Day 662: And then there were cabinets!

The world of kitchen cabinets is one with no shortage of options. We wanted something that was good quality rather than cheap-o particle board and ended up going the semi-custom route with a local cabinet company. They have a factory in town where they manufacture all of the components, allowing for a great combination of custom sizing and quality parts with relative affordability since they have a limited number of styles available.

Once the boxes and drawers went in, we knew we had made the right decision. There may have been several minutes of us standing in the kitchen opening and closing the drawers with glee. These babies are solid wood with dovetail joints and soft close full extension slides, making them a dream to open and close. The nifty undermount slides have a neat little clasp that make it super easy to completely remove the drawers for cleaning.

Drool-worthy drawers

It's the little things that make life easier...

The great thing about the custom sizing is we could include things like a built-in recycling/composting station. I had checked out the off-the-shelf options for slide out bins but they were all way too big. Instead, we found a couple of $8 tall recycling bins from the hardware store and routed out a plywood insert to keep the bins from sliding around. We were able to fit a shorter drawer right above that was the exact size for our compost bins (one for the curb and one for the backyard composter) so you could sweep crumbs, etc. off of the counter and right into the bin.

Testing out the recycling centre on the left

Thinking back to the dreaming we did on Day 395, the final result wasn't too far from the mark. We went with the classic white shaker style cabinets and the exact granite top we liked from the beginning but chickened out on the different coloured lower cabinets. I still like the look but it's not for everyone and, knowing that this wouldn't be the forever house, landed on the safer bet.

Drawers galore!

The workhorse side with holes for range, OTR, sink, dishwasher, and fridge.

Views from the entry and living/dining room

Not a bad look for a safe bet.