How to Choose a Kitchen Showroom in New Jersey: What to Bring, What to Ask, and How a Free 3D Design Visit Works

Showroom, big box or contractor: who should you buy from?

There are three ways to buy a kitchen in New Jersey. A big-box store sells a few cabinet lines at a counter, with design help that varies by who is working that day and installation subcontracted to whoever is on the list. A general contractor often buys cabinets through a supplier you never meet and marks them up inside a lump-sum price. A dedicated kitchen showroom designs, sells and usually installs, with the cabinets, counters and tile in one place and one person responsible for the whole thing.

The showroom model costs no more than the others in our experience, because the design and the installation are the same work either way, and it gives you something the other two cannot: a room full of doors you can open and a designer who does this every day. The questions below are how to tell the good showrooms from the rest.

What to bring to your first visit

You do not need a finished plan. You do need a few things that let the designer start drawing instead of guessing.

• Rough measurements: the length of each wall, the ceiling height, and the positions and sizes of windows, doors and the existing sink and range. A tape measure and a sketch on paper are enough.
• Photos: of each wall of the kitchen, the adjoining rooms, and the floor, taken in daylight.
• Inspiration: a few saved images of kitchens you like, and a sense of what you like about them (the color, the island, the hood).
• Appliances: the models you are keeping or planning to buy, or at least the sizes. Cabinets are sized around them.
• A budget range: not a number you have to defend, but an honest sense of what you want to spend, so the designer starts at the right level.
• Who lives there: how you cook, how many people eat together, and whether you need to work around a pet bowl, a step stool or a wheelchair.

Our free 3D design page lists the same items, because they are what turns a first visit into a real design rather than a browse.

How a free 3D design visit works

This is how it goes at our showrooms, and a good showroom anywhere will do something similar. You come in with the items above, with or without an appointment, though an appointment guarantees a designer's full attention. You walk the displays and open doors with the designer so we can see what you respond to. The designer sketches the layout, asks about how you use the kitchen, and draws it in 3D, either while you are there or within a few days. You see the kitchen from several angles, with your door style and color on the cabinets, and we revise it together: an island instead of a peninsula, a pantry wall, a different window treatment.

Once the layout is close, we price it line by line: every cabinet, accessory, molding and panel, plus installation, delivery and the countertop, each on its own line. The design and the quote are free and there is no obligation. If walls, plumbing or electrical are moving, we visit the house to measure before anything is ordered. All of our designers, including Okan, Akin, Allen, Bugra, Elif, Bora, Tania, Kaya and Cihan, work this way, so it does not matter which showroom you walk into.

Questions to ask about the cabinets

• What lines do you carry at each level, and can I see the same door style at two levels side by side?
• What are the boxes, doors, drawer boxes and center panels made of? (Four different answers is normal.)
• Are soft-close hinges and undermount glides standard, or an upgrade?
• Is the line KCMA certified, and what is the warranty?
• What is the current lead time for this line, and does it change for painted or inset?
• Who do I call if a door arrives damaged or a hinge fails in three years?
• Can I take door samples home?

A showroom that answers these quickly and without checking a binder knows its product. If you want to prepare, our Cabinets 101 guide on this blog covers the vocabulary.

Questions to ask about installation

• Who installs: your own crews or a subcontractor? If a subcontractor, who is responsible when something goes wrong?
• Who measures the room before ordering, and who is responsible if a cabinet does not fit?
• Who pulls the permit, and is your company registered with the state as a home improvement contractor?
• Do you handle demolition, plumbing, electrical and flooring, or do I need a separate contractor?
• Who templates and installs the countertop, and is that on the same quote?
• How do you handle a change after the order is placed?
• How long will I be without a kitchen, and what is the plan for the gap between cabinets and countertop?

We install with our own crews everywhere in New Jersey, which is why our quotes include installation and why there is one phone number for the whole job. Our guide to the kitchen remodel timeline in New Jersey explains the schedule the installation questions are really about.

Questions to ask about pricing and the quote

• Is the quote line by line, with cabinets, accessories, moldings, panels, delivery and installation separate?
• What is not included? (Countertops, backsplash, appliances, plumbing, electrical, permits and flooring are the usual answers.)
• Is the price based on a measured design or on an estimate that will change after measuring?
• What is the deposit, and when is the balance due?
• What happens if a cabinet is backordered or discontinued?
• Can you price the same kitchen at a second level so I can see the difference?

The last question is the most useful one you can ask. We price many kitchens two ways, and our cabinet pricing guide gives you a sense of the levels before you ask.

Red flags

A few things make us uneasy when we hear about them from homeowners who have been shopping around.

• A lump-sum quote that cannot be broken down. It is impossible to compare and easy to pad.
• A price before anyone has measured. It will change.
• Pressure to sign today for a discount that disappears tomorrow. Cabinet pricing does not work that way.
• No displays you can open, or displays that are all one brand at one level.
• Vague answers about who installs and who is responsible afterward.
• No state registration as a home improvement contractor, which New Jersey requires.
• No recent, local work to show you. A showroom that installs regularly has photos and addresses of kitchens nearby.

Our project gallery is the kind of thing to ask any showroom for: real kitchens in real New Jersey houses, with the cabinet line and the town named.

Comparing two quotes fairly

If you shop two or three showrooms, which we encourage, make the quotes comparable before you compare the totals. Check that the cabinet level is the same, that the box construction and hardware match, that the same accessories, moldings and panels are included, that installation and delivery are on both, and that both are based on a measured design. A difference in level or in what is included explains most gaps; a difference in design explains the rest, and that is worth paying attention to, because the better design is usually the better kitchen. We are happy to walk through another showroom's quote next to ours.

Visiting us

We have three showrooms, all with the same lines, the same designers' process and the same free 3D design: Union at 2576 US-22 East on Route 22 East, Paramus at 492 NJ-17 on Route 17 North, and Rochelle Park at 151 NJ-17 on Route 17 South. Each one has cabinets at every level with the doors open, countertops and tile in the same room, and vanities from our own line. Walk in any time, or book a time so a designer is waiting; our showrooms page has the hours and directions for each.

Bottom line

Bring measurements, photos, appliance sizes and an honest budget. Ask who builds it, who installs it and who answers the phone afterward. Insist on a line-by-line quote from a measured design, and ask to see the same kitchen at two levels. A showroom that is comfortable with all of that will give you a good kitchen at a fair price, and a free 3D design is the easiest way to find out whether a showroom works that way before you commit to anything.