Here is a section of a FAQ I wrote for atlantacabinets.com go check it out!

Seems like everything is GREEN these days! I was in the store the other day and a bottle of Chlorine Bleach had a GREEN label on it! Upon further inspection the only thing green about it was that the bottle was made from recycled plastic!

All that to say that just because something has a GREEN label on it does not necessarily mean it is green. While just about all of the lines we carry have the KCMA ESP certification, some are truly more GREEN than others. Wellborn is probably the most truly GREEN line we carry with Quality Cabinets in a strong second place. I encourage everyone who is interested in purchasing a GREEN cabinet investigate for themselves the steps the manufacture is taking to protect both the environment and their families from bad IAQ Indoor Air Quality . You can find out if the manufacture you are interest in has the KCMA ESP certification on the Greencabinetsource.org website under the Certified Companies link, here are some links to a few Wellborn Green Quality Green Kraftmaid Green

If you are concerned about dangerous chemicals and toxic finishes in your home, just STAY AWAY from imported or Chinese cabinets!! If they paint childrens toys with toxic chemicals who knows what they are finishing their cabinets with! Not only do imports have questionable finishing chemicals on them, the warranty issues they present make buying imported cabinets a lot like playing Russian Roulette! You can read more about imported cabinets on The GREEN Cabinet Guys blog here

How can you tell if you are looking at an imported cabinet? The first red flag to spot an imported cabinet is if you are being offered an All Wood, Beautiful Door style with a glaze finish, and cushion close drawers for a price that is ridiculously less than all the other quotes you have received… there is a REASON imports are offered at what seems like double the cabinet for half the money!

Sitting in my final class to become a CERTIFIED GREEN PROFESSIONAL from the National Association of Homebuilders, an interesting discussion came up about the GREENNESS of Bamboo.

While the plant bamboo itself may have some green “cred”. The sudden rise of the Green movement may have caused Bamboo to become an unlikely victim of the green revolution! So before you go out and buy those new bamboo cabinets or install a bamboo floor to offset the carbon emissions of your Hummer, consider the following…

Domestic FSC Wood vs. Bamboo
Round 1- Location, Location, Location

Just like real estate, location is everything in the world of green.  If you live in Atlanta, is an organic apple grown in the North Georiga mountains just as green as an organic apple grown in Chili? No! Just because the pesticides were eliminated on both sides of the equator does not mean these apples are equally green on both sides of the equator. Think about the environmental impact of transportation.  What is true with organic apples is true with wood products, here in the Bible Belt it is much less damaging to use Appalachian timber than Ho Chi Minh bamboo .

Round 1 Winner: KO Domestic FSC Wood

Domestic FSC Wood vs. Bamboo
Round 2- Processing

Being a Georgia boy , I have had the good fortune of visiting many timber mills and have seen the processing of wood from Tree to Cabinet. Besides the pollution from heavy equipment, logging trucks, and enegy needed to harvest and process the timber there are very few other “un-green” elements to turning a domestic FSC tree into a cabinet.

I have yet to see with my own eyes how bamboo gets processed from stalk to cabinet, or even  bamboo bikini briefs for that matter, but from my research into the subject, I think there are some questionable practices in both of these areas.

Bamboo Cabinets:

It is difficult to find solid info regarding the Greenness of adhesives used Bamboo wood products. From what i gather many of the mills use adhesives made right there in the mill that may contain formaldehyde that may off gas into your home and poorly resist water.

Bamboo Bikini Briefs

In the interest of full disclosure, I do not yet own a pair of bamboo bikini briefs so I will let the good folks at greencottonblog.com give you the skinny : “This is also a great site for ways bamboo can be Green”
Round 2 Winner: TKO Domestic FSC Wood

Round 3: I’m off to the NARI meeting tonight… I will finish this post later tonight

SSSShhhhhh!!! Don’t tell Wellborn the free display set went into my own personal closet

Wellborn Cabinets has always had a “Dressing Suite” collection that has been great if you want to continue the look of your “Master Suite” in your closet.  But for those of us that don’t have a “Master Suite”, the Wellborn “Dressing Suite” collection may have been a little out of the budget… especially now that a gallon of gas is almost the same price as a gallon of Starbucks coffee!

