles – These start to get truly designer and the tiles may be harder to clean if they are thin stamped sheets with relief. Price range is low to high.

Kitchen Sink

When making decisions about your kitchen sink there are a few factors you want to consider.

Material –

Stainless steel is the tried and true standby selected material. It looks great, is easy to clean, doesn’t scratch easily, and has no maintenance. It’s also most versatile for basin design and can be workstations. We recommend stainless steel. Price range is low to mid.
Fireclay (usually white) looks absolutely beautiful but metal marks it and may frustrate you. Marks can usually be removed but some are stubborn. The metal drain parts may rust over decades and stain the fireclay. The sink will lose it’s finish over decades of use. We recommend fireclay. Price range is mid to high.
Cast iron with enamel finish looks like a fire clay sink but can be more durable and stain resistant. Price range is mid to high.
Composite sinks are the equivalent to quartz counter tops and are made from stone powder and resins. They are hard and mostly scratch resistant but will develop a foggy patina over the decades of time. Currently there are limited colors and may look dated quickly. That said, we still recommend composite sinks for price and versatility. Price range is low to mid.
Acrylic – we don’t recommend these “plastic” sinks that are the equivalent to solid surface counter tops. Price range is low to mid.
Copper or Brass – We think these are for a very specific kitchen design and look and they are expensive. Price range is high.

Basins –

Single basin
Split – 50/50
Split – 60/40
Split – 70/30
Workstation sinks

Faucet – A favorite of the kitchen – the faucet!

Type – Categories of primary sink (not bar/prep sink) faucets include high goose neck very popular now, traditional or pre-rinse with the big spring on the neck. If you want a touchless electronic version, we always ensure there’s an electrical outlet under the sink.
Finish – chrome, gold/brass, antiqued, black matte, satin brushed nickel tones, stainless steel, white, copper.

Appliances

Your appliances type and location affect the cabinet design and visa-versa to some extent.

Range – If you want a free-standing range, it can be 30”, 36”, 42”, 48”, 60” in width with 30” as the consumer level standard width. Most people go with 30 or 36”. Usually the fuel type remains the same but we can change gas to electric or visa-versa. This adds cost to install new service lines. Choices are electric, gas or electric induction range top.

Wall Oven – If on the other hand you want a separate wall oven and cooktop (or range top), this will drive cabinet layout, exhaust venting and service lines. Wall ovens can be single, double or combination with one oven and a microwave on top of the unit.

Hood – Exhaust hoods are required in every house and we strongly recommend a completely vented hood where all the cooking fumes are exhausted outdoors, not to be confused with outdoor hoods for outdoor kitchens.

Hood Types include metal appliance wall mount chimney style, wood wall mount chimney style, wall mount “over the range”, microwave ovens with integrated venting “over the range”, island hood, ceiling mount flush, in-cabinet concealed, and angled cabinet. Hoods that are made from wood require an exhaust hood insert or “liner”. This includes the grease baffle, light and fan assembly. We can recommend products that work well.
Hood size is measured by width. The hood width must be equal to or 6” larger than the cooktop/range top width. The standard size is 30” wide. Sizes come in: 30”, 36”, 42”, 48”, 60”.
Airflow – This technical specification is a critical part of safety, fume removal effectiveness and code compliance. We’ll guide you. Our recommendation is that you stick with a 30” or 36” wide hood or insert.

Refrigeration – For the most part, most people have a 36” wide standard free standing “fridge”. But, fridges can come in sizes that don’t stick out so far (called “counter depth”) and they can be modular “columns” where two or three are put together to give you fridge, freezer, and other options. These are typically expensive. So most people stick with a 36” or 42” free standing model. Some factory cabinets have to be modified to fit any width other than 36” nominal standard. If you need more fridge space, either add a second fridge in the garage or choose a 42”. On free standing fridges, doors can be side by side, freezer on the bottom, or a version of that with 4 or 5 doors. Beyond these things, price is
determined by brand and features. We can add a cabinet panel to certain models made for it to hide your fridge in your kitchen.

Microwave Oven – Built-in type microwaves are very popular, either with a door or a drawer. But they cost more than over-the-range or counter top type models. Location and budget usually determine microwave type.

Brands – There are general different levels of quality and price. Here’s a simple way to view the levels from most expensive at top to consumer brand below: