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Barker Cabinets - Who Has Them?

cjcali
11 years ago

To anyone who actually ordered and used these, could you let me know how it worked out? We're about to order a bunch for throughout the house (kitchen, three baths, laundry room) and wanted to hear from other people before we placed the order. Thanks!

Comments (23)

  • CEFreeman
    11 years ago

    I have to tell you their doors are perfect.

    I haven't gone cabinets because Conestoga (The Cabinet Joint .com) is less with more selection.

    Barker's workmanship and Chad Barker's communication is great, though. I would feel very comfortable ordering from them.

    And I am going to be placing a 4th door and drawer box order.

  • PRO
    Tom Carter
    11 years ago

    I'm going to shortly. Have ordered and received their sample cabinet...looks like an excellent product.
    Chad Barker is very responsive and his website is top notch. They only lack some variety in cabinet types although those they do have have a good range of sizes and can be spec'ed by the 1/4 inch. He looks to be adding new pieces all the time. Ours is a simple shaker sytle kitchen so the variety fit our needs.
    Caspian

  • salishsong
    11 years ago

    We used Barker cabinets for a very similar set -- kitchen, two baths, linen -- and they worked out great. I wanted cherry but could only afford alder, so we got the doors unfinished, and had a local guy finish them with a light stain. I couldn't be happier with these. He used Osmo for the finish, so I did the same on the unfinished drawer boxes. My husband put the cabinets together and though he's quite picky (and a cabinetmaker himself) he was impressed with the construction. I should mention that the finisher said he did quite a bit of sanding to get a fine finish on the doors, but you could expect that from Barker's description (finished to 180 grit, if you get them unfinished). There were a couple of pieces of missing hardware which were shipped out immediately once I notified them, received here within a day or so.

    I really appreciated the on-line ordering, as I did all the measuring and re-measuring myself, and reviewed my printed order before submitting -- and everything came out right.

    Here are some pictures:

    We repurposed our Ikea pullout pantry drawers for a pullout pantry with our new Barker cabinets...easy!

  • cjcali
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hi all - when I priced out Conestoga it was more expensive. Strange. I'm glad to hear from you all - it is a big decision, I appreciate all the help.

  • eam44
    11 years ago

    Caspian101 and cjcali - did you order Barker, and if so, how'd it go?

  • mrsjoe
    11 years ago

    I just put together a sample cabinet from them yesterday. Ordered sample doors in Walnut, Maple and paint grade. Had the walnut sealed and varnished. Everything was beautiful and easy to put together.

    I've kind of been a PITA to them with question after question and they have always responded quickly and politely. They were also willing to customize my door for me (for $10 more per door to get a solid wood flat panel instead of veneer) since there are fewer door options on Barker Cabinets then Barker Doors.

  • selphydeg
    11 years ago

    "Had the walnut sealed and varnished. Everything was beautiful and easy to put together. "

    You don't have to do anything further with the finish right?

  • cjcali
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hi. About to order them this week. Sorry, got delayed (once again).

  • eam44
    11 years ago

    Keep us posted!

  • mrsjoe
    11 years ago

    As far as the finish, I only got the walnut door finished rather than the whole sample cabinet, so the cabinet didn't have the edge banding, so I can't speak to that. It was cheaper to just get the sample cabinet in paint grade plus the door than to get the sample cabinet done entirely in Walnut. I can tell you though that the door was fantastic and would have been ready to go. Maybe I can take a pic of it tomorrow.

  • williamsem
    11 years ago

    I am looking at their walnut cabinets too, any chance you can post a pic? I am wondering what they look like finished. Might go with Barker if I don't get a quite I like around here.

  • steph2000
    11 years ago

    Hmm...this is an interesting company. Free shipping for every order over 3K? And, they are used to dealing with Hawaii, given that seems to be where the roots of the company started, so Alaska should be a piece of cake.

