The Cabinet Center

Project: needed cabinets and hardware for kitchen, master bathroom, laundry and mudroom
We worked with Chris and the entire experience was great. Chris helped us design a spectacular kitchen while keeping in mind our budget and lifestyle. The fact that Chris has a contractor background really helped with the process. He understood the architectural and structural plans.
Chris was ALWAYS available and responded to all our inquiries in a timely manner. He was professional, patient and very easy to work with.
For all future cabinetry needs, Chris from the Caninet Center would be our go-​to. What’s key is that the cabinets are beautiful and have lifetime warranties. We love how everything turned out.

I had the absolute pleasure of working with Chris at the Cabinet Center when I remodeled my kitchen in 2014.
Chris and the whole team at the Cabinet Center were lifesavers. I had to change contractors and my kitchen cabinet order was canceled. I was on a tight reno schedule and I needed to order new cabinets quickly.
Within one day of our first meeting, Chris was at my house taking measurements. He made thoughtful recommendations on the design layout — vastly improving our original design.
With my schedule in flux, Chris offered long term storage of my cabinets at his facility in San Ramon at no extra cost.
Once my cabinets were installed, I went back to the Cabinet Center to order my countertop. Chris expertly coordinated the countertop measurement, fabrication and install.
I highly recommend the Cabinet Center for all home cabinet renovation needs.

Came in with a specific question based on a brand and color cabinet we saw on Houzz. Starting to look for a major kitchen remodel. Asked by older salesman if we were looking for appliances or cabinets. Answer was cabinets. Told other rep in the back would help us. Waited and looked around before 11:30. Rep did not come out until 11:30 appt. showed up. She didn’t know or didn’t care about our cabinet inquiry however the two other salespeople knew why we were there and didn’t follow up. In fact, we Were completely utterly ignored. Why have a storefront for walk in inquiries if you are going to ignore the walk-​ins? We’ve got money to spend and guess what? These guys just watched 50k walk out their front door and down to cabinet world at 1501 Laurel st. Who Did spend 10 minutes to answer our question.

Kathy helped us with a highly customized kitchen cabinet design. She ensure all the right sizes, colors, and banding options were exactly what we wanted and needed to match our existing cabinets. Her attention to detail ensured our happiness with the result. Great outcome. Thanks Kathy!

Kathy St. Clair at The Cabinet Center is a wonderful person to contact for a kitchen or bathroom remodel. She helped us design both our kitchen and master bath, and we will go back for more!
Kathy listens closely to what the client wants and brings the vision to life. She can take a client’s idea and make it tangible, by understanding spacial concepts, creating online CAD drawings, and suggesting cabinet components that meet the client’s needs. Additionally, Kathy has a great eye for color and style, and can help a client with countertop, tile and fixture ideas. Basically, she can pull the whole project together. Most importantly, Kathy is very professional, respects her clients, and is easy to talk to. She is very patient, if at first, a client (like me) feels overwhelmed by the endless possibilities.
We highly recommend!

Surprised my mother by redesigning her kitchen and starting from the bottom up. We went with Marinos Construction and they introduced me to Kathy StClaire from Cabinet Center I have to say she is by far the sweetest most helpfulness women ever. She helped me step by step and worked so well with me and my mother, we were both so happy with the final look and everything came together! Thank you Kathy you are wonderful we are sending anyone and everyone who asks my mother about her kitchen cabinets to come see you!

Through a designer I met Kathy St Clair at the Cabinet Center, and I am not overstating the case that she saved me from an awful lot of stress and possible trouble during my kitchen remodel. She not only designed the cabinets, she was very helpful in solving design problems (ever try to get a microwave in an upper cabinet? she did), finding reliable contractors (see my review on Brian Fitzmaurice who also saved the day more than once), warnings on probable required code upgrades, finding counter fabricators, finding good appliance pricing — do I need to go on?
If you are undertaking your first kitchen remodel, you absolutely must have her on your side. It is a huge undertaking no matter how simple you think the design, and having her as a sounding board for making decisions is invaluable.
During your kitchen remodel, be prepared to be inundated with all sorts of challenges: daily design questions whose impact is not immediately felt, construction trade offs, daily dust, slipped schedules, unpredictable city inspectors, and more distractions if your house is old. This stuff just happens, no one is dropping the ball, be ready. I realize now how exposed the homeowner is during a remodel. Working with people you trust is critical.
Oh yeah, the cabinets were very good, solid throughout. But when I think about how helpful Kathy was, the cabinets turned out to be, while important, just a small part. Her true value was how she handled every situation with professionalism and how she applied the knowledge she has gained through years of experience.
By the way, she is also a very nice person.
In the end, our kitchen came out great. She shares the credit with our fantastic contractor.

