Tag: Luxury

Mini bar cabinet ideas are the topic of today’s blog. A mini bar could be as small or as teeny-tiny as you like; the definition of “mini” is entirely up to the you. No matter the size, custom cabinets cunningly designed will provide a convenient and perfect place for everything. When designed with custom cabinets, mini bars may be small, but they are mighty.

In addition, designing custom cabinets for a mini bar can fit into nearly any space in your home. Have a corner between a living room and dining room not being used? Need something to break up the openness between one room and another? Perhaps a mini bar is the perfect solution.

Custom Mini Bar Cabinet Ideas and Designs

Featured in this blog are three different homes with custom mini bars designed by Stonington Cabinetry and Designs. Each mini bar features cabinets custom configured for each space.

Custom Mini Bar Cabinet Ideas Partial Room Divider with Shelves for Glasses and Fridges
Photography by Chris Veith Interiors

In this home, a mini bar was built out of the wall, continuing the look of the pantry cabinets on the other side of the wall. This bar also serves as a partial room divider between the kitchen and living room. Within this mini bar are special shelves for wine glasses, martini glasses and other glassware. Also included are two beverage fridges. Drawers above the fridges are perfect for storing bottle openers, straws, mixers and more.

Custom Mini Bar Cabinet Ideas Built in Bench with Beverage Fridge Cabinet on One End
Photography by Chris Veith Interiors

A built-in bench features a mini bar on one end. A custom cabinet surrounds the mini fridge. Bottles of liquor, shot glasses and other items have room on the stone countertop to be aesthetically displayed. Drinks can be easily made and accessed from outside, the kitchen or the living room with the smart placement of this mini bar design.

Custom Mini Bar Cabinet Idea Make the Most of an Empty Corner
Photography by Chris Veith Interiors

They made the most of the corner in this home with a clever placed beverage fridge and pantry design. When closed, the fridge looks just like a regular cabinet. A white counter tops the beverage fridge cabinet and provides a space to prepare drinks. Other surrounding cabinetry has storage for glasses and more.

Visit our website, www.kountrykraft.com, to see more mini cabinet bar ideas and designs. Follow @kountrykraftcabinetry on Instagram for company updates, new product information and weekly inspiration.

#KountryKraft #CustomCabinetry #MiniBarCabinetIdeas #BarCabinets

Kitchens are the center of activity in the home – from cooking dinner to paying bills to sorting mail and more. Integrating kitchen desk cabinets into your design creates a centralized place for all of these activities. Getting your storage just right can help you stay on top of your busy schedule, as it can reduce time wasted finding items.

Including a desk into your kitchen isn’t just about finding the space for it. It’s also about finding a way to make the desk seamlessly blend into your kitchen design. With any kitchen office, use cabinets that match or complement the kitchen cabinets. Kitchen desks are also great for using otherwise wasted space in the kitchen.

Designs with Kitchen Desk Cabinets

Whether you want to put the home office in the kitchen or just set up a small desk area, find inspiration from these hardworking kitchen desk cabinets.

Design by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs | Photography by Chris Veith

A custom-built desk area anchors one end of this white kitchen. Mounted cabinetry blends the office in with the rest of the kitchen, providing bountiful storage space that easily accommodates filing, schoolwork, and other needs.

Design by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs | Photography by Chris Veith

Crisp white cabinetry connects this workstation with the rest of the kitchen. The space next to the block of kitchen cabinets was thought to be unusable, but a desk served as a perfect and practical addition.

Design by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs | Photography by Chris Veith

Using the same style cabinetry as the rest of the kitchen, this office blends seamlessly into a previously unused space. Generous storage makes it easy to stash mail, homework, cookbooks, and important documents.

Design by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs | Photography by Chris Veith

Wall-mounted cabinets hold office supplies, while drawers on either side of the built-in desk cabinets stash files and important documents.

Want more inspiration? Visit our website to see more designs with kitchen desk cabinets!

#KountryKraft #CustomCabinetry #KitchenDeskCabinets #KitchenOffice #KitchenDesk #DeskCabinets

With custom cabinetry, dining room storage cabinets don’t have to look like typical storage spaces. They can take the form of anything, from hutches to built-in banquette seating, sideboards to buffets, servers to bars and so much more.