Unlike all the Jokers in Washington, Wellborn has been responding great to the tough economic times with their “Gold Keys” program. This program is a 40 point plan to introduce new and exciting items and programs in response to the downturn in the market.  This week, Gold Key #22 made a grown man cry…

Wellborn is introducing their “Distinctive Closet” program on October 6th! Just like the Wellborn Cabinetry line features a Good / Better / Best construction, the Wellborn Distinctive Closet program offers 3 different levels of Quality and Style to meet any Custom Closet design and budget. And best of all, because Wellborn is the manufacturer, you can be assured this is a GREEN CHOICE product that will be safe for your family and the environment.

To celebrate the launch of Wellborn Cabinet’s Distinctive Closet Program, I am offering FREE Custom Closet and Custom Pantry designs AND 10% off your Custom Closet/Pantry Order for the entire month of October!  If you are a Builder or Remodeler that currently uses another Custom Closet vendor, now is a great time to experience the Wellborn AND The Green Cabinet Guy design difference!

Imagine the ease of cooking dinner with a Custom Designed Pantry like this!  Rachael Ray would be jealous!

In Atlanta there are some real estate signs with a glowing digital readout of how many homes are on the market “110,000 Homes for Sale Today!”.  They finally wizened up and instead of depressing everyone with a 6 figure number of what is not selling, it now reads a 4 digit number of how many homes sold last month.

If you are one of those 6 digit homeowners and want to become one of the 4 digits… this Vanity Sale is for you!  Everyone’s budget is tight and while you may not have enough spare change sitting around for an all out kitchen redo, a bathroom remodel can also be an effective way to freshen up your home and make your neighbors jealous of the “Under Contract” sign in your yard!

While our readers in Phoenix could also benefit from Bathroom V2.0, they will not be quite as fortunate as our Atlanta area folks who can check out THIS LINK to see an every growing and ever changing list of overstock vanities starting at just $123.

With the home construction market DOA, there are a LOT of cabinet companies going out of business and others selling off excess inventory. I’m working with these folks to get overstock inventory out of their warehouse and into your home!  Stay tuned over the next few weeks for other sales and promotions I am putting together.

In the mean time, and for all of you outside the Atlanta area looking for a great deal on cabinets. EMAIL ME , I have connections with cabinet companies all over the U.S. and believe me they all have a MOUNTAINOUS pile of overstock inventory they would be to get rid of!

From The Cabinet Guy

From The Cabinet Guy

Sorry to all the aspiring Cabinet Gal’s out there! I just got married to my beautiful new bride Elizabeth on 09-06-08! If you want to check out the pictures goto www.kellyisnice.com/whiddon
Kelly is an AMAZINGLY creative photographer so if your in the Atlanta area and have a wedding, baby, or just want some unbelievably great photos of yourself, give her a call and say Todd and Elizabeth sent you!

We went to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for our honeymoon and had an AWESOME time!! “I will keep those pictures to myself :)”  Soon as I get settled back into reality I will be back bringing you the best in Kitchen design and Cabinet Coolness!

I design kitchens for a living, but what about the kitchen design where I live?? A few years ago I bought a loft in Downtown Atlanta in an area known as Castleberry Hill. It is the art mecca of Atlanta with an Art Gallery around every corner! I let the art theme of the neighborhood be my inspiration for this contemporary kitchen creation.

The kitchen my loft came with needed some SERIOUS work!

This is NOT the NKBA recommended method for removing cabinets. But since this is my kitchen, I wanted to experience how kitchens were remodeled before power tools were invented…

Kitchen remodeling isn’t quite like an artist having a blank canvas, it more like someone else dripping paint on your canvas and then you having to finish the painting and make it a masterpiece. When designing a kitchen remodel, you often have to measure around appliances and plan designs without knowing exactly what’s inside your walls. If you are changing the structure of your kitchen it is not only a good idea to hire experienced professionals, but you should also at least pull off the sheetrock and see what surprises are lurking in your walls that may affect the final outcome.