We have ordered cabinets twice from The Cabinet Center, working with Kathy. The first time, in 2011, was for a major remodel of the Bathroom (built-​in vanity), Dining Room (built-​in china and display cabinets) and Living Room (now a Library). The second time, just completed, was for a custom built-​in entertainment center /​bookcase in our Family Room. Both experiences with Kathy have been excellent.
In the first remodel, we had hand-​drwn diagrams of what we wanted — Kathy took our diagrams and ideas and converted them into CAD diagrams that enabled us to get a vision of our cabinet order before we paid. They were also very effective tools for the contractor during installation. Kathy also helped us to customize our order so that we could get the furniture base and appearance that we wanted. Although there were a few issues with the cabinets when they arrived (not Kathy’s fault), Kathy worked with us to replace doors until we were satisfied (one door was replaced twice).
In the second remodel, we had such good memories of our first experience that it was a no-​brainer for us to go back to The Cabinet Center — even though we might have saved money by working with a different vendor. Kathy played an even larger role in helping to design the unit, coming to our home and helping us make decisions. Despite the fact that her aunt was in hospice, she met us at a tile store to help us make selections for a separate project — even though this was not necessary for the cabinet order.
If you want someone who is detail oriented, who cares that you will be happy with your end product (and will continue working with you until you are happy), and who can help you envision your order, The Cabinet Center and Kathy would be a good choice.

We were beginning the first step of our kitchen remodel. Years before we did built in bookshelves in our family room with the Cabinet Center so decided return and see what we could learn for the kitchen.
We had the good luck to meet Kathy St Clair. From the very beginning Kathy was friendly but more importantly very professional. She walked us through the ideas and concerns and dreams of the new project.
She shared her many years of experience with us and was such and invaluable resource. Any time my contractor or I had a question, she was right there to clarify and offer advice.
18 months later I am now remodeling my bathrooms and working with Kathy because her guidance and professional experience is what I rely on. After all of the above and beyond work she did for us for the kitchen, I trust her completely and would never hesitate to recommend Kathy or the Cabinet Center.

The owner contacted me over the previous Unilocal review I posted on here and I don’t think he really understood that he needs good workers and sales people to make the client happy. I was very dumbfounded by this, I was going to give them more business but with my experience in dealing with Kathy particularly and the delays in receiving my stuff I’m glad I didn’t, specially after speaking to the owner thinking he should be informed of my horrific experience and after being cursed at by Kathy in front of other patrons. I’m glad I did not give them any more business, BEWARE OF THIS STORE.

As an expert in sales *** all home appliances I have to referral all my client to a cabinet shop and THE CABINET CENT is my only place to send my clients and specifically to work with the master designer Kathy that helps my clients… she is unbelievable and not only detailed person she goes beyond that, visiting customers several times without any charges to make sure that the client is fully understandable to what he or she is buying.
I am so happy to have a good friend and a great designer that can make my customers happy before and after the sales .
and always I will referral all my customers to her .
and will give them my highest recommendation,

I’m an interior designer and have worked with the Cabinet Center on numerous projects. In each instance I worked with Kathy St.Clair. Kathy is very conscientious and an excellent kitchen designer. There is no project that does not have glitches. If there were any issues, Kathy handled them immediately and resolved them to my satisfaction. I will continue to work with Kathy on upcoming projects. She is professional in every way and always provides excellent customer service.

As a general contractor, we have worked with The Cabinet Center for several years. We refer all of our clients to them because of their superior customer service and kitchen design expertise. The many clients we have referred have all been very pleased with the cost, quality and look of their cabinets. In the rare occasions when a small problem arises, they are always quick to resolve it immediately. We know we can count on them to help us look good to our customers.
Not only has The Cabinet Center helped us with many of our customers, but all of the owners of our company have purchased new kitchens for their own homes from TCC. I give them our highest recommendation.

