ours was bundled...but i have to say we just love them. can you negotiate the amount?

Depends on the size of your kitchen (number of closers) and whether they're real Blum. If so, then likely yes. If not, then maybe not.

Mine was a free upgrade. I like them but not enough to pay for them. I'm too used to the hip bump to close them;-)

It's usually worth upgrading drawers to soft close, but not doors. I would find out what it would cost for just the drawers.

For the doors, you can buy the dampers after-market for much, much less than it would cost to get them installed on your cabinets by the cabinet manufacturer/cabinetmaker. That's what we did. We paid $3.94 for each damper at Woodworkers Hardware (one/door unless you have a door that's abnormally large or heavy). I just checked, and they're even less now...$3.50. They're also very simple to install...my DH did our entire kitchen in no more than an hour.

OTOH, to get soft-close for drawers, you need specialty glides so you would have to replace the drawer glides if you tried to DIY them later...so, drawers are worth it.

One question, though, what "brand" are the glides your cabinetmaker/cabinet manufacturer uses? Blumotion is one of the best on the market. We've had people here whose cabinetmaker used less expensive ones and they were difficult to use. So, be sure you're getting Blumotion (or better, but I don't know any better offhand.)

Cabinet door dampers for cabinet doors at Woodworker's Hardware:

Blumotion for Compact Hinge Series (Blumotion for Doors 1" or greater overlay ) [for full-overlay doors] http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/ProductID/B971A9700

Blumotion for Compact Hinge Series (Blumotion & spacer, less than 1" overlay) [for partial overlay doors]
http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/ProductID/B971A9700.A

Installed:

We had Blumotion soft-close installed for our many drawers, but our cabinet maker didn't quote or install soft close for our uppers. We too discovered (on this site) that we could add this ourselves after our cabinets were installed -- our Blumotion hinges allowed a snap-on soft-close, no screws required. And, they were very affordable. We would definitely get soft-close again.

Whatever you decide on the soft (i like them a lot), do get the pull out all the way. This makes a huge difference in usibilty. Nothing seems to get lost back there.

I'll be the contrarion here: I despise soft motion (closing)drawers. I hate the extra little pull to open them and the creepy, attentuated, action on closing just plain skeeves me out -like squeaking chalk on a blackboard. So I'd gladly pay $1,200 to have them removed from my cabs.

But I second the recommendation to upgrade to full extension. That rocks!

liriodendron...there's not that much of an "extra little pull to open them"...it's not really noticeable after a couple of days. It's so little...

As to the "creepy, attentuated, action on closing" that "just plain skeeves me (you) out -like squeaking chalk on a blackboard"...I don't understand. Is the fact that they don't slam shut an issue? Is it the soft close motion that bothers you or is there some kind of sound? (Mine are silent.) I've heard people complain that they don't like to wait for them to close (to which I reply, why do you wait? They don't need supervision to close, they do it all on their own.) but I've never heard that the motion creeps anyone out until now! Interesting how each of us is so different!

OK, so now you (clueless_70) have two opinions! If you don't know what soft-close is like in real life, I suggest you go somewhere that has the Blumotion type installed and check them out. See if the slight extra pull or the soft-close motion bothers you. I can almost guarantee you that your DH (if you have one) will like it. For some reason (the "gadget" syndrome?), husbands really like them!

Whatever you do, I echo others when I say full-extension is a must. But I also believe soft-close is a "nice to have" and if it isn't in the budget, skip it.

Oh, I forgot to mention...if you have roll out tray shelves (ROTS) instead of drawers, then I don't recommend soft-close. With ROTS, you do have to wait for them to close b/f closing the cabinet doors in front of them. We have one ROTS cabinet and it is slightly annoying to have to wait b/f I close the doors. If you don't wait, you can nick your doors when you close them into the ROTS itself. (Ditto, btw, when pulling out an ROTS b/f the doors are fully open.)

I've had my soft close drawers/cabinets for a couple of weeks now and I second the posts that talk about it being strange. It took me about a week to get used the extra pull and I couldn't stop myself from pushing the drawers shut - I kept forgetting that I didn't need to do that anymore. Anyway, I am slowly getting used to it and this is a nice feature. My mom is in the process of getting stock cabinets installed in her kitchen and the GC is just purchasing the soft close mechanism and installing it `- much, much less expensive.

