Alex Molkentin

Process

4 min

From first conversation to install: the custom cabinet process

The process runs in four steps: an honest first conversation, design and selections, coordination and shop drawings, then delivery and installation. Here is what each step involves and where your input carries the most weight.

White on White Oak kitchen, Colorado Front Range

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Four steps: consult, design and select, coordinate, install.

  • Your input matters most in the first two stages.

  • A local team installs it and stands behind it.

One: consult

It starts with a straight conversation about your kitchen, your home, how you cook and live, and where you are in the process. There is no pitch and no pressure. The goal is to understand the project well enough to point you at the right construction, budget range, and next step. You should leave clearer than you came in.

Two: design and select

Working with your designer, the layout takes shape and the selections get made: construction type, wood, finish, hardware, and the storage that fits how you actually use the room. This is the creative heart of the project and the stage where your choices most define the result. Good decisions here are what make the finished kitchen feel like yours.

Three: coordinate

Once the design is set, it becomes a buildable plan. Shop drawings get produced and approved, dimensions get confirmed against the real room, and the cabinetry gets scheduled into the larger project so it lands when it should. This is quiet, unglamorous work, and it is where a lot of kitchens are won or lost. Coordination is craft too.

Four: install and stand behind it

Delivery and installation are where the plan meets the wall. Our team sets the cabinetry level, square, and tight, with clean reveals and careful integration with counters, appliances, and finishes. Then we stand behind the work. The cabinetry carries a limited lifetime warranty, and a local team that installed it is a local team you can call.

That last part is the difference between buying a box and working with a builder. The cabinetry is made to a high standard. The fit, the coordination, and the accountability are ours.

Common questions

How involved do I need to be?

Most in the first two stages, where decisions get made, and less in the last two, where the plan gets executed. A good process tells you clearly when your input is needed.

Who manages the installation?

A local team, not a drop-shipped delivery. That means one point of accountability for fit and finish, and someone to call afterward.

What should I have ready for the first conversation?

A rough sense of the kind of kitchen you want, its scale, and where you are in the process. That is enough to get a useful next step.

Written by

Alex Molkentin

Owner

Alex Molkentin

Third-generation Colorado builder and founder of Shadowline Cabinetry in Lyons. He designs, specifies, and installs every project the studio takes on, and stands behind the work locally.

Ready to put numbers to your kitchen?