I need to preface this review with 2 things:
First, we love our cabinets. They’re beautiful and feel well made.
Second, the service was great prior to giving them the check. They responded quickly to emails over the holidays and worked very fast.
My wife and I took our house down to studs and needed new kitchen cabinets as well as a new master bath vanity & hallway cabinetry. While the design phase was going on (we were moving rooms around) we came to TCC to see what they had. We loved their cabinets and felt the pricing was good for the quality. We gave them a down payment on a general layout (layout wasn’t finished) with the real layout to be finalized soon thereafter. During this time they were amazing with communication. Questions/​comments/​changes were answered within 24 hours (and many times sooner).
Then I gave them the check and the service fell off a cliff.
We had put off ordering the bathroom vanity as the walls weren’t even close to being up. When we said we were ready it took them no less than a month to get us a design. They also were slow when it came to giving prices and designs for the remainder of the kitchen (we had some pieces that were TBD given construction) – the prices on the supplemental kitchen pieces also seemed high when compared to what we paid for the rest of the kitchen.
Had everything gone well after the ordering they’d probably be getting 4 stars now because the wait time didn’t hurt us. What really hurt them, in the end, was the installer they pushed on us.
We were told that since we got frameless cabinets we needed an experienced installer to do them – I said OK despite my own general contractor telling me that this guys’ prices were roughly 2x what he (our GC) would charge. What’d I get for that? Well, let’s see:
— They refused to attach the supplied cabinet pulls despite TCC telling me it would be included
— They didn’t fill *any* of their nail holes (our GC had to do this).
— They didn’t install the hallway cabinets because they said they didn’t have all the pieces – pieces that were sitting in the garage the entire time
— They left trash laying around our house
— When they did get around to installing the hallway cabinetry they did an absolute awful job. They left a 6″ tall gap the entire length of the cabinets (6′ long) because they decided to push the cabinets to the back of the opening instead of shimming it out. Our GC had to fix this.
— They claimed they were missing parts for our kitchen (some trim) and had TCC order it, but never came back to install.
Throughout all of this my GC dealt with TCC. He called them. Told them things were wrong; things were incomplete; and people were screwing up. Did they ever come out to QA the job? To see what the problems were? Say «Sorry, Jason, I screwed up by pushing this installer on you; we’ll make it right». Of course not. I didn’t get a call, an email, or a text. They went dark when the install went south and I haven’t heard a thing from them. When you’re paying tens of thousands of dollars for cabinets there’s a minimum level of service expected. TCC didn’t meet that – and it wasn’t all that close.
So, in the end, would I buy these kinds of cabinets again? Yes, so far our Dura Supremes have been great. Would I work with The Cabinet Center to get them? Hell. No.

I thought long and hard about whether to post this, as I’d like to move on from this nightmare scenario, but ultimately I think my experience can help others make a better choice.
I started working with The Cabinet Center several months ago to remodel my kitchen.
One thing I learned about a company like this is that ultimately you have to judge them based on how well they deal with issues that come up. And when you do a full kitchen remodel, issues do come up. The people at The Cabinet Center were nice enough initially, and very helpful with not only selecting cabinets, but also recommending people to work with regarding appliances, construction, and counter top. It was this all in one approach that I agreed to work with them. The sales pitch always goes well, as some say.
But when problems started to crop up, that’s when the quality of their service really took a nose dive. By time my kitchen remodel project was done, it was 3 months later, despite how The Cabinet Center assured me it would only take 3 weeks. I was stuck with a gutted kitchen, dust everywhere, half my condo sectioned off, with no sink, fridge, or stove for over 9 weeks. What’s worse is that each week, I was given affirmation things will soon be on track. That made things worse. So what went down?
1. The wrong cabinet pieces were ordered. Supposedly this «never happens» as I was assured when I ordered my cabinets. Yet sure enough, it happened. Once this went wrong, all construction had to stop. To make matters worse, when they reordered the piece, the cabinet makers forgot to deliver it. The piece sat in the warehouse for a week until I called to figure out what was wrong. The Cabinet Center was blaming the cabinet maker, and the cabinet maker was blaming the cabinet center. I really didn’t care who caused the problem at this stage, I just wanted it fixed.
2. The cabinets were sitting a warehouse, and never shipped until I called. What makes me angry about this is that there was no sense of urgency or interest helping me when this was realized. The Cabinet center told to call the cabinet maker to see if I could push things along. When I called them I was told they didn’t want to talk with me because their customer was The Cabinet Center. I was in a screaming match with people until everything wrapped up. That’s not how customer service should work.
3. They said I never ordered a backsplash for my countertop when I did. I was promised that my counter top order included a backsplash, but when it was installed, none was installed. The Cabinet Center’s manager then dared question my understanding what was agreed upon, as if I made things up. I was flabbergasted. It wasn’t until the construction people who were remodeling my kitchen agreed with me that the backsplash was part of the order (they happened to be in that initial meeting when a backsplash was discussed), did the manager finally agreed that «something might have been discussed». So what did they agree to do to fix the problem? Charge me an additional $ 750 to put it in (But it’s a discount they say!) How nice of you…
4. They said they would repay me for the problems they caused. As of today, I still haven’t seen a final check. I’m not even bothering with pushing for it, because the amount is a joke, and they been nonresponsive. They just didn’t care about my plight, didn’t care to fix it, nor wanted to even compensate me when clearly they messed up.
I will say this, they did eventually help out, 7 weeks after I had no fridge to use, to give me a loaner, as a nice gesture. A gesture they only did because the construction people felt so bad for me they literally called The Cabinet Center to see what they can do show a little sympathy. And for this, they acted like they were saints or something. Please.
Just thinking about this experience still troubles me. Mind you, they only take checks, so you can’t even dispute things with them via your credit card provider. The owner of this place needs a serious wake up call on how to work with customers. Remodeling a kitchen is a major decision anyone goes through. You want to believe that even one minor issue with the process is something that The Cabinet Center recognizes and wants to go out their way to help out with. Even a one day delay can feel like a lifetime when your kitchen is gutted. I suffered for many weeks, and The Cabinet Center didn’t care.
Consider this my fair warning.

