D&B Elite Construction Group Kountry Kraft Cabinet Dealer
By / December 7, 2016 February 20, 2017Design. Build. Deliver
D&B Elite Construction is a commercial and residential design build firm located in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania.
Allan Henn founded Elite Home builders in 1993 and Dan Gring and Brennan Reichenbach founded D&B Construction Group in 2010. D&B Elite Construction Group is a culmination of D&B Construction Group and Elite Home Builders. The two groups came together for a bigger and better purpose. D&B Elite Construction offers collaborative, full-service project services for both commercial and residential projects.
- Dan Gring – Head of the Commercial Construction Division
- Brennan Reichenbach – Head of D&B Elite’s Home Remodeling Division
- Allen Henn – Head of D&B Elite’s New Home Division
Collectively, they have over 60 years of experience and a team of production managers, project managers, an in-house licensed design specialist, and a crew of estimators and field carpenters. The number one goal of D&B is to satisfy their clients and make their vision come to life.
Award Winning Designs
The spirit of the company is one of providing endless inspiration to us all. D&B Elite is proud of its work and the company has been recognized for its quality design and excellent construction by local, regional, and national builder and remodeler associations. They have won Best of 2015 Bathroom Remodeler of the Year Wyomissing, PA – Wyomissing Awards Program, 2015 Qualified Remodeler Magazine Top 500 and 2015 Remodelers Magazine BIG 50 National Award just to name a few.
Luxury Kitchen Cabinets and Quality Products
D&B Elite is also a direct dealer of quality products homeowners can trust, giving clients the best price and quality installation. They have designed a stunning array of kitchens that feature Kountry Kraft cabinetry and our cabinetry and many other quality products are on display in the design showroom, offering the ability to see the quality and experience the functionality of the items firsthand.
- Kountry Kraft Cabinetry
- Thermador Appliances
- Top Knob – residential hardware
- Kessenbohmer / Clever Storage (home storage solutions)
- Easy Track Closet Systems
- Grothouse Lumber – Wood Counter Tops
- Hafele – decorative hardware
- Rustica Hardware
Luxury Kitchen Cabinets in Mohnton, PA.
Visit their website to learn more about this incredibly talented, trustworthy company.
Planning a Kitchen Remodel? Consider your Kitchen Island
By / October 19, 2016 February 22, 2023When designing your kitchen, it is really important to take your most frequent kitchen island activities into consideration. Some may say that cooking, cleaning and eating are the only activities going on in their kitchen. There are many more activities throughout your kitchen that you may not take notice to.
While entertaining guests or gathering with family, the kitchen island is where the majority of the activity takes place. The Kitchen island acts as a meeting place where people gather around to enjoy appetizers, have a conversation, prep food items, host a cooking lesson, create a craft, enjoy a meal, etc. But what are the most frequent kitchen island activities?
Most Frequent Kitchen Island Activities
According to RICKI – The Kitchen Think Tank
- Cutting up food.
- Mixing ingredients.
- Conversations with family and friends.
- Serving food.
- Eating.
There are a wide variety of kitchen accessories to accommodate the kitchen island activities in your home. Customized knife drawers keep them safe and secure in a drawer rather than out on the counter where everyone is gathered around. We often utilize pull out cutting boards, this helps with saving counter space when you are prepping food you can cut food off to the side rather than directly on the counter allowing more counter space. Custom spice drawers make it easy to access all of your cooking ingredients with one hand. You don’t need to reach over heads or take extra time to pull out a ladder to access your spices. Our double-level cutlery drawer allows you to combine storage of utensils and mixing spoons or cooking utensils. This makes all of your utensils needed for cooking and mixing easily accessed in one place.
All of these kitchen accessories can be incorporated into your kitchen island. Incorporating these accessories will create more space for your kitchen activities as well as keep you organized. For more storage and accessory options click here. Follow us on Houzz for more inspiration.
Employee Appreciation Post
By / September 21, 2016 September 21, 2016Employee appreciation is a particular topic that comes easy to us. We want to take a moment to thank our employees for their hard work, dedication, and passion for producing the finest custom cabinetry.
The photo above is a sign that presently hangs above the employee entrance of Kountry Kraft, Inc. We hang this sign to recognize the hard work and determination we see in our employees each and every day. This sign is a clear communication to our employees that employee appreciation is not just one day, but every day. It is in this spirit we have the honor of working with the most talented craftsmen proudly producing made in USA products.
Employee Appreciation Since 1959
In 1959 the Hurst Family—founders of Kountry Kraft, Inc.—established the traditions of hard work, dedication, honesty and clear communication. Today, the second generation co-owners share those same qualities which continue to be valued, and expected, from each of the 125+ individuals employed by Kountry Kraft, Inc. This team atmosphere fosters success, company growth, and the wellbeing of each employee.