The only downside to the soft-close for us, is the fact that all drawers everywhere are NOT equipped with them. Having gotten used to ours in our kitchen (and on our buffet, and on our bathroom vanities), we have to remember NOT to slam other drawers!

Don't get me started on using non-soft-close toilet seats after using our soft-close seat equipped Totos.... (SLAM!)

Ha ha, cat_mom, I was just going to say the same thing about the toilet seats. I'm so used to our soft-close kitchen drawers and Toto toilet seats that I JUMP at the abruptness of regular drawers and seats now :)

I looooove soft-close!

I heard something quite odd the other day from my MIL. Just finishing my kitchen which includes the soft close drawers. I showed her one (which I like very much) and she got a sort of sly half smile on her face. She then informed me that when she got her kitchen cabinets she had that but that 'it wears off'. Huh?! Is that true? My MIL is almost 87 and sometimes a bit foggy in her memory and she's also queen of the passive-aggressive put down, so maybe this is nonsense. But has anyone else experienced that?

liriodendron

I don't understand the creepy thing either. Unless you have self close (which pulls the drawers shut) vs. soft close which gently closes the drawer the last couple of inches.

I can see self close being an issue if you have to wait for one to close before opening one lets say in the opposite corner.

Buehl,

In regard to the roll out trays, Do you also have soft close on the cabinet door as well? If not, maybe the door would not hit the drawer/tray that has soft close since the tray would have been pushed back first and by the time the door is closed the tray would be a little ahead and the door would gently close. Curious.

I agree with those that LOVE soft close anything! I don't know if you have kids, but it is so worth it to have soft close in our house. The kids can close the toilet without slamming the seat, and close cabinets without slamming them. The other day, our 3 year old was being a pill, and he in his fit of frustration slammed the kitchen drawer. I laughed as it slowly and gently came to a close. Love it.

I love my soft close drawers (probably considered self-close per the above) on my brookhaven cabinets.

I was at my FIL's over the weekend and pushed a drawer closed like I ususally do at home-hard. It slammed shut and then bounced back open. Guess he doesn't have soft/self-close on his kraftmaid cabinets. Made me appreicate my drawers that much more.

And we also slam cabinets/drawers in the bathrooms because we are used it. DH actually wants to add soft-close hinges to the vanities so we can enjoy it everywhere!

Todds...Yes, we have the soft-close on those doors as well. But, the doors close pretty far b/f the soft-close action kicks in and if the ROTS isn't closed far enough, the doors hit it. The ROTS starts to slow down b/f it's all the way into the cabinet, and it takes longer to close completely b/c it has farther to go...so I need to start the ROTS closing, wait, and then close the doors.

RunningInPlace...I've never heard of them "wearing off". Mine are still going strong, but it's only been a little over 2 years since we moved back into the kitchen.

Toilet covers...It's not just Toto, btw, that has soft-close toilet seats...so does Kohler (we have one in our PR). The only thing I don't like about it, though, is that the cover is a softer plastic and you can't sit on a closed toilet. Does Toto have a hard plastic cover like non-soft-close do? I may look elsewhere when we redo the bathrooms.

I did want to mention that some cabinet lines, Omega for example, include soft-close drawers as standard.

Cat_Mom...same here!

I lovelovelove our new soft-close Brookhaven drawers and doors! Our old drawers were old and rotting and so difficult to open and close. Of ocurse the drawers were not full extension drawers... so much space lost in them... and they were really difficult to popen and close. And the cab doors slammed shut and were SO loud! Now everything opens and closes with stupid crazy ease and we have peace and quiet in the kitchen!! I couldn't be happier. I didn't need any time at all getting used to it, but I think my husband did.

I was afraid, control freak that I am, that I would be irritated by them. That I would want my doors closed when I want them closed, and not when they feel like getting around to closing.
But I changed my design so that my island will be stained and not painted, which saves me almost the same amount as the soft-close upcharge.
And since my kids are on the cusp of teenage-hood, and the new kitchen is right next to my bedroom, I think I've decided to go for it.
I'm about $87 above my budgeted amount for cabinets WITH this upcharge so, gulp, I'm going for it.
Thanx so much for your help.