Incorporating special accessories into dining room storage cabinets can increase the functionality and make them perfect for storing specialty china and dishware that you may not use for everyday meals. Your antique silverware, for example, can have a special drawer with a utensil insert for neat organization.

Cabinets for dining rooms can work well for any space, no matter how small the apartment or how large the mansion is. They can fit in with the style of the rest of your house, or to have a style of their own, creating a unique space to gather. At times, depending on the design, the dining room may share the same space as the kitchen, and as a result the cabinetry doubles in use.

Designs featuring Dining Room Storage Cabinets

Dining Room Storage Cabinets take the form of a wet bar with a wine fridge and prep sink
Design by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs | Photography by Chris Veith

This kitchen is long, narrow and open to the dining room area. Cabinets were designed for the dining room area to match the cabinetry in the kitchen. By doing this, the space feels like it all belongs together. Taking the form of a wet bar, the cabinets in this dining room also provide plenty of additional cabinets. Glass front cabinet doors allow the glassware and other special dishware to be on display.

Dining Room Storage Cabinets in the form of banquette seating with bench storage
Design by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs | Photography by Chris Veith

A built-in banquette with seating around a round table was designed for this dining area. The drawers cleverly designed for the banquette bench seating double as additional storage. The ceiling-high cabinet next to the banquette has room for just about anything you would want to keep away, like cleaning supplies for example.

Dining Room Storage Cabinets are an extension from the kitchen in this transitional home
Design by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs | Photography by Chris Veith

Overall, the cabinets in this dining room are an extension from the kitchen in this home. Due to the layout of the home, they double in function as they provide storage but also additional counter space for serving food or displaying items.

Visit our website to see more designs of dining room storage cabinets!

#KountryKraft #CustomCabinetry #DiningRoomStorageCabinets #StorageCabinets #DiningRoom

According to Jennifer Ott of Houzz, the new ‘it’ color for kitchens is navy, and we couldn’t agree more. Navy Colored Cabinets are like dark denim jeans — dark denim blue never really goes out of style. In fact, after white, wood and gray, blue is often the top color that homeowners choose for their cabinets. Navy is an elegant color choice that pairs well with any color hardware, from silver to copper to gold.

Navy Colored Cabinets by Kountry Kraft with Brass Hardware and White Countertops
Design by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs | Photography by Chris Veith

Though the color itself sounds simple, there are many different shades of navy blue. From Benjamin Moore to Sherwin Williams and other national brand paint manufacturers, there is a plethora of shades to choose from. The beauty of designing custom cabinets is that you can select any shade you like and Kountry Kraft can custom paint match your cabinets to that shade. Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore, for example, is a deeply saturated shade of navy. Naval SW 6244 by Sherwin Williams is very similar to Hale Navy, but appears darker and bolder.

Navy Color Shades for Custom Painted Cabinets Crafted by Kountry Kraft

Designs with Navy Colored Cabinets

French Beret Navy Cabinets for a Modern Kitchen Design with Stainless Steel Appliances
Design by Integrated Kitchens LLC

Integrated Kitchens LLC designed this modern kitchen for a home in Walnut Creek, California. A cross between darkest gray and navy, these cabinets were custom painted to match Benjamin Moore’s French Beret color.

Modern Farmhouse Kitchen with Navy Blue Cabinets Subway Tile and Stainless Steel Appliances
Design by Pure Design Works

Modern farmhouse meets glam in this kitchen designed by Aly Glavin and Dara Barber of Pure Design Works. Navy blue cabinetry was custom crafted to fit this u-shaped kitchen design, complemented by silver hardware and stainless appliances.

Hale Navy Blue Cabinets for a Butler's Pantry with White Countertops and Silver Hardware
Design by True North Cabinets, LLC

Ken Pascal of True North Cabinets, LLC designed this butler’s pantry for a home located in Darien, Connecticut. The beautiful blue cabinets were custom painted to match Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy color. Creating a crisp design, the blue pops against the white backsplash and countertops. The silver hardware and beverage fridge complement the saturated navy shade.