All in all, Kountry Kraft strives to create a dedicated team to build the finest custom kitchen cabinetry. Hard work and skilled hand craftsmanship are some qualities you will find in our Kountry Kraft workers.
Kountry Kraft is always seeking new individuals who share our vision. To view information on employment opportunities, click here.
Designing Custom Kitchen Cabinet Drawers
By / July 13, 2016 March 20, 2023Kountry Kraft offers a variety of ways for designing custom kitchen cabinet drawers that adapt to your lifestyle. From plate holders to pull out shelves, custom kitchen cabinet drawers make it easier to access all of your household items. Make your life more simple, and make the most of your space by incorporating these features right into your kitchen.
Whether you need access to dinner plates at a lower height, or you are unable to reach your coffee mug early in the morning, Kountry Kraft’s custom kitchen cabinet drawers can make your kitchen built for you.
Custom Kitchen Cabinet Drawers
The use of drawers in your kitchen will allow you to view and easily approach everything without the use of a step stool. Cabinet drawers also allow you to place dish-ware at a lower height, enabling your younger child or grandparent to assist in kitchen chores. Place your pull out drawers an arms length away from the dishwasher and sink to make the putting away of dishes easy and quick.
Pull Out Shelves
Incorporating Hafele pull out shelves into your custom kitchen cabinets will allow for easier access to back of the shelf items. Whether you’re reaching for a snack, or your morning coffee mug, pull out shelves will make accessing your every day items easy.
Built-In Shelves
Easily access your favorite recipes and books integrating these built in shelves in your custom kitchen cabinets. No need to travel down the hall to fetch your favorite cookbook when you can place it right in your kitchen! If your children love to do their homework while eating dinner, store their homework books in the built in shelves as well.
When you’re ready to incorporate custom kitchen cabinet drawers into your kitchen, click here to contact a Kountry Kraft dealer to help make your kitchen adapt to your lifestyle.
Pennsylvania Cabinetry Dealers – Hinkle Custom Cabinets
By / June 29, 2016 September 2, 2021
Each month we profile one of the many talented cabinetry dealers that we have the pleasure to do business with. This month I am pleased to profile one of our top Pennsylvania Cabinetry Dealers – Hinkle Custom Cabinets, located in Birdsboro, PA as our monthly Kountry Kraft Dealer Profile.
After 26 years of working in every phase of the custom cabinet industry, Mike Hinkle decided to create his own business and Hinkle Custom Cabinets was born. Hinkle is one of our most highly skilled Pennsylvania cabinetry dealers, and they create amazing quality custom cabinetry for any room in your home. We love their work so much we invited them to create the display pictured here for our showroom at 101 Lancaster Avenue in Devon PA. Stop by our showroom to see custom craftsmanship first hand!
In This Design
- This transitional style kitchen featured in our showroom features perimeter cabinets with our beaded inset cabinet style, door style CRP10, an OGEE framing bead and drawer style Louis XIII. They have a painted finish and are glazed with a Sable glaze.
- The island is weathered grain quartersawn white oak finished in Silverfox stain with Black glaze.
- The kitchen island cabinets feature a different stain color than the perimeter cabinets to help draw attention to the island, making it the key statement in the kitchen. The stain colors, although different, sync to create an overall distinguished appearance. This unique island incorporates a table and seating options, making it a great place to prep as well as serve to a small group.
- The kitchen cabinets also feature many different accessories, highlighting the organizational possibilities available in a well-designed Kountry Kraft Kitchen. A divided drawer located right below the cook top offers storage for pots, pans and lids, keeping them right at your fingertips. A pullout spice rack is located adjacent to the stove as well, enabling you to easily access spices while you cook. An assortment of pantry solutions from Hafele help keep the interiors of the cabinets functional and organized.
Hinkle Custom Cabinets makes beautiful cabinetry solutions that their customers love. If you live in their area and are looking for Pennsylvania cabinetry dealers, call Mike at (610) 404-1840, and please let them know we sent you! If you don’t live in the Birdsboro area, search for a Kountry Kraft dealer near you on our dealer locator.
Cabinet Dealer Profile – Bradford Design
By / May 25, 2016 June 30, 2022In this month’s cabinet dealer profile we are pleased to introduce the talented team at Bradford Design in Bethesda, MD. Once referred to as one of Washington’s best kept secrets, Bradford Design has repeatedly been recognized as a distinguished design firm providing innovative and original designs to residents of the Washington DC metro and Chesapeake Bay areas, but they also have a wide customer base including customers that come from as far as Southern California. Their distinguished designs are a truly imaginative, beautiful and unique addition to any home and we are proud to have them as a Kountry Kraft cabinet dealer.
