Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
may_flowers

Kraftmaid design help!

Gracie
11 years ago

We've almost decided to order a Kraftmaid 36" vanity from Lowes, and we want to dress up their basic vanity cabinet. KM has an accent collection of side moldings and coordinating feet/skirts, and we like the one in the photo on the left with the indented circle. The door style shown with the accent molding is fancier than we'd like, but I found another door style, shown on the right in cherry. I think I need a style with the raised edging on the door and drawers to mimic what's on the accent molding (is that called a beaded edge?). But do I also need some type of recessed detailing on the door panel? Or will the accent molding look good with any style that is somewhat traditional?

Also, is this strictly a painted cabinet look? We prefer a medium-stained cherry but could go white.

Thank you for your opinion! The cabinet guy at Lowe's is not a design guy--wish they'd hire people with some skill in that area!

Comments (13)

  • sloyder
    11 years ago

    might want to look at a fluted column, kraftmaid has a couple on their website.

    Here is a link that might be useful: fluted columns

  • Gracie
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    There's a separate bathroom accent collection and we really like the one we've chosen. It adds some prettiness without being fussy.

    It's such a confusing website. Even the cabinet person had a hard time finding the accent collection in his catalog.

    Here is a link that might be useful: KM Bath

  • enduring
    11 years ago

    I was looking around on the KM web page and I think I saw a door like you posted in their gallery. There was no fancy trim though. I think the trim and the door would work together. The door looks like it has the square type routed area at the panel like the fancy trim piece does. I think cherry would also be fine.

  • Gracie
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Yes, it's routed--thank you for giving me the terminology, enduring!

    Here's a photo of the door style in the gallery. It shows the skinny drawers with recessed panels but it's shown as a flat panel in the door style guide. Will need to verify that. I think it might work better with the recessed panel for the drawers. The vanity has two small drawers and one deep drawer, so maybe the small ones are recessed panels and the deep drawer is a flat panel, as shown here.

    I hate to special order this sight unseen, especially when I don't have a lot of confidence in the salesperson.

    This post was edited by may_flowers on Sat, Mar 23, 13 at 19:19

  • GreenDesigns
    11 years ago

    Lowes isn't the only place that sells KM. Plenty of dealers do too. And KM isn't the only brand to make vanities either. You'd do well to ditch the guy who doesn't know what he's doing and find someone who DOES, Even if it's just a different Lowes if you want to stick with them.

  • Gracie
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I would if I were ordering kitchen cabinets, but because it's just a 36" vanity, it's not worth my time and aggravation to drive into The Big City for an independent dealer. We've already been to Lowe's 3 or 4 times to look at door styles and stain colors, and that would be a real inconvenience if we didn't shop locally. I like Lowe's. They even offered to unscrew their doors from the display so I could bring them to the granite yard.

    I just need another pair of eyes to look at it besides me and DH. I'll bug my family next. ;)

  • enduring
    11 years ago

    I can see why the narrow drawers have the different recessed panel. To try to fit a panel like the larger drawer may look odd - the rout, then the raise, then the rout again all in a very narrow space. The narrow recessed panel gives the shadow and character of the larger recessed panel but in a slightly modified look. I like both those paneled drawers very much.

  • Gracie
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    That door style is a little more interesting than Shaker without going into a raised panelled door, which I'm not a big fan of. Hopefully this will be a happy compromise between plain Shaker and very traditional. We're more of a "relaxed traditional". Our kitchen is Shaker, but we wanted a little more style for our small guest bath. Not replacing the tub and there's no tile, so the vanity/mirror/granite/lighting will need to do the job!

    Thank you for your opinion, enduring! I know you have excellent taste. What did you decide for a mirror over your vanity?

  • live_wire_oak
    11 years ago

    If you have any exposed sides, be SURE you understand the options for finishing them off. There are many, and if the person helping you doesn't understand them, they are likely to be ordered wrong and cost you time to fix the problems. Also, if you want to do the legs instead of the toekick, he has to select voiding the toekick and then the legs have to be selected. Attaching them is a field modification from your installer. Also, that is one of the more expensive door styles, so don't be shocked at the price after all of the modifications occur. I'd expect it to be around $1300 with all of that and in paint or cherry. More if you want a glaze on either.

  • Gracie
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    We'll have one exposed side, and he's put in an end panel for that. We plan to do the accent package with a skirt, which is attached at the factory.

    We were quoted $800 for cherry Shaker (Deveron) with the Aldris (aka Siegan) accent molding and skirt, one door, a top panel that runs the full length of the vanity, and three drawers. Essentially it's the standard two deep drawer style you see in a 36" vanity, but the top drawer has been split into two drawers. Otherwise, we would need to get a medicine chest to store small items. If the door style change adds several hundred dollars, we'll need to rethink that.

    Thank you, LWO! I'll go through every detail with him, just like I did with our kitchen, though that was custom and we had a lot of hand-holding.

  • live_wire_oak
    11 years ago

    OK, with an exposed side, my least favorite method of finishing it is the field applied skin. It sometimes ends up a different color, and is difficult for DIYers to get put on correctly. A Furniture Finished Plywood End will give you a flush end of the same species as the front, and finished in the same finish. An Integrated End will give you a panel end that looks like the door, but is factory applied, not field applied. It's the best look. Just under that would be a field applied door, but you also have to upgrade to the flush side via the skin or the furniture finished end before applying the door. And that's why I prefer the Integrated End if you want the more decorative choice. Also make sure to get scribe molding and a touch up kit added into the package.

    They will also hit you with about $250 of shipping charges if you want it sent to your home instead of the store. But, frankly, it's the best option rather than ever letting their freight team get hold of it. The more hands that touch it, the more chance of damages.

  • Gracie
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you again, LWO. I believe he was talking about an integrated end, so I will be sure to double check it. With our kitchen, we found it was wise to know the construction exactly so there were no surprises. I designed the dining room side of our peninsula, so I know the devil is in the details.

    For the scribe molding, you mean the piece that hides the gap between the cabinet and wall, correct? We weren't sure if we needed that in addition to the accent molding. The skirt wraps around the base a few inches and the countertop will be caulked to the wall (side of a linen closet), so without the scribe, the gap would be too much?

    That's pretty steep to have KM deliver. Sounds like you're a big fan of Lowe's, eh?

    Thanks for the advice to get the touch-up kit!

  • Gracie
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    LWO, you were spot on with the pricing once we added plywood. It was another $225 for plywood construction and plywood furniture ends. To bring it closer to $1000, we will probably change the door style but keep the plywood.

    If I'm understanding you correctly about the integrated end, it's a door panel applied to the cabinet end. We did that in our kitchen at the end of the cabinet run. I didn't ask about that, but I'm not sure we need to spend extra for it on the vanity because it's next to the toilet and not really seen.