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Measuring Continued

© Brian Mahoney

Once you've measured everything you can think of, transpose your measurements to a sheet of graph paper. Most kitchen retailers, the big box stores anyway, have graph paper that you can use for free.

Place your measurements on the paper in a way that is familiar to you, in other words picture it as you see it. Your room will look much different on paper, obviously, but that is how the designer will see it so be sure to put in any little details that will help. Things such as where doors lead will help immensely in figuring out traffic patterns in and around appliances.

Once you're got your design down, spend some more time with your books or in kitchen showrooms to get an idea of what type of kitchen door you would like to have in your new kitchen. The boxes that hold the doors will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer in much the same way white bread varies from baker to baker, in other words very little. Any large brand name manufacturer will have a 5/8 to 3/4 inch particle board case covered in a heavy weight melamine finish. Beware of cheap kitchen manufacturers who use a light weight melamine and ½ inch board. Your first clue in this case is that they are cheap.

Cabinet doors are what you are paying for in a kitchen really. The most inexpensive doors are ones in which there is very little hand's on labor performed. The most expensive, of course, are the wooden or painted doors that require a multi-step process to achieve the look you see in the final result.

Your first decision should be whether you want wood or an alternative. The alternatives are laminates, both high pressure and low pressure, melamine, thermofoil or slab. Most of these are easy to clean and care for but, in my opinion, don't look as good as a wood or lacquered MDF door but that is my own opinion. Right now my kitchen is a very dated almond melamine with oak pulls. Well designed but dated but also very easy to clean and reasonably bright.

Wood is a risky alternative if you do not appreciate the many variances of the product. Oak and hickory are two of the woods that give the most problem. Frequently the stiles don't match the rails and the color differences upset many people. My argument to this is that they shouldn't have bought wood in the first place and the designer should have made the 'faults' of wood very

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