Went through the same debate and decided on Ultracraft. I am using buycabinets when I order, so it's decent deal, but from a versatility perspective Ultracraft wins out. Mind you, I haven't ordered these yet, but that's what I found.

Have you looked into Kitchencraft? We chose them over the Kraftmaid Venicia. The quotes were pretty much right on, and we liked the Kitchencraft finish better. Also, we were able to get a few totally customized cabinets from them including a microwave base cabinet with pocket doors and a drawer underneath.

Get references from the cabinet place and talk to other people who have used them. Lousy service can make your life very painful up front and down the road (when the cabinet order comes in wrong!)

thx, everyone.
alku - i couldn't find any kitchencraft nearby when i looked on their site, but i'll do a little more searching -- sometimes those lists aren't complete.

needanap- ironically i met a guy at a granite place who'd used the same place and designer. he was happy - though he's doing his own install; he just warned me to have him be specific when he created the estimate about the descriptions of what each cabinet was.they had some miscommunication and ended up paying a little more, but i can stay on top of that.

alku - are your cabinets frameless? I thought they did have frameless. But I just called customer service and she told me they do not!

btw, has anyone heard of optima? one of the places that has venicia carries this custom frameless line as well. i have no idea of quality/pricing , though they told me it is a better cabinet than venicia.

Yes, Kitchencraft only makes frameless cabinets! You didn't accidently look up Kitchen Kraft with a "K" did you? They're a different company, and only do custom. (Why can't cabinet companies come up with distinct names?) More likely I suspect the phone answerer you talked to doesn't know what they're talking about.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchencraft's construction page showing their frameless construction

i did call the 800 number at the same site you posted! now here's where it gets further confusing. there is a high end kitchen store near me who i called last month that i am pretty sure told me they don't have frameless. and he definitely told me they don't have thermofoil. you know, the whole, "no, the higher end cabinets we deal in don't use thermofoil"-atitude. :) well, their web site says they have kitchen craft! and kitchen craft has some thermo doors on their site i may have to give another call, though i don't know that i'll get the best attention from that kind of place - i'd be at the low end of what they're used to!

Cabinet shopping was the most frustrating part of the process simply b/c there's so many cabinet people that don't know ANYTHING about cabinets. Good luck with the new kitchen store.

very happy to know this could be the most frustrating part! the ultracraft people seem knowledgeable -- just a little bit on the salesy/slick side.

I've been looking at Venicia and just found Destiny online.

Are those and Kitchen Craft all in the same price range? Thx!

I decided to go with Ultracraft. I have a cabinet store near my house and they've been wonderful. I have a very small kitchen (9.5 x 9.5) of cabinetry and they've given me as much attention as someone with a $$$ kitchen. I really like the Ultracraft. We're doing the Stickley cabinets in golden maple. I like the Stickley over the Shaker because the center panel is thicker.

Hey all,
Back when we first were looking, we were deciding between those 2 lines as well. I heard much better reviews about the UC and liked them better in person. The best part was they were going to cost less the than the KMs.
We ended up deciding on IKEA Applad cabs and were able to give up some size options in order to get the price waaaay lower by using IKEA. The UC's best price for us was $17k and the IKEA come out to approx $3,500. The IKEA cabs in Applad are actually not thermofoil after all, but they do have the Abstrakt in thermo. I did not feel the quality was as good in the Abstrakt in the showroom, but then again, those get beat on by hundreds of people a day. It is something to consider.
If your only choices are UC or KM, I'd go with UC.
HTH

i did look into ikea on yours and others suggestion, dianalo. unfortunately they were missing a couple of key sizes. i have decided to go ahead with the ultracraft(mission ii thermofoil) and hope it works out with this place. they measured on tuesday but, with the long weekend, i'm not sure how fast i'll get the layout/price estimate. when i asked earlier for a ballpark estimate based on linear feet, i was given a figure of $8500 plus tax and shipping (i have 22 lf). it will be interesting to see how close that ends up being. :)

cooneinten - i would guess that kitchen craft is in the same general ballpark, based on the reporting in this thread of venecia vs ultracraft and venecia vs kitchen craft. it probably depends in part on the specific store and mybe even the geographic area. i have not seen kitchen craft, but i did prefer the ultracraft white finish slightly ove the venecia finish.

just an update. today i signed the order for the ultracraft cabinets. we sat and went over each cabinet one-by-one on the layout and made a couple of changes. frankly, the price seems so good, that i'm a little concerned i still may have missed or forgotten something! i did catch a sale and am not doing much in the way of upgrades/custom. also, heat shields and finished ends are included at no extra charge.the labor was half the estimate expo gave me for the venecia.(which, of course reflects on expo, not kraftmaid)

the satin white sample door really looked like wood to me. he told me the color is like dove white, which made me feel good, since that seems to be so popular here for painted cabinets. :)

i'm so happy to finally be getting this project underway!

Glad, are you still active on this site? How do you like your Ultracraft cabinets now six years later? I am in the middle of deciding between kitchencraft and ultracraft myself.

Hi 1westerngal, which one did you decide on? My wife and I are now deciding between Kitchen Craft and Ultracraft. Thanks!

-Adrian

Glad, thanks so much for this update! Do you think the edges nicking and peeling is the thermofoil coming off? Other than those flat pieces and the shelves, any problems? Any trouble with warping from water contact or hinges?

Thanks for the pictures as well. Cute African grey!

Yes, I think it is just the nature of a laminate. Edges just show when it is white. Nicks are very, very minor minor now and can probably be touched up if needed. I just wasn't expecting it because there are no flat edges on the cabinet doors and I don't think I saw any shelves before ordering .Here are new pics I tried to upload earlier.
1.hard to see cause all is white. But it is (sort of) a close up ofthe panel enclosing the fridge. With normal wear and tear, easy to nick.

http://s113.photobucket.com/user/HBrose/media/Kitchen/IMG_0480.jpg.html

2.this is a better shot of the supports the cabinets sit on.
http://s113.photobucket.com/user/HBrose/media/Kitchen/IMG_0483.jpg.html

The only other issue I had was with tracks or glides on two of these drawers.
http://s113.photobucket.com/user/HBrose/media/Kitchen/potspans2.jpg.html

They started "scraping" , vs smoothly rolling when I opened. The place I bought them from sent someone out and has been fine since. Has been a couple of years.

Oh, I do have some trouble with the tiltout drawer sticking, but that is an issue, I think, related to room left after sink placement a/o installation. I know some people weren't able to use their at all from what I remember (NOT Ultracraft-specific). I couldn't open at 1st, but the guys then adjusted as best they could.I don't really use them.

Thx for noticing the bird!. He was on my shoulder as I lined shelves and jumped in. He loves the kitchen. This is trying to explain to him why he couldn't go for awhile. :)
http://s113.photobucket.com/user/HBrose/media/Kitchen/IMG_0003.jpg.html