The showroom features a full line of custom, quality cabinet lines from Amero, Showplace and Mid-Continent. The cabinets can be ordered in a wide range of woods, finishes, glazes and accessories—a dovetail-jointed drawer box with soft-close mechanism is just one available option.

Olson’s team of kitchen designers will consult with homeowners to help plan out exactly how the new kitchen will look—with aesthetics and functionality given equal priority. The designers will match up cabinets to countertops and appliances, discuss the costs of different materials, and weigh the benefits of each option. The designers can start with the homeowners’ sketches, wish lists of accessories and photos of existing kitchens—and work from there.

The Kitchen Cabinet is the brainchild of Olson, a veteran of kitchen design. He sympathized with customers who lacked the budgets for more high-end items offered in his other showroom, JohnCookKitchens, which is adjacent to The Kitchen Cabinet in the Gentry Pacific Design Center. Olson’s goal was to offer more price-competitive cabinetry for a wider range of budgets. “Instead of sending customers away, we send them next door,” he says.

The cabinets may be value-driven, but they’re certainly not lacking in quality, Olson notes. “The Kitchen Cabinet customers can expect the same level of integrity and service that JohnCookKitchens’ customers receive,” he says. Both cabinet lines operate under the same exacting standards of quality, and both are certified by the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association.

(left) Christiane Batangan, CKD, and Karen Lynch are on hand to help design affordable dream kitchens. (right) The Kitchen Cabinet president and owner Mark Olson.

In addition to its in-house design consultation services and custom cabinetry, The Kitchen Cabinet displays a handsome selection of countertops and appliances. Each line is crafted from tough, durable substances in many styles and colors: Avonite, Corian, laminate, granite and Silestone for counters. Appliances by GE, GE Profile and Dacor are diverse and eye-catching; same for the Blanco stainless-steel and Blanco Anthracite sinks, and the Elco track lighting and Hera under-cabinet lighting.

At The Kitchen Cabinet, homeowners can finally create the new kitchen they’ve always dreamed of—but didn’t think they could afford. “You can get a really nice, custom-made cabinet and it will look like a high-end kitchen, but not pay the high-end price,” Olson says. “The whole point of The Kitchen Cabinet is to have something available for everyone.”