I agree that it depends on how many drawers/door you're talking about. That quote is meaningless without knowing how many you're paying for.

We finished our new build in Sept, so our cabinet price was for the whole house. I'm not sure what portion was only for the full extension/soft close feature. The dealer mentioned full extension w/ soft close was $16 per drawer. I know the doors' soft close is only $3 at their discount store.... so I'm guessing they charged me $5 or $6. I have 17 drawers in my kitchen, plus 18 drawers in my bathrooms (35 drawers times $16 = $560).... plus whatever it was for all the door soft closes (at least 45 of them) :) It can add up if you have enough cabinetry....

Anyway, I think that price was worth it for us. Full extension is AWESOME... the soft close is really nice. Some of my cabinet doors were missing the soft close for a few weeks, and those cabinets jogged my memory on how much I can slam a door (accidentally.) It took a few days to get used to the drawers/doors, but I love them now...

What I don't like about the soft close mechanism is the weird little scootch it makes when pulling in that last small distance. It's has a revolting, horror-movie quality for me, like the receding tongue of a nightmare-animal.

(I can hardly write about it w/o shivering - an overeager cab salesperson wanting to demonstrate them can send me practically running out of the showroom!)

But aside from that sick-making movement, it seems to me, to be the almost perfect representation of the sheer laziness of the world we live in now. How much effort does it really take to close your own drawers correctly (and quietly)? Is everyone's life so raddled by stress or desperate haste that they can't restrain themselves from slapping the drawers back?

And it also fails my standard of desirable simpleness. I agree that they are appealing to the gadget-minded - when we first saw them in a kitchen showroom, my DH could hardly wait to disembowel a drawer assembly to figure it out.

But I'll keep closing the drawers in our house, by hand, thank you. (I have no idea what a soft-close toilet is and, may it please the Gods, I'll never encounter one.)

This is the one thing I don't want to upgrade to.

If only I could acquire a similar, visceral, distaste for Marmoleum, high CFM vent fans, and expensive English faucets; my kitchen reno budget would be much less strained.

L

""" it seems to me, to be the almost perfect representation of the sheer laziness of the world we live in now."""

You had me rolling on the floor with that one!!!

For me, "the perfect representation of the sheer laziness of the world we live in now..." is the pot-filler. How lazy am I? I can't walk the three steps back and forth to the sink to fill the pot??

And if it's going to be too heavy, how do I think I'm going to lift the pot once its contents are cooked??

The soft close drawers and doors are one of my favorite things about my new (1yo) kitchen. The master bedroom is right above the kitchen and I would hear those cabinet doors slam at all times of the night and early morning. Nite-owl husband and teenagers were constantly slamming those doors! I sleep much better now : )

They're nice for grown-ups, but soft-close is a God-send if you have kids!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got soft-close toilet seats too because of the kids (no more squished wee-wees...ROFL).

liriodendron - I now have a vision of some little goblin inside my cabinetry with long fingers just waiting to grab the drawers and pull them in that last couple inches! I will never look at my soft-pull drawers the same again!! I may have nightmares now, lol. But I still love the way ours close :)

I just checked my cabinets for goblins. None. Not even those virtually translucent, blond goblins that come with Ikea cabinets. And I timed the soft-close delay -- just shy of one second. I can handle it.

LOL on soft-close goblins. I never gave it a second thought, but I am one who does get creeped out by certain noises and tactiles. (Microfiber anyone? *shudder*)

We also have a soft-close toilet seat in our main bath--a no-name brand we bought at Menard's, as the boys are horrible about dropping the seat. Ker-blam! I would hear at all hours, and why that would echo all over the house is still a mystery for me.

I do have an IKEA cabinet (3-drawer stack) I bought about 4 years ago to use in our linen closet, and to show Hubs that IKEA kitchen cabinets were perfectly fine and nothing like their other stuff. It houses cleaning supplies and all the extra shampoos, toothpastes, various toiletries, etc. It does not have soft close dampers on it, and it shuts hard. I mean watchyerfingerssparky kind of hard. I have extra dampers from my kitchen remodel, so I will be installing those bad-boys in that hall drawer stack.

Boys attempting to close the toilet?? They exist?

I got the toto soft close with the button on the top thinking one would just naturally close it with the hand that pushed the flush button.

Only natural to me apparently...