For semi custom; Omega seems highly regarded. As I'm sure others will tell you; before you commit to any brand from a big box store you may want to compare prices and quality at a local custom shop.

Thank you, remodelfla and rookie. I looked at the websites and both companies offer very attractive cabinets. Aren't they much more expensive than Kraftmaid though?

When I ordered cabinets, I chose Candlelight for the kitchen, the kitchen designer suggested I go with Kraftmaid for bathroom vanities so I had him quote me on both Kraftmaid and Candlelight, the Candlelights were more expensive but not by much. I can't attest to the difference in quality between the two but I did go with Kraftmaid for my mudroom, they haven't been delivered yet. I was lucky to have found a kitchen design place that carries several semi-custom brands.

I'm always surprised when I read of complaints about Kraftmaid cabinets. I have them in my bathrooms and just redid my kitchen with them. I love them. and I also found their customer service to be fantastic.

Thanks, rookie.

Squigs: I don't have personal experience with Kraftmaid, but a number of posters on GW have complained about poor quality control.

We went with Schuler Cabinets from Lowes. Schuler cabinets are made by Medallion. We really liked the painted finish on the cabinets and the company was great with replacing a couple of the cabinets that were not the correct dimensions ( refrigerator panels)

I 2nd the Schuler/Medallion choice of doingygirl above. Lots of options and out of all the cabinets that I have looked at they have the nicest painted cabinetry in that price point and are even better looking then some of the higher priced choices in other brands. In my area LoweÂs is offering 15% off and the Medallion dealer is offering the 15% off plus an additional 5% and a free 17 gauge stainless undermount sink.

Thanks, doingygirl and jterrilynn. The kitchen designer I spoke with at Lowe's only mentioned Kraftmaid, Thomasville, and one other (started with a "w," I believe). She didn't mention Schuler/Medallion, so I will ask her about that brand at my Wednesday follow-up meeting.

My kitchen cabinets (not yet installed) are by Ultracraft. I've seen them installed in other kitchens here in the Bay Area, and they look great. It's a nice line, with lots of latitude for customizing and the prices are excellent.

I love my Omega Dynasty cabinets (the semi-custom line). The nice thing about Omega is that you can mix & match their Dynasty cabinets & Omega Custom cabinets. The Custom line has all the finishes in the Dynasty (semi-custom) line and more. They also have most of the Dynasty doors in the Custom line (again, and more).

My cabinets are mostly Dynasty but I do have 3 Custom...the MW Drawer cabinet and the two glass doored cabinets are Custom. I would have loved to do all Custom to get toe-kick drawers in all my cabinets, but alas, budget didn't allow it!

Quality is great and Omega Customer Service as well. I had an issue w/my kitchen company about shelves the wrong size...three times (second KD's fault, not Omega's) and I contacted Omega CS about it...they told me not to worry and that they would contact my kitchen company and get it straightened out for me...and they did! Quickly too!

We had KraftMaid in our first home, and they were great. My in-laws put cherry KraftMaid cabinets in their kitchen, and they look beautiful (42" upper cabinets). We wanted the same in our new home, but the quote was $20,000 and the GC's custom cabinet guy came in at $12,000 (funny how the allowance for the cabinets was exactly $12,000). Regardless, we never had any trouble with our KraftMaid. My in-laws did have a couple of doors with some marred wood, but KraftMaid replaced them quickly.

yes, I have also seen a few posters who had complaints about their kraftmaid cabinets; but by and large the comments here are closer to my experience, that the cabinets are very nice and that issues are dealt with swiftly and satisfactorily. To keep it in perspective, Kraftmaid is probably the largest cabinet supplier, so it stands to reason you would hear of more problems because of that. I'm not saying that they are any better or any worse than any other semi-custom brand, just that I would definitely recommend them without hesitation.

I agree with the poster who recommended getting a bid or a few bids from you local cabinetmaker.
I went with Crystal for my kitchen(not semi-custom), but with a 2500 sq foot addition that has included 2 bathrooms and 2 fireplace surround cabinets, I got tons of bids.
I wanted inset for my kitchen. The local cabinetmakers just couldn't compete on price and didn't have enough experience doing inset for me to go with them. As a matter of fact, they all tried to talk me out of it(half overlay is the easiest cabinet to construct).
When I got bids for my bathroom cabinets and fireplace cabinets, the local cabinetmakers were much more competitive on price than the the Lowes or Home Depot bids. And I looked through their woodworking catalogs and picked out cute furniture feet and asked them to add extra moulding.
I will try to post a pic of my bathroom vanity and what I paid for it later.
Good Luck.

I have Schuler cabinets from Lowe's. They are the same as the Medallion brand of cabinets. Although slightly more expensive than Kraftmaid, the quality of the finish is superior and they will customize any cabinet for you. They were delivered on time, well packaged with no damage and any replacement items I needed were shipped quickly. Good luck!

Thank you, everyone, for the helpful advice.

We are only just beginning to think about replacing the cabinets in our kitchen, and I have never done this before. I see many recommendations (including on this thread) to check with a local cabinetmaker. How do I find a reputable one who is experienced in kitchen cabinets?

Ask here, with your location.

Any local cabinet recommendations in the Chicagoland area? Thanks