A Homeowner's Journey to Bespoke Cabinetry
For their new home, they had a clear vision: a functional layout with pleasing aesthetics across all their cabinetry. Wanting a cost-effective, custom solution for their kitchen, pantry, bar, laundry, and wardrobe fitouts. As first-time Cutshop® customers, their journey provided valuable insights into the process of bringing a custom design to life.
“We were looking for cost-effective custom solutions." - Reinier
Designing with Detail
Reinier and Christine spent considerable time visiting show homes and design stores to find the perfect look. They chose materials based on their preferred aesthetics, then created their own mock-up drawings to visualise the colour schemes and appeal. The materials selected included:
Kitchen & Bar: Melteca Shou Sugi Organic and StyleLite Silver Metallic, with Laminam Supernova Planet Black benches.
Pantry: StyleLite Silver Metallic doors with Melteca Fog Naturale shelves, and Laminam Supernova Planet Black benches.
Laundry: Melteca Spinafex Naturale, with a Caesarstone Seafoam bench.
Wardrobe: Laminex Classic Oak.
The bar was a particularly unique challenge, as the top panels were fixed directly to the wall framing rather than in a standard unit. Cutshop® was able to cut the panels and doors individually to meet this unusual design.
Navigating the Ordering Process
While Reinier described the ordering process as “not what I would call smooth” at first, he recognised that this was due to his lack of experience with cabinetry terminology and design. However, he learned to appreciate how the process “forces a novice to think cabinet by cabinet.” Once a clear method for communicating the design was established, the project moved forward efficiently.
“Once we got the Excel unit breakdown, we could see what was and wasn’t going to work in the larger scheme.”
Reinier suggests a dummy's guide for non-cabinet makers to help understand how things work and to refine designs faster, a piece of feedback that will help Cutshop® improve the process for all new customers.
A Positive Final Result
Despite the initial learning curve, Reinier and Christine are very happy with the final result and the cost-effective custom solution Cutshop® provided. He is already planning more items to be designed and cut and would "absolutely" work with Cutshop® again.