    I just did a quick estimate with sealed walnut lowers/pantry and white uppers and it came to $9300, lightrail, crown, end panels and all. I think my last IKEA estimate was just under that, not including shipping. The wood doors and 3/4 plywood shelves are pluses, as is the increased customization options over IKEA.

    However, I couldn't customize some of what I need to customize to make it work, so I'm going to call them and explore some things.

    They are having a huge sale right now. I plan to ask them how long that's going to last. The painted option starts 8/21 and is Sherwin Williams Pure White only, so pretty limited options for a factory finish - though folks can also paint themselves in any color they want. I'm not so interested in that if I can avoid it.

  • williamsem
    11 years ago

    Thanks so much for posting those, the walnut is absolutely gorgeous!

    DH wants to put walnut floors in the great room that meets the kitchen, so I think walnut cabinets would tie in well. They make my heart beat fast every time I see them, I think I will have to make room in my budget. Seeing what the Barker finish looks like gives me a great option should the walnut quote come back a bit high.

  • Mick Mick
    11 years ago

    I ordered today. Very impressed with the quality of the sample door. Also Chad Barker really did me a solid (issues with my order) and was very nice about it. I'll take after pictures. :)

  • scrappy25
    11 years ago

    I was looking on the Barker site and noticed that the drawers are made of unfinished plywood. Can I get feedback from anyone with Barker cabinets about this? Do the other manufacturers clearcoat their drawers or is unfinished plywood standard?

  • rmgoetz
    11 years ago

    islandlife - did you use your existing ikea mechanism and use a barker cabinet door front? We are looking at using mostly Ikea and trying to use Barker for some custom components and retrofitting them with Ikea door fronts. Thought you may have some experience here. Thanks!

  • salishsong
    11 years ago

    rmgoetz, for our pullout pantry, we ordered a Barker tall cabinet with door. We already had the Ikea pullout pantry. We detached the pullout shelves from the Ikea unit and reattached them to the Barker unit, and didn't need any additional hardware (we had ordered the door without hardware in any case). So the cabinet box and door were from Barker, and the shelves and their hardware were Ikea.

    For the rest of our cabinets, we used all components from Barker.

    And scrappy25, if you're still checking this thread!, I think the RTA cabinetmakers commonly offer unfinished drawer boxes, as it's an easy thing to do at home and will save quite a bit of money (why we're doing RTA in the first place). Scherr's offers them finished or unfinished, for example. It took me the better part of a week to get all my drawer boxes finished (two coats of Osmo). It was easy, and only time consuming because there were so many. It does look like at Barker, if you choose the clearcoat option for the doors and drawer fronts, they also clearcoat the drawer boxes -- something to check on, if you think you'd want that.

  • cjcali
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Ok, sorry about the delay but YES, we bought the Barker cabs and although the finishing is a PITA (by me), we'd do it again. Quality and service really great, especially for the price. Kitchen still getting "finished", I'll post pics in about a month when all the bells and whistles are done.

  • Lisa128
    11 years ago

    Hi, I tried to post information/details re: my kitchen saga and it doesn't seem to have gone through. We are also considering Barker and would love to hear from others who have installed them with the clear catalyzed finish. We are concerned that there will be a lot of color variations without a stain. We are looking at cherry, walnut and mahogany. Any information on this or other quality comments would be appreciated.
    Thanks!

  • susanlynn2012
    10 years ago

    Since someone posted pictures of their painted Barker Cabinets, I did a search to see how these compared to other budget cabinets. Anyone else with pictures of kitchens with Barker Cabinets? I am thinking of an off-white painted shaker door look with my 2nd favorite being natural cherry or maple stained a reddish cherry color.

  • scrappy25
    10 years ago

    Islandlife!
    I just saw your post from Dec 2012 to me! thanks!

    Can I ask about your beautiful cabinets- alder, what style at Barker? Do you think that the clearcoat finish color would be different than the osmo that you used? I really like your doors!

  • maysf
    10 years ago

    Anyone in San Francisco bay area installed baker cabinets? I would love to talk to you and possible see your product.