Serious Cabinetry

My wife and I bought a home that needed a ton of work. We had known of Kurt's work prior, and knew he would be our choice. First, I must say that we don't have a large kitchen, and weren't expecting much in terms of design. My wife and I thought we would just replace the existing cabinets and use the same footprint. When Kurt came for the first time he suggested so many great ideas, that no one thought of prior. This included closing up an unnecessary doorway to the dining room, adding a pass through into the dining room for entertaining, adding a peninsula, etc. All of these changes maximized our space tremendously and made the kitchen flow so much better into our living room space. I can honestly say he took a shoebox and made it a gourmet kitchen. Now, when people come to visit they can't visualize how the space was prior, and how unbelievably big the kitchen is (we always have to show the "before" pictures). He worked magic, there's no other way to say it! Everyone says it looks like it is straight out of a magazine or HGTV. As a result, two of our friends who recently bought homes are now using Kurt too for their kitchens! Additionally, Kurt is the designer, but truly he is more like a project manager because from start to finish he was there through everything. From plumbing fixtures to appliances to granite, he was there every step of the way. He was even there for delivery of the granite, which honestly impressed me as he didn't have to be (and side note, the granite company did a phenomenal job at install, people have a hard time finding the seams). Every time we called or emailed Kurt, we received a prompt response. You can tell he truly cares. All in all, words cannot describe our happiness with our kitchen and overall experience. We would never have the kitchen we do today without Kurt, plain and simple. We are now about to renovate our guest bathroom, and of course, Kurt is doing it! After that... the master bath!

We hired Kurt to update a kitchen: add a wall of cabinets, new island, new counter-tops, and new kitchen back-splash. Leading up to the work, Kurt was very helpful and due to experience quickly grasped my vision for kitchen. Problems started when work began, Kurt was only present when cabinets were dropped off the first day. One day when counter-tops came in the men installing took a crow-bar to our wall, almost didn't install the under-mount sink (except that I asked about it), and questioned me about placement of stone on island (i.e. exact measurements). This was concerning to me, as I was under the impression we had hired Kurt to handle these sorts of questions and supervise the work. I called Kurt who did express surprise and dismay, but directed me to the company who installed the counter-tops to make complaint. Of course, they apologized, but mostly made excuses. Then I realized my island which was supposed to measure 37" by 62" was really 36", not a huge difference, but when it's an overhang you can use the extra inch. I asked Kurt if they would discount this inch and again, he said that 1/4" difference could be normal. I told him, it's an inch, then he said they charge by the square foot. Strange... how could a stone company only charge by the square foot? When I replied that that seemed unlikely and I had ordered a 37" island, he again told me to call the company myself. And once again, the company made excuses. Friends in the business told me that is not normal and people can agree to settle, but otherwise, since I have documented that the island was supposed to be 37", I could have requested a new counter, but I did not. The work is completed, looks good, except for minor flaws, happy with end result. But Kurt has never been back to check ANY of the work since the day cabinets were dropped off. THEN, the really unpleasant part: I received a final invoice and asked for electrical to be adjusted because there was an outlet they didn't have to place and cabinet installation price to be adjusted because original estimate had included "demo", which was none, and the person installing was quite inexperienced and even misplaced pull holes on drawers at one point which had to be fixed with wood putty. Kurt sent an email back saying there was demolition of tiles...which he previously told me was included in tile estimate. Again, strange. A few days later Kurt sent final invoice and said they would give me $100 off for electrical. THAT day received call from the contractors saying Kurt told them I "refused" payment, which I explained to them was not the case seeing as I received the final invoice that day. The NEXT day, I received another email with the subject "overdue payment"... this was ONE day later. At this point, I decided to ask a friend who works on big projects in NYC what was going on and what I should do, not wanting to get caught in the middle of anything. He advised me to just pay the balance and get out. So, I made out check and prepared to send it off, forgot it on kitchen table a couple days. NINE days from when I received final invoice, I receive an email saying to send the payment or he will send the bill to a collection agency or call a lawyer. Obviously, this is laughable NINE days after a final invoice. The SOONER I can be done with this the BETTER!

Serious Cabinetry is HIGHLY recommended! My fiancé and I went to four places before meeting with Kurt and after our first meeting we knew he would make our kitchen amazing. A lot of places ask you to bring the measurements in and work from there, but Kurt came in measured everything himself, took a look at the rest of the surrounding rooms to make the design fit our home, was there for all the deliveries, and every company that he recommended for the extra stuff we needed done was amazing. We never imagined hiring a project manager, but it made our kitchen functional and we never had to worry about people being in our house or taking off of work for deliveries. If we had any concern with anything that was done we would simply reach out to him and he would take care of it. Kurt was extremely open to our ideas, but also gave us a lot of suggestions that we would never think of and made our kitchen so much better. Kurt definitely has an eye for design and is extremely talented in what he does.