u/Money_Professor_8717

AI tools can already take a photo of a kitchen and turn it into a beautiful Japandi / modern / luxury render in seconds.

That solves inspiration.

I’m exploring a startup idea focused on the next step: turning early kitchen ideas into something closer to cabinet planning.

The tool would take room dimensions and a rough kitchen layout concept, then generate:

- a simple cabinet layout
- a cabinet list / schedule with sizes, types, and counts
- cabinet-only cost ranges across common buying paths: RTA, semi-custom, and custom cabinet shop

The goal is not to replace a designer, contractor, or cabinet shop. It is to help people get from “pretty inspiration image” to a more concrete starting point before they ask for quotes.

I’m working on a side project for homeowners planning a kitchen remodel.

The idea: turn rough room dimensions into a simple cabinet layout and a “pre‑quote” cabinet report before talking to cabinet sellers. The tool doesn’t place appliances or do full design; it focuses on basic cabinet placement, sizes, and a cabinet list, then compares a few buying paths (ready‑to‑assemble, semi‑custom, custom shop) with planning‑range pricing. The goal is to make the first conversation with a showroom, contractor, or cabinet shop less vague.

For people who’ve remodeled (or helped clients remodel), does this feel like a real pain point or just a nice‑to‑have? What would you expect a tool like this to show you, at minimum, to be worth using?

I’m early in planning a U‑shape kitchen and trying to understand the cabinet layout before I talk to cabinet shops.

https://preview.redd.it/qstqj38hfnah1.jpg?width=702&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76e25fcc61dc7437c8c95d9bed7a33aa26313051

I’m not looking for a final design, just trying to catch obvious layout problems before I start getting quotes.

Is this reasonable for everyday use (one or two cooks), or would you recommend changing the layout (e.g., narrowing cabinets, shifting appliances, or adding/removing a peninsula)?

I’m trying to understand the cabinet-quote process from the homeowner side.

When people remodel a kitchen, it seems like cabinet quotes can be hard to compare because each option may include different things: ready-to-assemble cabinets, special-order/semi-custom cabinets, custom cabinet shops, design help, hardware, fillers, etc.

For people who have gone through this:

-Did each showroom/contractor/cabinet shop create a different plan?
- What made the quotes hard to compare?
- What information do you wish you had before talking to them?
- Would a simple cabinet layout + schedule + buying-options comparison have helped, or would that not matter?

I’m not looking for design advice. I’m trying to understand what makes cabinet quotes confusing for homeowners.

I'm 67 years old and retired. Over the last several months I've been teaching myself how to build software with AI tools.

The idea came from something that seemed backwards to me. We compare prices before buying almost everything in life, but when it comes to kitchens many homeowners fall in love with a design before they know whether the cabinets will cost $8,000, $15,000, or $30,000.

That made me wonder, is this actually a real problem, or am I imagining it?

If you've remodeled a kitchen, what confused you most? Did cabinet pricing surprise you? Did you compare different buying paths, or just go with the first design you liked?

This is something I’m trying to avoid, spending hours with a showroom designer, watching a kitchen come together on screen, and only then finding out the cabinet price is way outside budget.

By that point, I imagine it’s hard not to feel attached to that version. If this happened to you, did you start over somewhere else or try to make the same design cheaper?

I went to a cabinet showroom and quickly realized the designer controlled the whole conversation because I didn’t have my own rough layout or cabinet list to compare against.

For people who remodeled a kitchen, did you bring a rough cabinet layout and wall measurements to IKEA, Lowe’s/Home Depot, showrooms, or cabinet shops?

For those who remodeled: did you walk into your first cabinet quote with your own plan, or did the first seller basically create the plan for you?

Still trying to figure out how people can compare cabinet options when every place seems to design and price the kitchen through its own system.

Did you already have a preliminary layout, cabinet list, or price reference before talking to IKEA, Lowe’s/Home Depot, a showroom, or a local cabinet shop? Or did you mostly rely on the first designer/salesperson to create the first real version?

Question for cabinetmakers:

If you’re building custom cabinets, does it really matter if the cabinet is a “standard” size?

Like if someone needs a 33" cabinet instead of a 30" or 36", is that actually more expensive to build, or is it basically the same once the shop is already making everything custom?

I’m trying to understand if custom width itself adds cost, or if the real price jump is just choosing a custom shop instead of stock/semi-custom cabinets.

I’m starting to realize that comparing cabinet options is not just about price or even cabinet sizes.

For people who compared IKEA, RTA, Home Depot/Lowe’s cabinet lines, or custom shops — what ended up mattering most in the final decision: price, sizing, assembly, material quality, finish, or something else?

Reading through a lot of remodel stories here and from your responses to my previous post, one pattern keeps standing out.

The people who felt most prepared going into their first design or cabinet appointment had already worked through some of the layout basics on their own.

The people who felt most overwhelmed seemed to be the ones who arrived without a clear direction and let the designer or cabinet company lead from the start.

Before that first meeting, there are already a lot of connected decisions: layout shape, cabinet sizes, sink location, range vs cook top, fridge placement, pantry storage, clearances, daily workflow, lighting, etc.

And the “free design” from a cabinet company usually seems to be free only if you buy kitchens from them.

What do you wish you had figured out before you walked into that first appointment?

I first started thinking seriously about a kitchen remodel about 5 years ago, but for a bunch of reasons (Covid, job stuff, timing, budget, life) it never happened.

I was going through some old kitchen remodel files and drawings recently, and it’s funny how different the decisions look with time. Some choices that felt really important back then don’t matter as much now, and other small layout details seem like they would affect everyday life a lot.

For people who actually remodeled their kitchen and have lived with it for a while: looking back, what decision would you make differently now?

Cabinet sizes, appliance placement, sink location, range hood, pantry/tall cabinets, drawers vs doors — anything that seemed minor but turned out to matter?

I’m thinking through tall appliance placement in a kitchen layout.

In my current kitchen, the fridge is next to an oven/microwave stack, and honestly it has worked fine for us for years. I also like how it looks because all the tall pieces are grouped together instead of scattered around the kitchen.

But I’ve heard mixed opinions about putting a refrigerator next to ovens because of heat, clearances, appliance specs, etc.

For people who have remodeled or lived with this setup: did fridge next to an oven stack cause any real problems, or is it mostly fine if the cabinets/appliances are installed correctly?

I’m working through my kitchen layout and got stuck on the cooking appliance choice.

For a normal remodel, would you rather keep it simple with a 30" range and hood, or separate things into a cooktop plus wall oven?

I get why wall ovens are nice, but if the kitchen isn’t huge, I’m wondering if the extra tall cabinet space they take is really worth it.

I’m playing around with my kitchen layout and keep going back and forth on this.

Is it better to have two smaller base cabinets, like a 12” and 15”, or move things a little so you can get one wider cabinet?

Both technically work in the plan, but I’m not sure what I’d actually appreciate more once I’m using the kitchen every day.

I’ve been thinking about this while working through my own kitchen layout.

Do you think the chaos of a kitchen remodel starts during construction, or before that — when you realize the layout, appliances, cabinets, plumbing, electrical, countertops, and backsplash all start affecting each other?

I used to think the hard part was the actual work starting. Now I’m starting to think a lot of the stress begins earlier, when you’re trying to make decisions without fully knowing what each one will change later.