Hale Navy Colored Cabinets for a Kitchen and Dining Room with an Open Floor Concept
Design by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs | Photography by Chris Veith

This transitional kitchen was designed by Stonington Cabinetry & Designs for a home in Bay Head, New Jersey. The cabinets were custom painted to match Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy color. By designing blue cabinetry for the kitchen and dining room, this open floor plan feels cohesive and elegant. Open shelves painted to match the cabinetry add an extra touch on either side of the back wall in the kitchen.

Visit our website to see more kitchen designs with navy colored cabinets!

#KountryKraft #CustomCabinetry #NavyColoredCabinets #KitchenDesignTrends #KitchenCabinetTrends

When 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?

Kitchen Island Activities

Most Frequent Kitchen Island Activities

According to RICKI – The Kitchen Think Tank

  1. Cutting up food.
  2. Mixing ingredients.
  3. Conversations with family and friends.
  4. Serving food.
  5. 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.

Kountry Kraft offers a variety of custom kitchen cabinets, and with this variety comes a lot of cabinetry terms that homeowners should be familiar with to select the right product. To make custom cabinetry unique for every customer, we supply an array of options for door styles, wood species, and wood finishes.

Cabinetry Terms To Know

Door Styles

There are 3 main types of cabinet doors that can be further enhanced in different ways.

  • Inset Cabinet Doors – a popular style in the early 1900’s. The doors are mounted inside the frame of the box making the hinges visible when the door is shut.
  • Partial Overlay Cabinet Doors – these doors are mounted over the face of the box, meaning parts of the frame and hinges may be visible.
  • Full Overlay Cabinet Doors – this door style covers the whole face of the box which means very small gaps between different doors. This creates a consistent and continuous appearance.

cabinetry terms

Wood Species

Choosing your wood species is important when your cabinetry is not going to be painted. This is because each wood species has natural characteristics.                  

  • Red Oak – light to medium brown with a reddish cast.
  • Distressed Knotty Pine – large knots and defects which make a striking pattern.
  • Cherry – light pinkish brown, darkens to a medium reddish brown.
  • Rustic Cherry – same as cherry but with more mineral streaks and different sized knots.
  • Hard Maple – off white to light brown in color with a golden hue.
  • Hickory – open grained rustic hardwood, colors vary from near white to light brown.
  • Quarter Sawn White Oak – pale brown to dark brown with a greenish gray tinge and very straight grain.
  • Walnut – color may vary from light grey-brown, to a deep rich chocolate brown.
  • Alder – tends to be light tan to reddish brown; darkens and reddens with age.
  • Rustic Alder – same as Alder but contains knots of all sizes including cracks/holes.

Finishes 

Finishes bring your cabinetry to life and can also protect your wood from different external elements.

  • Natural – the original characteristics of your chosen wood species.
  • Paint – paint will completely cover the wood grain look.
  • Glaze – glaze will add definition to the wood grain look because it is semi-transparent.
  • Stain – enhances the wood grain patterns.
  • Paint with glaze – glaze will darken your paint color.
  • Stain with glaze – glaze will highlight the look of a stain finish.
  • Metal fusion finish – includes brass, bronze, copper, white gold, oil rubbed bronze, iron, nickel silver, and stainless steel finishes.
  • Distressing wood finish – gives the wood an aged and rustic appearance.
  • Weathered grain finish – lightly distressed to replicate age and wear.

Understanding the basic terminology outlined above is the first step on the path to a successful kitchen design. For design inspiration, check out our gallery of completed custom kitchens here.

Employee 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.

employee appreciation

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.

Each month, Kountry Kraft contributes a blog to profile one of our many accomplished cabinetry dealers that we have the pleasure of working with. This month, we chose to embrace Pinnacle Kitchens located in New Hampton, New Hampshire. Pinnacle Kitchens specializes in architecturally themed renovations, as well as new construction.


Pinnacle Kitchens Featuring Kountry Kraft Custom Cabinetry in a Transitional Kitchen


History

After studying mechanical drafting at Belmont High School, Stacy discovered her talent in hand-drawn perspective drafting. After graduating High School, she attended Phoenix Institute of Technology where she studied Architectural Drafting and Design. In 1984, Stacy mentored a seasoned kitchen designer in Laconia, New Hampshire and eventually began to work for herself just 5 years later in 1989. Through her studies and experiences, Stacy specializes in architecturally themed renovations, as well as new construction. When taking on a new project, Stacy will study the overall space and floor plan of a home and work the kitchen to flow into a beautifully designed, cohesive space.

