Chris Whittenbrink has been in the cabinet business most of his adult life.
With his father a career carpenter and his uncle a longtime cabinetmaker, you might say it was simply in his blood.
“I got to pound a lot of nails when I was a kid,” Whittenbrink said. “I decided I wanted to be a cabinetmaker and be in the cabinet business when I was 21 years old.”
Today at 43, after roughly two decades of working for cabinetmakers and remodeling contractors large and small, Whittenbrink is running his own show with Keystone Kitchens of Woodinville.
Whittenbrink, who founded his business in January 2007, specializes in kitchen remodeling and custom cabinetmaking, a dream marriage for a man who loves fine woodwork and craftsmanship.
“What makes a good kitchen really comes down to the fit and the finish, how things fit together, how they meet, how the joints come together flush without gaps, and the alignment of the doors and then, of course, doing a high-quality finish that’s very durable,” he said. “When everything fits together well, it makes a huge difference.”
This year will be Keystone Kitchens’ second appearance at the Everett Home &Garden Show, which opens for a three-day run Friday.
Though the company has 10 employees, including two full-time in-house interior designers, Whittenbrink enjoys overseeing each project.
“I meet every client at the beginning to plan the job,” Whittenbrink said. “And I go out to inspect the finished product on all the jobs.”
Jeff and Lisa Roberts hired Keystone Kitchens to remodel their Snohomish kitchen.
After hearing horror stories about frustrating and flaky contractors, they took about a year to shop around and settled on Keystone Kitchens.
They’re glad they did.
“It’s such a nice kitchen,” Lisa Roberts said of their new space, including some new and some refaced cabinets. “We’re so happy with their work.”
Whittenbrink likes the masculine look of the project.
It includes dark-stained Shaker-style cabinets in Brazilian cherry, one of the hardest woods available, a dark granite-topped island, and granite-pattern laminate counters.
Modern cabinetmaking has revolutionized the durability and quality of cabinets, Whittenbrink said.
In addition to novelties such as floor-to-ceiling slide-out spice racks and heavy-duty appliance drawers, new cabinets also boast features to make them last longer.
Soft-close drawers, for example, make it impossible to accidentally slam a drawer shut, thanks to hydraulic pistons and spring-loaded closing mechanisms.
“It slows the drawer down a few inches before making contact with the cabinet face,” Whittenbrink said, adding that such innovations needn’t cost an arm and a leg.
“Production techniques have brought the cost of these high-end items down into the affordable range for most people doing a kitchen,” he said.
Costs for refacing cabinets in the average kitchen can start at $6,000.
Full kitchen remodeling projects from Keystone Kitchens — including new counters, cabinets, flooring, lighting, backsplash areas and a sink — cost about $40,000 on average, Whittenbrink said.
Whittenbrink, who co-owns the business with his wife, Susan, said they try to keep prices down with low overhead.
“We don’t have a big showroom to support,” he said. “We do in-home consultations with lots of samples and photos.”
Though Whittenbrink and his crews bid on a variety of projects, they often end up replacing inexpensive cabinets installed 15 to 20 years ago.
Many clients are in their 50s, often doing the last big kitchen remodel of their lives, Whittenbrink said.
“They want to put their money into something that is going to last them and something that they’re going to enjoy for years to come with a feeling of quality,” he said.
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
Keystone Kitchens
Woodinville 425-485-1281 www.keystonekitchens.biz
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