How We Chose Our Dream Cabinets (And What the Process Actually Looked Like)

Cabinets feel like one of those decisions that quietly carry the entire weight of a kitchen...

They frame the windows.They hold the dishes.They become the backdrop for every ordinary, beautiful moment that happens within the room.

So when it came time to choose ours, we wanted to feel confident and not rushed or overwhelmed.

Designing Our Kitchen with the Home Depot Team

I’ll be honest... we never planned on ordering our kitchen cabinets through Home Depot. I didn’t even realize they had a kitchen design team before we stumbled upon their little cluster of cubicles in the back of our local store.

We were shopping one day for something totally unrelated, and passed the kitchen displays. After stopping to check out their models, we realized they had designated staff there to assist with design.

It wasn’t part of some big, strategic renovation plan... It was quite literally a random happenstance. But in hindsight, it was one of those small pivots that changed everything.

So, by popular request, here’s exactly what the process looked like for us.

Step 1: Measure, Sketch, Dream

Before we even found the Home Depot design team we had our vision drawn up. It was nothing fancy, just a rough sketch of our vision, exact measurements of the space, a list of "must-haves" and a Pinterest board full of warm woods and old-world inspired kitchens.

Step 2: Make an Appointment with the Kitchen Design Team

We scheduled a free consultation with the kitchen design team and quite literally had no idea what to expect.

When we arrived, we walked through all the display kitchens and cabinet samples. We opened drawers. Touched finishes. Compared stains and paint colors and looked at trim profiles.

We also got to see the storage options in action - pull-out spice racks, deep drawer inserts, hidden trash cabinets, soft-close everything.

They even had coloring books available for the kids. It made the whole appointment feel relaxed instead of stressful which was such a sweet touch, especially when you’re designing a kitchen with little ones in tow.

Seeing it physically in the showroom makes a huge difference versus

just flipping through a catalog, and having had our inspiration for the space on hand, we were pretty quick to make our decisions.

Step 3: 3D Plan the Entire Kitchen

Then we sat down with the designer and built the kitchen in 3D.

3D rendering of our future pantry layout

They plugged in our measurements and started mapping everything out cabinet by cabinet.

We could see the layout shift in real time... we could move drawer stacks, change finishes, adjust heights and balance symmetry.

It felt collaborative and like we weren’t just choosing boxes, but actually designing the function of the room.

By the end of the appointment, we had:

• A full 3D rendering

• A detailed breakdown of what we needed

• A finalized quote

  
  

Why We Chose KraftMaid

After looking through the offerings, we chose the KraftMaid brand cabinets.

For us, they felt like the right balance of quality and customization while still fitting our budget. The finishes were beautiful, the plywood-construction was solid, and the storage options gave us so much flexibility. In an 1800s farmhouse where nothing is perfectly standard, having that adaptability mattered.

Timeline + Installation

Our cabinets were built to order, so the shipping window was about 3–4 weeks.

We opted to install them ourselves to save on cost. It was obviously more work, but it gave us flexibility and kept the budget focused where it mattered most. Not to mention, installing them ourselves feels fitting for this house.

We’ve now had them for almost six months, and we truly have zero complaints. They’ve held up beautifully to real life - the busy mornings, from-scratch cooking, and little hands in every drawer.

We love them so much that we recently went back to design and order cabinets for our new built-in coffee cabinet (coming soon), and we plan to return when it’s time to start the butler’s pantry renovation (we already have the design and quote saved with the design team!).

What started as an unexpected decision has quietly become one we’re consistently grateful for. And that, to me, is the best kind of renovation choice... the one that still feels right long after the dust settles.

If you have any questions about the process or are considering designing your own kitchen, feel free to leave them below! I’m always happy to share what we learned along the way.

(Not sponsored - just sharing what worked really well for us.)