Kitchen Cabinets in Sunnyvale, CA

The difference between cabinetry that looks good in year one and cabinetry that still functions in year fifteen is almost entirely in the parts you cannot see. We build cabinet boxes from furniture-grade plywood rather than particleboard, because Sunnyvale's mild, occasionally damp Bay climate punishes composite materials at the toe kick and under the sink. Drawer boxes are solid wood with dovetail joinery, running on full-extension undermount glides rated for daily use. Door and drawer faces are hung on concealed, adjustable hinges so the kitchen can be tuned back to dead-flat alignment years down the line.

For the Eichler homes that cluster in the Birdland neighborhood, with their exposed post-and-beam ceilings, mahogany paneling, and floor-to-ceiling glass, we favor flat-slab doors in rift-cut white oak or walnut that read as architectural rather than decorative. The Eichler aesthetic does not forgive fussy detailing, so the cabinetry has to be clean, frameless, and precisely scaled to the open plan. In the older Cherry Chase and Heritage District ranch homes, where the architecture is warmer and more traditional, we shift toward Shaker doors in painted maple or stained alder, with furniture-style toe kicks and crown that ties the kitchen back to the rest of the house.

Finish matters as much as substrate. We use catalyzed conversion-varnish and pre-catalyzed lacquer finishes that resist the heat, steam, and cleaning chemicals a hardworking kitchen sees, and we finish all six sides of every component so moisture cannot creep into an unsealed edge. The goal is cabinetry you forget about, in the best sense, because it simply works.