I found some unexpected water pipes for the loft above mine that I had to incorporate into my design.

My vision of a bigger, better, brighter kitchen begins to take shape…

And Here it is! Bold Colors, Exquisite Materials, Open Contemporary Design

I actually designed and installed this backsplash myself by out of 1″ travertine tiles with 1″ glass tile accents

These countertops ROCK! Literally! I used Stellar Night from Silestone which is engineered quartz with little chips of mirror in them. It is harder than granite, NEVER has to be sealed, and has micro-ban built right in! You should see the way all TWENTY TWO lights in the kitchen reflect off them at night!

Remember that laundry room door from the before Pics?

This kitchen design move is REALLY popular in high end designs these days, secret cabinet doors into pantries and other rooms in the house is a great way to impress your friends and potential home buyers! From the looks of my laundry basket…perhaps I forget I have a laundry room a little too often

Knocking out these walls made such a big difference in this space! And who couldn’t justify a NEW TV to go with their NEW kitchen view!

The accessories available in today’s cabinetry are great! I couldn’t live without my integrated trash cans! This is a 9″ spice pullout, DO NOT buy a 3″ spice pullout! Everyone and their brother comes to me wanting to buy the 3″ versions they see in magazines but those are pretty much the most useless things every invented because you can’t really fit anything on them…not all spice bottles are created equal!

Does your kitchen need an extreme cabinet makeover like this one?

Remodel Experience + Design Creativity = The Cabinet Guy

Most of the kitchens I design are around Metro Atlanta. So when the call came in to head up to Ellijay to work some kitchen design magic and breathe some fresh mountain air…I coudn’t resist!!

Garrett Residence / Ellijay, GA
Kraftmaid / Mandolay Maple / Ginger Glaze

These homeowners love to cook and love to entertain for a LOT of people!! We designed this island with entertaining in mind. When it comes time to design your kitchen, remember not to get all caught up in only the “functional” aspects of kitchen design! There is also a “SOCIAL” aspect of kitchen design! A skilled kitchen designer can blend the functional and social aspects of kitchen design together and make them LOOK GREAT! Not only can you sit over 6 people at the island, but it works great to have this much counterspace accessible to the living and dining areas for serving food buffet style. This island SCREAMS come mingle by the spinach dip!!! As a side note…the homeowners made those stick stools themselves! How cool is that!?!

Notice on the other side of the island, the cabinetry was 12″ deep to allow more seating at the end of the bar, it then transitions to 24″ deep to allow for storage cabinets, an integrated trash can cabinet, and we capped of the end with an open display cabinet. These shadowboxes created with molding are a great alternative to standard raised end panels. While they are not quite as expensive as raised end panels, they still cost a pretty penny due to the amount of trim it takes to create them and the extra labor for your installer to craft them

Now You see the Dishwasher…

Now You Don’t!!

Integrating appliances into the cabinetry is a hot kitchen trend. Be prepared for multiple trips out from your installer though. After the cabinets are installed, your appliances will have to be installed before panel installation. While it is “possible” to sometimes install the panels before the appliances are installed, I don’t recomend it… these custom appliance panels are EXPENSIVE and a dent in one of them from the appliance guy’s handtruck is not easy to fix! When the installer comes back to install the custom panels and false cabinet fronts onto the appliances, I usually try and schedule any punch items from the original install to happen at the same time, with gas prices the way they are now the less trips for the installer the better!

The design work doesn’t always stop in the kitchen! Entertainment centers and offices are some of my favorite rooms to design. Here we designed a custom office complete with lots of open storage and a wood top that matches the cabinetry!

This bathroom is pretty simple cabinetry wise but for those of you looking for some ideas on trimming out your mirrors with molding I thought I would share this pic with you!