I have been drawing up plans for the last few months trying to make a new layout for my kitchen. The house is almost 100 years old and the kitchen, while large, is not suitable for modern usage. Currently, the kitchen is at the southeast corner of the house and oddly laid out. The biggest problem is the lack of storage in the kitchens cabinets and the minimal counter space.

 

Currently, there are no cabinets on the east wall near the window and the south wall has all the cabinets. The cabinets virtually go to the crown molding. The current cabinets don't even clear a coffee maker (not 18" above counter) and the base height after laminate surface is 37" tall. Even my toaster barely clears the cabinets.

 

            I’ve been looking into rta (ready to assemble) cabinets. I noticed many RTA kitchen cabinet companies sell styles of cabinets that just use a diagonal face that has the fake drawer and a door that goes across diagonally and you don't use a corner cabinet. I might use something like this to support a corner sink.

 

            I looked at RTA extensively for doors and drawer fronts and the best sources sell doors and drawers and a separate line of knockdown cabinets. They are not all cheap but I have seen several websites that offer rta kitchen cabinet discounts. They also offer paint grade wood as a standard substrate for lacquer finishes which is a lot cheaper than painting wood that is suitable for finishing. When I looked at the different available grades, I mostly found face frame only cabinetss in 3 grades including solid wood cabinets. You pick door style and finish. Some places allow you to get the cabinets unfinished. If you go paint grade and with a simple door style price isn't bad