Part II of our series features design focused on the fuel required to sustain life itself: coffee. When planning a custom kitchen, it is important that you consider your frequently used items and make spaces for them. Designing cabinetry to disguise or feature your coffee and accessories can be both aesthetically pleasing and incredibly practical when well planned. Look for opportunities to incorporate cabinetry features such as integrated lighting or tower shelving (trending!) to highlight. If you are looking to remain understated, a more traditional plan will include inset panels, classic drawers, and integrated bi-fold cabinetry.

Hodsman Road Renovation: Vertical hickory tower with flat panel drawers and cut out pulls. Lacquered shaker cabinet drawers and floating box shelves in hickory with integrated lighting. Build and Design: Piller & Putz Construction.

Hodsman Road Renovation: Walnut inset cabinetry and adjacent walnut floor to ceiling pantry. Lacquered shaker cabinetry including integrated bifold door system. Build and Design: Piller & Putz Construction.

Hodsman Road Renovation: Walnut floor to ceiling pantry. Lacquered shaker cabinetry including integrated bifold door system. Build and Design: Piller & Putz Construction.

Pasqua Lake Build: Lacquered shaker cabinetry with built in refrigeration. Cabinetry: Contour Cabinets. Design: @mrs.degs.home 

Windsor Renovation: Traditional lacquered shaker drawers with walnut inset paneling and adjacent custom walnut buffet. Build and design: Piller & Putz Construction.

More questions? Stop by the shop at 320 Hodsman Road. The coffee is always on.

-Luke and Adam

Recently we have noticed an increase in interest, questions and curiosities surrounding topics of kitchen and home renovations. Have a look through our suggestions to help navigate the process of beginning your own renovation. Recommendations we can offer you when you are considering taking on the process of starting a major renovation are:

Consider Choosing Contour Cabinets

As a company we see the value in adding members to the team with experience in all areas of construction. Every member of the Contour Cabinets family brings their own knowledge to add to the deep dimension of our vision – custom cabinetry and millwork with an exceptional customer experience. We want you to enjoy yourself through the entire project, it is what makes us love what we do.

Contour Cabinets staff photo. Christmas 2020.

Consider Budget and Return on Investment

The kitchen is the most used room in the house. We provide options of quality hardware and materials that filter down through our product lines to offer durability and longevity to your project. One of the many misconceptions when looking for cabinetry and millwork in your home is that a custom shop is out of your budget. We promise you it is not! We offer a range of products, materials and finishing options that could meet your needs and your budget.

Don’t be afraid to tell us your budget. We don’t ask so that we can spend all your money, we ask so that we don’t over design the project and can guide you in the right direction and allocate money where it is best spent. When dealing with a local business, you will always find it in your favour for feasibility when it comes to supply and service rather than sourcing from out of province suppliers. We have worked with many clients and were able to deliver a better product at prices that were comparable to pre-assembled or self assembled options.

Thornicroft Renovation: classic black and white lacquers on a thin shaker door profile with edge pulls, whitewashed rift sawn white oak cabinets with custom open shelving with a white oak railing with black spindles. Builder: North Canadian Construction Group. Design: Homecoming Studios.

Consider Design and Construction Professionals 

If you have room in your budget, we encourage our customers to work with a designer or general contractor.  A professional designer or contractor will keep your project moving along as efficiently as possible, and help you to make the best decisions for your home. 

We have great relationships with so many local designers and contractors. Experienced designers and contractors have the knowledge to know what to present you with to avoid disappointment and the possibility of overinflating your budget with hidden costs. They will work with you to make selections which include cabinetry and millwork colours, materials, and storage options, paint colours, flooring, countertops, hardware, lighting and more. If a professional designer is not in your budget, know that we at Contour Cabinets will draft your cabinetry plans and work with you and your trades to make your vision come to life.  

Selections available for loan from 320 Hodsman Road.

Consider Timeframes and Unexpected Challenges 

What is the timeframe in which you need your project completed? We can make sure that the expectation for your project is realistic and met.  In the past 18 months we have learned that the supply chain can and will be disrupted due to the global market. By having access to so many amazing suppliers we can utilize every branch of our chain to make sure we can access even the most exotic pieces.  Having a contractor involved in your project will help keep the timeline moving along at a steady pace. By having a great relationship with the local trades we can make sure each step is completed in the proper order with  the least amount of downtime as possible. 

Academy Park Road Renovation: Midcentury mahogany woods mix with coloured cabinetry with brass accents to maintain existing feeling and features of the home. Builder: Technique Construction. Designer: Homecoming Studios. Cabinetry and Millwork: Contour Cabinets.

Give us a call, we are here to help you begin this journey!

-Luke and Adam

 

It might seem like most projects we do have some element of walnut – because they do! It’s a very versatile colour that can fit in modern and traditional spaces and has nice variation in the grain when finished with clear lacquer.

We were lucky to have two large solid walnut counters to build and install this week on a few different projects. One slab is 165” x 44” and is the biggest one we have ever sent out and has an apron sink cut in. The other is an L shape with a mitred corner floating out from the corner of an island. Both were 2” thick and made out of solid 8/4 walnut in an edgegrain configuration. A decent mix of sapwood is what most of our clients are after to really make the piece stand out.

Both were finished with 3 coats of Osmo X and topcoated with John Boos butcher block oil.