No experience with those brands, but I actually think your cabinets look pretty good!

I am mixing Merillat classic with the masterpiece. They have my door in both lines in the same white (but they are called different things). We did that so we could have our custom hood, panels for the fridge and the dishwasher drawer. We are only having the single tall, and in the classic there was no oppotunity to have a functional drawer underneath. With the masterpiece, we can have the functional draw--space for our tupper wear! :)

I have a friend who just installed them last spring and is really happy with them. Our builder says it is very good quality for the money. Ours cabinets arrive on 5 March, so I cannot say much. It was a very good experience with the showroom. I really liked how they looked there.

Good luck!!!

Glad I escaped my apartment with brand new yet collapsing Merrilat cabinets just in time. Ikea is a far superior value.

I met with a KD whose company carries Merillat and Starmark; he said that with the current specials Starmark was much better for not that much more money (but it was more money than I had available, sadly)

Marcolo, what happened to the apartment Merillat cabinets? Mine fell off the wall. I've told the story on here several times, but never heard anyone else with my experience. Buyer beware of Merillat.

I would look at the custom guy. If he builds a good product then isn't better to give the job to a local company?

Travis Alfrey
Pinehurst, NC

We just had timberlake portfolio scottsdale cherry bordeaux installed in our new home which is still under construction. We obviously haven't lived with them yet, but we've seen them, opened the drawers and cabinets and we are very happy with the look and quality.

Our builder-grade home has Merillat cabinets. Of the choices we had at the time (and this was supposed to be our "starter home"), the ones we picked turned out to be an upgraded cabinet they showed us by mistake. They are now 16 years old and we've never had a problem with them, though I have read here about people having problems with them. While we are going to be getting new cabinets when we redo our kitchen, I have been very pleased with our cabs and almost feel bad replacing them as they still look and function quite well. We'll be donating what we can so they don't go to the dump.

This picture was taken about two years ago - forgive the hideous light box and counters!

Nice pictures of both Timberlake and Merillat cabinets!

I just put American Woodmark from HD in a kitchen and I was pretty impressed with the quality for the price. I have put multiple ikea kitchens in and I thought these were better. I had no problems at all with HD and got lots of freebies.

Area you addressing the layout issues here? If not, then wait until you have more money to correct those. There is no good prep space at all, and you need to address that in any renovation.

If you just "need" to do something different, just DIY paint what you have. Those area decent base for that and getting rid of the RED that shouts and the pink on the cabinets will do wonders.

I plan to eliminate the location of the present wall oven and microwave and have that be countertop space. I also plan to extend the island by 5." Received a bid for Cardell cabinets and they were also over $6000. Don't know much about them but thought that a private company that doesn't have much marketing would be less.

How do Quality Cabinets by Masco compare to Merillat?

Just got another opinion about my kitchen layout from another cabinet salesperson who suggested that I go with a "staggered" look and eliminate the soffit. The cabinets would then be 36" to 42." Have also read conflicting reports about whether stainless steel is going to look dated soon or not.

Maybe there are different lines, but my Merillat cabinets were definitely "builders grade" bottom of the line all the way. Crappy hardware.

I think the "builders grade" Merillat is the Essentials line. I went to a big box store to look at the sister line of Timberlake and they felt cheap compared to my solid wood Cabico cabinets. I would have them refinished, but none of the refinishers I talked to could refinish the "skins" at the end of the cabinets or refinish the "fillers."

I appreciate this post since I just saw that Kuikan Brother (was going to call them about hardwood flooring) sold Merillat cabinets and I liked the Merlot door and was going to price them. Thank you everyone who shared. I will wait until my floors are done and then revisit the cabinet situation and finally dive in and replace my cabinets and finish my kitchen.