I saw my neighbor’s beautiful kitchen cabinets and was referred to the Cabinet Center. Like anything I had shopped all around the bay area looking for the best cabinet quality, design, and a good price from San Francisco to as far as Fairfax.
Hands down the customer service, and design that Chris put together for us was the best. The cabinets are very high quality and show their value. The price was in line with what we were looking for in terms of wood, build quality and methodology. Not all cabinets are made the same and you can see that easily when you shop around.
So what differentiated this place? Chris and his cabinets. We met with him thinking it was going to just be a meet and greet like other places, with an overview of prices and options followed by a design provided in a few weeks that would not necessarily be what we wanted. Instead, on our initial meeting we sat together and designed our kitchen down to every detail. Our space like many in the bay area was tight, but Chris came up with great solutions to make use of every corner and make this a functional and gorgeous kitchen.
I was concerned about the price thinking it was going to be outside of our budget given all the options and details they offered including soft close cabinets and drawers, dove tale drawers, cherry wood, etc… but it was not. He also worked with us despite our timing to ensure we got a promotional rate and kept an eye out for us in case a better promotion came up before we executed the project.
There were no pressure tactics from him or his staff to commit to anything despite the time he spent with us.
Chris worked with my contractor to ensure everything arrived in a timely manner and offered extra services to meet with and help my contractor when the cabinet installation was to begin.
The cabinets all fit exactly as expected. We did receive a damaged cabinet that delayed counter top installation, however, Chris worked with us and the manufacturer to ensure that it all got resolved as soon as possible.
There is a lifetime warranty on all the cabinets, and they sent us a touch up guy to repair anything that was nicked from the installation and from us moving in.
So why not five stars. The counter top installation through the cabinet center did not go smoothly and I had high expectations that none of the cabinets would arrive damaged which caused delays in our kitchen remodel. In hindsight I would have inspected the lower cabinets since there is a two week delay to build a new one and ship it to California.
I did not realize it at the time but they are diamond certified, and when I received a call to give them a survey it dawned on me that the superb service I received is a reflection of their well deserved rating.

From sale to installation to follow up afterward, we’ve had a terrific experience. Chris and staff were extremely helpful with choices and go out of their way to ensure you are satisfied. I highly recommend visiting The Cabinet Center before making any cabinetry decisions!

I just finished my kitchen remodel with Cabinet Center in San Carlos I had a very positive experience with them. Chris helped me with my design and he was great. I had a million questions and he never lost patience with me. I had my granite counter tops done through them also and they turned out beautiful. I ordered my appliances there also and they organized the installation with no problem. The price was also very competitive with other companies I compared before committing to Cabinet Center. I am a very detailed person and I was not disappointed in the quality of the cabinets. Everyone there is very friendly and helpful and I would not hesitate to recommend them. I was not disappointed and I now have a beautiful kitchen.

Fantastic! We love our kitchen, design, functionality and quality! We worked with Kelly, who was so supportive, detail oriented and customer driven it was such a delight. She was very thoughtful, professional and certainly talented in her design abilities. The cabinetry is beautiful. We love the easy close mechanisms, the details and functionality. We started from scratch and Kelly designed an amazing kitchen for us, then she was there from concise order details to delivery through install to ensure everything was done right. Every day we look at our kitchen and are so thankful for her design and excellence in service. The entire team in The Cabinet Center (Kelly, Chris, Tina, Brad and George – appliances) were amazing and make you feel like family. If you want honesty, customer care and quality – this is the place to go! We love them!

We have continually been impressed by Chris and his staff at The Cabinet Center. They gave us a great price on a full kitchen remodel and have followed up with exceptional customer service! This is a great company to work with and they have a huge selection of products. Thanks Chris!