The team at Bradford Design can create beautiful wood cabinetry and built-in designs for every room in your home, and they incorporate other materials such as stone, metal and tile to build truly one-of-a-kind designs. They focus on the use of clean palettes and innovative ideas, and work hard to stay ahead of the trends to create designs that will withstand the test of time. Their design specialties include kitchens, bathrooms, pantries, bars, fireplace mantles, wine cellars, media centers and outdoor structures such as furniture, pavilions, gazebos and arbors.
Of their own designs, Bradford says “True innovation requires unconstrained creativity. The Bradford Design product is created with a totally open mind free of design limitations. Custom details, coupled with an artistic vision for the room’s appearance are what distinguish a project. If your vision for a room is unique to your personal tastes and style of living, then you should consider the Bradford Kitchen.”
Bradford Design projects have been featured frequently in magazines such as the Washingtonian, Chesapeake Home Magazine, and Better Homes and Gardens Beautiful Kitchens and Baths magazines. Their solid base of highly satisfied customers are a strong indication that you can trust your next custom cabinetry project to the design team at Bradford Design. If you are looking for a cabinet dealer in the Bethesda, MD area, visit bradforddesignllc.com for more information and to view more of their unique designs.
We are proud of our vast network of cabinet dealers around the country – their skill at custom cabinetry design showcases the potential of the Kountry Kraft line. If you don’t leave near Bradford Design and are looking for a cabinet dealer near you, you can find a long list of Kountry Kraft dealers on the dealer locator on our website.
The Perfect Kitchen Layout For Your Lifestyle
By / May 18, 2016 March 17, 2023If there is one thing that relaxes me it is being in the kitchen. The kitchen is like the holy grail of the house. However, nothing is more frustrating than a kitchen layout that is difficult to maneuver around. You have to grab your eggs and milk from the refrigerator, which is on the opposite end of the kitchen from the mixers and the oven. Frustrating, right? The only way to fix this frustration is to change the kitchen layout to suit your space and have a better workflow. Listed below are four types of kitchen plans to create the perfect kitchen layout for your lifestyle.
Perfect Kitchen Layout Options
First is the galley kitchen layout. If there is not much room in your house, this kitchen layout is the best option for you. A galley kitchen includes two countertops, parallel to each other, to make the entire kitchen easily accessible. This layout is the best use of limited space. If choosing this layout, you want to select light colors to create the illusion of open space.
Next is the U-
shaped kitchen layout. The U-shaped layout is an ideal look for opening up floor space. It features three walls, which are lined with countertops, appliances, and cabinetry. When choosing this layout, homeowners should place their busiest appliances into a triangular workspace. There are many benefits to this kitchen layout, including a lot of counter space, and the ability to support a kitchen island.
The L-Shaped kitchen layout creates the feel of an open floor plan with two walls perpendicular to each other. This layout is perfect if you have more than one cook in the house. If eating space is what you are looking for, this layout is perfect for you! You can add an island to the center, or a table to accommodate your guests while you cook.
Finally, the single wall layout is typically found in small homes, because it works by keeping all appliances and ingredients in the same area with little reach and takes up as little space as possible. This design has countertops on both sides of the range oven. When choosing this layout, your best option would be to choose compact appliances to add extra counter space. This kitchen layout is ideal for loft and studio homes or apartments.
While these are not the only kitchen layouts you can choose from, these are the four most basic options. Deciding which layout to choose is going to be based off of a few things, including budget, how much storage space you will need, and how often or how many people you tend to entertain. Remember to take all of these into consideration, and LOVE the kitchen you choose. If none of these are to your liking, check out these other kitchen layouts we love.
Profile of Cabinet Dealers – Hanford Cabinet and Woodworking
By / April 27, 2016 September 2, 2021
Each month we profile one of our talented cabinet dealers and this month we are excited to profile Hanford Cabinet and Woodworking, located in Old Saybrook, CT. Hanford is a fantastic dealer led by owner and founder Stephen Hanford and a truly talented group of hardworking cabinet designers and staff. Hanford established his renowned firm in Connecticut over 35 years ago, based on his love of wood and the inherent beauty and warmth that it brings to life, and they pride themselves in creating quality projects built to last a lifetime.
Stephen began his passion for woodworking at a very young age. His father was a college trained instructor in woodworking and helped Steve progress in the wood medium. His love for the art grew as he became older. In fact, he chose to purchase an existing cabinet shop instead of gaining his PhD. In Botany!
Excellence in Woodworking
Stephen relishes the most unique and difficult projects because of his love and indisputable knowledge of 
woodworking and forestry. No project is too challenging for Hanford Cabinets and Woodworking. His knowledge and background in wood technology and forestry has proven to be indispensable when it comes to handling the more difficult and unusual jobs. Steve’s talent, both natural & trained, has turned Hanford Cabinet & Woodworking into the reputable Connecticut business it is today.