Onto her partner, Jack, who has a natural ability for building. His hard work and determination is built from growing up on a farm in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. In his past, he’s worked as a carpenter leading up to project manager on countless projects. His most recent work includes incredible lake-front residential properties. Jack makes sure that all the Pinnacle Kitchens cabinetry projects are complete from start to finish.

The two ingenious talents joined together in 2003, and the match works perfectly!


Pinnacle Kitchens Transitional Style Kitchen

Pinnacle Kitchens

  • Inset/no bead cabinet style, constructed out of Hard Maple.
  • The doors and drawers are our Madison Hybrid door style.
  • The cabinetry is finished with Kountry Kraft’s Shell White paint color with a 25° sheen.

Learn more about Pinnacle Kitchens and view their gallery on their website.

Properly Storing Your Cabinetry

Properly storing your cabinetry assures a smooth installation. The summer days are becoming extremely hot and humid, which is why we want to ensure your Kountry Kraft cabinetry is protected.

During a kitchen remodel it is important to schedule the delivery of your cabinetry to coincide with proper heating and cooling in place. It is also important to consider cabinetry that is in a vacation home or a residence that is periodically unoccupied. This information about properly storing your cabinetry is especially important to know during the summer months – when high humidity and temperature changes are likely to occur. Expansion issues are likely to happen if your Kountry Kraft cabinetry is currently stored in a non-air conditioned area. According to Conestoga Wood Specialties; Any solid wood product will expand or contract over time as moisture and climate conditions change. Solid wood cabinetry can act like a sponge, when surrounded by water the sponge absorbs the water and expands. However, unlike sponges you can’t ring the water out of solid wood.

When designing your Kountry Kraft cabinetry, you customize it to properly fit and function in your home. If your cabinetry expands due to improper storage where temperature and humidity is high, there will be issues when it comes time for installation. So, it is very important to listen to take this information seriously and store your cabinetry in a proper area.

properly storing cabinetry

Storage Tips:

  • Store inside.
  • Store in a room with air conditioning/temperature control.
  • Use a dehumidifier to be safe about humidity.
  • If it is summer time, or a vacation home, be sure to take extra steps to ensure your cabinetry is safe.
  • Wood expands as humidity increases and shrinks as humidity decreases.
  • Unfinished (exposed) wood will exhibit the most dramatic changes.

As always, if there are any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

Kountry Kraft offers customers the ability to paint match their custom cabinetry to ensure that the cabinetry we create will complement the existing colors in their home. Our list makes it simple for them to find the right color for their match. As of June 30, 2016 Kountry Kraft added 15 new paint colors to our already extensive list. Kountry Kraft matches their own paint colors to national brands including; Behr, Benjamin Moore, Dalys Paints Co.,Farrow Ball, MAB, Martha Stewart, Pratt Lambert, Ralph Lauren, Sherwin Williams, Valspar and Wilson Art Paints. Unlike other companies, Kountry Kraft does not charge a paint match fee for colors selected from the Kountry Kraft’s paint match list.

paint match

Kountry Kraft’s New Paint Matches:

paint matchBenjamin Moore Black Panther

paint matchBenjamin Moore Deep Royal

paint matchBenjamin Moore Grant Beige

paint matchBenjamin Moore Old Navy

paint matchBenjamin Moore Simply White

paint matchBenjamin Moore Smoke and Mirrors

paint matchBenjamin Moore Wrought Iron

paint matchFarrow and Ball Calke Green

paint matchFarrow and Ball Cooking Apple Green

paint matchFarrow and Ball Green Ground

paint matchSherwin Williams Halcyon Green

paint matchSherwin Williams Ivory Lace

paint matchSherwin Williams Jasper Stone

paint matchSherwin Williams Light French Gray

paint matchValspar Woodlawn Colonial Gray

Kountry Kraft is always updating this list to include an array of colors for our clients to choose from. Kountry Kraft makes it easy for you to include the perfect color for your home

To see more colors Kountry Kraft has available click here.