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FAQ’s and Main Line Kitchen Design’s answers.

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6 on FAQ’s and Main Line Kitchen Design’s answers.

FAQ 1. How Does Main Line Kitchen Design’s design process work?

Planning a kitchen should feel organized, not overwhelming. Here are links to the pages on our site that describe in detail our design process from our first phone call all the way to placing your cabinet order. After ordering cabinets Main Line Kitchen Design will walk your contractor through the design and coordinate cabinet deliveries, countertop templating and countertop installation with everyone involved.

FAQ 1 Kitchen Design Process

FAQ 2. What makes Main Line Kitchen Design’s business model different?

Main Line Kitchen Design has a different business model than other kitchen showrooms, designers, and cabinetry dealers. The difference helps us to do five important things better than our competitors.

FAQ 2 Why is business model better

FAQ 3. What do we mean when we say we treat our customers like family?

I always tell our designers to treat our kitchen customers like family. Treating customers like family DOESN’T mean agreeing with them and rubber stamping their ideas. It means having their best interest at heart, doing your best, and actively trying to prevent them from making a mistake.

FAQ 3 Treating customer like Family

FAQ 4. What Cabinet Brands does Main Line Kitchen Design Carry?

Main Line Kitchen Design only sells cabinetry that is all wood construction — NO furniture or particle board. With all the kitchen cabinet brands we sell the drawers are solid wood with dovetail construction.  All drawer tracks are full extension with a buffered soft close feature. 

FAQ 4 Cabinet brands we sell

FAQ 5. If I’m doing a kitchen addition when should I contact Main Line Kitchen Design?

Contrary to what most people believe, the most productive and cost effective first step in planning a kitchen addition is to come to Main Line Kitchen Design first and to an Architect second.

FAQ 5 Contrary to what most people believe, the most productive and cost effective first step in planning a kitchen addition is to come to Main Line Kitchen Design first and to an Architect second.

Learn more about Main Line Kitchen Design

About Main Line Kitchen Design

Visit our YouTube page below:

Screen shot of the Main Line Kitche Design Youtube page

Written by:

Paul McAlary

Bio from Kitchen and Bath Design News: Paul McAlary possesses a voice that resonates far beyond the boundaries of Philadelphia’s western suburbs and the city’s prestigious Main Line – the location of his well-established Delaware Valley design firm. McAlary, president and senior designer of Bala Cynwyd, PA-based Main Line Kitchen Design, is an internationally recognized kitchen design authority who has won more than a dozen local and national design awards, including being named a 2017 Viking Appliances Designer of Distinction. Beyond his achievements as a designer, McAlary has also forged a burgeoning reputation as the creative force behind the “Main Line Kitchen Design Blog,” a unique online forum and social media resource that is read by more than 40,000 people each month and has been honored as one of the top kitchen design blogs in the world. Main Line Kitchen Design’s videos and blogs address a wide range of kitchen/bath-related topics aimed at sparking a constructive exchange of ideas among both consumers and design professionals. McAlary, whose kitchens and comments often appear in trade magazines and on social media sites, is sometimes at odds with the kitchen design establishment, but he maintains a distinct sense of humor and is known as a fierce advocate for design standards, ethics and transparency in the kitchen design trade.

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6 Replies to “FAQ’s and Main Line Kitchen Design’s answers.”

  1. Louis Pass

    I was at Lowe’s and the have a slab cabinet door by Modico and I was looking at the Rift-Cut white oak which I believe is a veneer. Is this cabinet manufacturer good to purchase and install there cabinets?

    1. pmcalary[ Post Author ]

      Hi Louis,
      Modico is a new frameless brand made by Medallion (Schuler) for Lowes. Schuler’s framed cabinets upgraded are great. However, I don’t know if Modico offers a plywood upgrade. A 3/4″ plywood box is very important in a frameless cabinet since frameless cabinetry is less durable than framed cabinetry having Plywood sides and a Plywood back instead of particle board is very important. I also worry about the less experienced designers at Lowe’s designing in a frameless brand. It is harder to design in a frameless brand and you must be careful not to design in ways that put cabinets under extra stress. For example like the 36″ wide two drawer bases shown on the Schuler Modico picture.

  2. kawing

    Hello Paul,

    Any opinion about these this cabinet brands: Conestago?

    I plan to renovate my kitchen. Will your designer come to Bedminster NJ? If not, can I provide a detailed layout for your kitchen designer?

    Thank you,
    kawing

    1. pmcalary[ Post Author ]

      Hi Kawing,
      Bedminster is outside our normal service are. Occasionally we do travel that far away but we require a $500 deposit instead of our normal $150 deposit and we also can’t recomend contractors in your area to do the work. The contractors we normally work with are not close enough to you.

      Conestoga is a brand that isn’t generally carried by kitchen cabinet dealers. It is often sold online and to people that are trying to sort of cut corners by not having cabinetry dealers and professional kitchen designers work with them. While their cabinetry is fine the kitchen you get will usually be very poor because you have eliminated the professional help that all homeowners need but many don’t realize.

      The first conversation kitchen designers have with new customers quite often starts with the people telling us that they don’t need a designer. These are the almost always people with the worst ideas and the worst spatial relations skills who need the most help and not the least. This is a industry inside joke. Watch the funny video below that makes the point.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxJgxCeeNTo

  3. Sandi Kron

    Hi Paul,
    When I first discovered your website and your extensive knowledge about kitchens I wished I lived in your service area.
    But I do remember that you gave the name and addresses of several kitchen design companies that use the same brand of cabinets you carry and felt comfortable giving out their names and locations.
    Now I can’t seem to find that info on your website.
    I live in Carmel, Putnam County NY.
    (I also own a home in Parsippany, Morris County, NJ but my priority right now is NY.)
    Thank you,
    Sandi K.

    1. pmcalary[ Post Author ]

      Hi Sandi,
      The dealers we list don’t necessarily carry lines we carry. But they do have good selections, demonstrate that they know about good design principles, and get good reviews.
      Here’s the link to our list below:

      https://www.mainlinekitchendesign.com/general/recommended-kitchen-designers-cabinet-dealers-outside-service-area/

      You can also call in and we can look in your area to find a good prospective dealer on our Friday helpline 2-4pm EST

      Call into our Friday helpline most Fridays between 2 and 4 pm Eastern Standard Time. We review designs and give design help. Call 61O-5OO-4O71 then leave a message and we will call you when a line opens. Be ready to email designs or measurements you want Paul to consider. Or email them in advance to Paul@MainLineKitchenDesign.com. Some calls we turn into podcasts with the callers permission.

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