Stephen and his wonderful team of designers have fortified Hanford Cabinets and Woodworking as a well-established and reputable Connecticut business that we love to work with. For the Hanfords cabinetry truly is a family affair. Lane, Steve’s wife and business partner, oversees The Front Room Gallery and office duties. Sarah Hanford photographs finished work and does graphic design, and Allison Hanford is office manager, and also does design, build and install.
Hanford Cabinets and Woodworking offers cabinets, furniture, countertops, appliances, plumbing fixtures and much more. We love partnering with Hanford and are proud to include them in our list of talented cabinet dealers. Visit their website to see more of their beautiful custom cabinetry work.
Dealer Profile – James Kershaw Associates
By / March 23, 2016 February 24, 2023A talented kitchen designer can help you design the kitchen of your dreams. The Kountry Kraft team is thrilled to work with a network of talented dealers and kitchen designers who create incredible custom cabinetry projects using our products. This month I am happy to profile our friends at James Kershaw and Associates, kitchen designer North Haledon, NJ.
James Kershaw began drawing and designing in High School. Soon thereafter, he was hired as an industrial draftsman. His fascination for architecture carried him through college where at night, he began working for a local kitchen dealer. After college, he began a long teaching career while continuing his passion for kitchen design.
In 1981, Jim received his accreditation as a “Certified Kitchen Designer”. He started his own business, James Kershaw Associates, specializing in interior planning, kitchen design, bath design, home theaters & media cabinetry, closets & specialized storage, custom furniture, and libraries & offices.
Jim’s daughter discovered her own love of kitchen design after taking a high school drafting course. She attended drafting school and then joined her father’s firm to learn design from the best. Patty became a partner in James Kershaw Associates in 2009. With almost 25 years experience working in the kitchen business, she gives much attention to design detail and engineering. She enjoys working with clients to make each kitchen special and personal. Patty believes “A satisfied client is the biggest reward.”
Jim and Patty also work with designer Bill Troncone, Bill studied interior design at Berkeley College of Business. He has focused on kitchen and bath design since 1998, and is committed to providing creative design solutions that meet a client’s needs while staying within their budget. Together the team at James Kershaw and Associates work to create designs that get the very best out of every space.
We are pleased to display several James Kershaw and Associates projects in the web gallery on our website. For more information and to see more of their work, check out the slide show of some of their projects below, and visit their website to see more of their designs at www.jameskershaw.com.
Choosing A Cabinet Designer
By / March 2, 2016 March 8, 2023
Adding custom kitchen cabinetry to your home is a big investment, and for some it is something they will do only once in their lifetime. Making such a big commitment means you will want to make sure you are choosing a skilled cabinet designer who is knowledgeable and will listen to what you want. Finding that person requires careful research and investigation. Here are some basic tips to finding the right cabinet designer for you:
- Start by getting an idea of what you want – You know your kitchen isn’t working for you – now is the time to sit down to determine what you need to make your space more functional. Do you need storage? Do you want a space that doubles as a working kitchen and an entertainment space? Is having a high-tech kitchen important to you? Knowing what you want and need is an important part of the process. Visit Houzz.com and start your own idea books, pinning designs you like to help get your creativity flowing.
- Understand the process – a kitchen renovation is a huge undertaking. Be prepared to have your kitchen completely demolished and rebuilt. This does not take a week, and depending on the amount of work being done could take several months. Research the process, watch videos, and get a realistic sense for the work that will be involved.
- Ask for recommendations – while you can’t rely solely on recommendations from friends, having cabinet designer recommendations is helpful in narrowing down the pool of available options – and may help you know what and who to avoid.
- Search for professionals on Houzz – not only is Houzz a great place to get design ideas – it’s also a great place to search for professionals in your area, read reviews, and look at their designs to see if their style matches your own. Does a designer keep up with the style and trends? This will be important to know that you are getting the most current design and technology that will last for years to come.
- Do your homework – when you’ve narrowed down a short list of designer, make appointments to meet them and go see their work in person. Ask for references, and check them. Find out how long they’ve been in business, how many kitchens they design in a year, and their certifications so you have a sense of their skill level and experience.
Next Steps
Once you’ve selected a cabinet designer the next step is to set up an initial consultation. You’ll want to find a designer who makes time for you, answers all of your questions, and meets face-to-face to discuss your project. This is like a job interview – and should leave you feeling secure in knowing that the designer you’ve selected can handle your project with expertise. If you leave that meeting with any doubts, then it will be best to choose another professional from your list.
Our Team
At Kountry Kraft we are proud of the incredibly talented group of cabinet designers we work with. We have added a dealer locator to our website to make it simple to search by zip code for a designer near you. We also feature photos of real designs our dealers have created in our website gallery as well as on our Houzz page, to give you glimpse of some of the amazing work cabinet designers have done with our custom cabinetry.
Building a custom kitchen can be a daunting task – but with the help of a talented kitchen designer it can be a very rewarding experience, and one that will add to the function and comfort of your home.