The design session is where a custom kitchen gets its numbers. A designer lays out each cabinet, renders the finished room in 3D and runs the plan through our 57-point design Quality Assurance Check, all before the order goes in.
Custom Cabinets in Aurora, CO
Every cabinet built for the wall it hangs on
Custom cabinets in Aurora are built to order for one kitchen, and that kitchen is yours. We size our custom line to the nearest ⅛ inch, so a run can end exactly at a wall, a window casing or the side of the refrigerator. Nothing has to be patched over with a strip of filler.
Custom does cost more than a flat-pack box from a big-box store, and that gap is usually the first thing Aurora homeowners ask about. Most of it pays for work you'd otherwise do or hire out: the design, the measuring, a 3D rendering, installation by our crew and a limited lifetime warranty on the custom line.
Greg Wheeler, who owns Cabinet IQ of Aurora, got into kitchens by remodeling his own home. On the South Havana Street showroom floor, you can open the custom and semi-custom doors, pull out the drawers and compare finishes in person before a single cabinet is ordered.
What custom cabinets connect to
New cabinets usually set off a chain of other decisions. The design comes before them, and the countertops and the remodel schedule follow from them.
When the whole kitchen is changing, the cabinet order sets the pace for everything after it, from the countertops to the backsplash tile. Planning the remodel around the cabinet delivery keeps the trades from waiting on each other.
Stone is templated on cabinets that are already installed, so the counters come second. We fabricate granite, quartz, porcelain and quartzite in house, which keeps the cabinets and the tops with one company from start to finish.
Planning custom cabinets for an Aurora kitchen
A custom kitchen comes together over a few decisions, and none of them has to be made alone. These are the ones that shape the design and the price most.
Free consultations happen on the showroom floor at 2495 S Havana St, Unit C1. Bring photos of the room from a few angles and the spec sheets for any appliances you're keeping or buying, since a counter-depth refrigerator and a standard one need different cabinet sizes around them.
From there, a designer draws the layout and builds a 3D rendering, so you walk through the kitchen before it's built. Changes cost nothing at this stage, which is why it pays to ask every question here.
We take an educational approach and let you choose between good, better and best lines. Stock is the most economical choice with the fastest lead time. Its boxes are all wood too, it comes in 3-inch size steps, and it carries a 5-year warranty. It suits a kitchen with straight walls and a tight budget.
Semi-custom opens up a wider range of finishes, sizes and storage options than stock. Custom goes furthest. Every piece is made to order in the USA, the dovetail drawers and the soft-close hardware are upgraded as standard, and a limited lifetime warranty stands behind it all. It earns its price in rooms where standard widths leave a gap you'd see every day.
A flat-pack quote usually prices boxes and doors that arrive in pieces. The measuring, the layout, the assembly, the installation and the countertops sit with you. Our quote for custom cabinets includes each of those steps, done by our team.
For a laundry room or a rental you won’t live in, flat-pack can be a sensible pick. For the kitchen you use every day, bring the flat-pack quote you already have to Havana Street, and we’ll set it next to ours, item by item.
Solid wood takes on and gives up moisture with the seasons. In an Aurora winter, with the furnace running and the air outside already dry, wood shrinks slightly, and a painted door can show a hairline line where its frame pieces meet.
That line usually fades as the air gets more humid in spring. A stained finish hides the movement better than paint does, so if a painted door is your heart's choice, ask us how the door is built and what to expect from it in January.
What our quote covers that a flat-pack quote doesn't
The question we hear most after a first quote is why custom costs more than a flat-pack kitchen. Most of the answer is in what each quote leaves to you:
| Part of the job | Typical flat-pack quote | Our custom cabinets |
|---|---|---|
| Measuring | You measure and choose the sizes | We measure the room before the design is drawn |
| Layout | Planned by you, often in a store's online tool | Planned by a designer, shown in 3D and checked against our 57-point design Quality Assurance Check |
| Sizing | Fixed widths, with gaps closed by fillers | Built to the room in ⅛-inch increments |
| Assembly & installation | Your weekends, or an installer you hire | Our own team |
| Countertops | Bought and scheduled separately | Fabricated and installed in house |
| Warranty | Set by the retailer | Limited lifetime on the custom line |
Read down the right-hand column and the price difference starts to look like a list of jobs you won't be doing yourself.
Looking after custom cabinets in a dry climate
A soft cloth dampened with warm water handles most cleaning, followed by a dry towel so no moisture sits on the edges. The habits below matter more in Colorado than in most places:
- Run a humidifier through the heating months, since very dry indoor air makes solid wood shrink at the door joints
- Keep the kettle and the coffee maker from steaming straight up into the bottom of an upper cabinet
- Wipe the doors beside the range weekly with warm, soapy water, before cooking grease builds into a sticky film
- Use a soft cloth on painted doors and skip melamine sponges and scouring pads, which wear through the finish
If a door starts to rub or sit unevenly after the first winter, call us. A small hinge adjustment usually puts it right.
Inside every custom cabinet order
On the custom line, the boxes are all wood, the drawers are upgraded dovetail construction, and every door and drawer closes on upgraded soft-close hardware.
Every order is produced in the USA once you approve the design, and a limited lifetime warranty covers the line. You pay nothing for the design session or the 3D rendering, and the crew that installs your cabinets is ours.
Not sure custom is right for your kitchen?
The showroom has all three tiers on display: stock, semi-custom and custom. Walk the showroom and open a drawer from each tier. The construction differences show far more in the drawers and hinges than on the door fronts.
View kitchen cabinetsCustom cabinets for Aurora & nearby communities
Cabinet IQ of Aurora designs and installs custom cabinets from the South Havana Street showroom for homes throughout Aurora and in:
Watkins, Foxfield, Tallyn’s Reach, Dayton Triangle, Hampden, Ponderosa East, Carriage Place.
Frequently asked questions
They're built to order, so custom takes longer than stock, which has the fastest lead time of our three tiers. Your designer gives you a delivery date once the order is placed.
Often, yes. Semi-custom gives you more sizes and finishes than stock and works well when your walls are standard lengths. Custom pays off in rooms with odd dimensions or angles.
Custom comes with a limited lifetime warranty, while stock is covered for 5 years. Get the written terms for your tier before ordering, so you know what each one covers.
Yes. Alongside homeowners, we work with builders, contractors and designers, and the layout and 3D rendering give the rest of the trades a clear plan to build around.
Yes, an island can be built on its own. Matching the color of older cabinets exactly is hard, so many homeowners pick a contrasting finish for the new island instead.