Why we’re talking about spring in October
Mid-October is a good time to start a kitchen cabinet project. The leaves are coming down. The holidays are close. Spring feels far away. That’s the point.
Custom cabinetry takes planning long before anyone installs a door. If you’d like new cabinets in your kitchen next spring, the work starts with a few conversations this fall. We’re a family-run cabinet and woodworking shop in the Des Moines area. Here’s how a project like this comes together.
Start with how you use the kitchen
Before you look at door styles, think about daily life. Who cooks? Where do the groceries land? What do you reach for every day, and what do you reach for once a year?
Write it down. Take photos of the spots that slow you down. It might be a deep corner you can’t reach into. It might be a drawer that’s too shallow for your pots.
This is where custom kitchen cabinets in Des Moines earn their place. We build to the exact dimensions of your room. That gives us more control over corners, walls, and awkward spaces than stock sizes allow.
What happens at the first visit
Every project starts with an on-site meeting. We look at your kitchen. We talk about your goals and how the space gets used. We’d rather hear about your routines than guess at them.
Then we move into design. We work through layout, cabinet configuration, door styles, finishes, and hardware. We go back and forth with you until the design feels right. After that, we build your cabinets and install them.
Make the big choices early
Some decisions take time to settle. Door style is one. Finish is another. Hardware is a third. It helps to start thinking about them now.
Our kitchen cabinets commonly include Shaker and inset door styles, soft-close hinges, and full-extension drawer slides. We offer paint and stain finishes. We also size islands, pantries, and specialty storage to fit your space.
You don’t need to know your answers before we meet. Bring photos of kitchens you like. Tell us what you don’t like, too. That helps just as much.
Count back from your spring date
Timing is the reason we’re writing this in October. Our FAQ page says that, on average, design and fabrication can take 6 to 12 weeks. Installation can take another 1 to 2 weeks. It also says the timeframe can vary a lot with the scope and complexity of the project.
Pick the month you’d like to be cooking in your new kitchen. Count back through installation, then build time, then design. Your own numbers will differ from the averages. But you’ll see why the first conversation belongs in the fall, not in March.
Plan for the rest of the kitchen
We build cabinetry and woodworking. We don’t offer full kitchen remodels. Countertops, appliances, flooring, plumbing, and electrical work fall outside what we do.
That doesn’t mean you’re on your own. We work alongside homeowners, builders, and designers. If other people are involved in your project, we’ll line up our cabinetry timeline and specifications with theirs.
It’s also worth making a list of the appliances you plan to keep or replace. Cabinet openings depend on them. The sooner we know, the fewer surprises later.
Wood changes with the seasons
Wood is a natural material, and it reacts to the air around it. The U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Products Laboratory describes wood as hygroscopic. It takes on moisture from its surroundings. Below a certain moisture level, wood swells as it gains moisture and shrinks as it loses it.
That’s normal for wood. It’s also a fair question to ask any cabinet maker: how do you plan for it? Ask us at your visit. We’ll talk it through.
A short fall checklist
- Photos of the parts of your kitchen that frustrate you.
- A list of what you want your cabinets to hold.
- Rough room dimensions, if you’d like to jot them down.
- The appliances you plan to keep or replace.
- Photos of styles you like.
- The month you’d like to finish.
None of this has to be perfect. It just gives us a place to start.
Ready to talk it through?
If you’re thinking about cabinets for next spring, contact us to schedule a consultation. We serve Des Moines, West Des Moines, Clive, Grimes, Urbandale, Altoona, and other communities in central Iowa. We’d be glad to walk through your kitchen with you.