·     You deserve the best design available.

    An experienced kitchen designer can point out ways to make your kitchen the best it can be.  There are many ways to make your space look larger, blend in with your floor plan, achieve better traffic flow or efficiency. A good design should complement your taste and make your life easier, provide more storage space and perhaps even save some expense.  These things cannot be done properly unless the designer actually sees your home and discusses options with you.  Sitting at a computer with a ‘sales associate’ in a Home store is a very poor substitute. 

      We have the experience to....'Think Outside the Box!'

·     Style is important. 

    Kitchens can last a long time.  Consider a design that will look fresh for as long as possible.  Simple, clean lines will always be classic and will still look good years from now.  The K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple) principle is a good guide here. Tropical Kitchens has years of experience in our local market. This experience can help guide you with solutions and designs that work in our unique area.

·     Construction is important.

     There are two basic types of cabinets being built in the U.S. today, face frame and European style. 

       Face frame is the style you grew up with. The cabinet box has a wood frame on the front face and the doors are attached to this frame.  The face frame forms corners that make it difficult to clean, has center vertical bars that restrict cabinet access (ever tried to get at the plumbing under the sink with a face frame?) and face frames protrude above and below the actual cabinet box, forming dust and cobweb catching corners. The door hinges are simple but difficult to adjust. Critical drawer space is wasted, (top, bottom and both sides) by the face frame. More space is wasted between cabinet boxes where the overhanging frames meet.

      To re-face a traditional kitchen requires painting or laminating Formica on the face frame (thereby limiting choices) and messy glue and dusty routing to trim. Then you install the new doors.

    European cabinets are somewhat different.  They have no face-frame.  The cabinet is built without one and so the doors are attached to the cabinet side wall and cover the entire box face.  There are no hard-to-clean corners inside or out and the box is smooth on the bottom and top with no gaps. The style is clean, the access to the interior is unhindered and the cabinet can simply be wiped straight out. Drawers are wider, taller and deeper and there is no gap between cabinets. To change styles or colors simply change the doors since the cabinet itself is not normally visible with the door installed.  European style hinges are invisible, self closing and completely adjustable in all three directions.  Any door can be removed for cleaning without tools (using just your fingertip), and will still be in adjustment when replaced.

      Fewer people choose face frame every year and the advantages of the European style cabinets are just too great to ignore.   At Tropical Kitchens, we build European style cabinets because they are the best in so many important ways.

·     Strength is important. 

        Most, if not all, factory cabinets have a very thin back with two strips of board at the top and bottom to hold the mounting screws.  This saves the manufacturer money but it is weak construction. The back is what holds the cabinet box together… and it’s what holds the cabinet on your wall.  We only build cabinets with full-thickness, solid backs.  These backs are attached to the cabinet with at least 16 dowels, sometimes more, depending on cabinet height.  All our cabinet joints are doweled together in the same way.  Dowels take more time than staples and are more expensive, but there is no better way to assemble a cabinet box, so that’s what we do.   We use the finest hardware available (Blum), and the best Blum hinge available, on every kitchen we build.  The factories know that inexpensive hardware won’t be noticed until a couple of years after your check clears.   

       Factory cabinets are mass produced, therefore it is important to the factory to cut every possible corner in their manufacturing process. They know that most customers focus on the door and drawer and never really consider the box or hardware.  Again most, if not all factory cabinets are built using particle board, sometimes with a melamine face but some use cheap, vinyl facings. Don't be fooled by industry terms like 'Engineered Wood' or my favorite, 'Solid Wood and wood veneers', these almost always mean particle board.  Particle board contains chemical glues that give off unhealthy formaldehyde vapors for years.  Particle board also is susceptible to water damage and will swell and melt when exposed to a leaking pipe or water from an imperfect roof, window or door.  Using melamine (not vinyl paper) on the surfaces is a minimum  but a plywood box is much better for our local, (two season) weather.

   At Tropical Kitchens, we searched long and hard to find a source for good quality plywood at a reasonable price.  We found plywood that is lightweight, strong and uses no unhealthy glues.  For the last two years we have been able to offer this high quality plywood in our cabinet boxes for about the same price as particle board.  This plywood is beautiful, finished on both sides and is not materially affected by an occasional wetting form an unexpected source.

·     Availability is important.

      When you order cabinets from a big-box store or almost all 'Kitchen Stores', they in turn order your cabinets from an out-of-town factory.  They normally arrive in about 6 weeks give or take.  This is not usually a problem, simply wait and don’t remove the old kitchen until the new one has arrived.  But what about a mistake?  Everyone makes mistakes.  Forgot something?  Need an extra filler?  Did the shipping company deliver a tired looking box with broken-up or scratched cabinet parts inside?  It happens all the time, I've seen it all too often. 

    Because we computer manufacture our box on Pine Island, Tropical Kitchens can generally deliver cabinet boxes within a couple of weeks after your order, and take care of almost any problem without delays.  As soon as the boxes are installed in your house, we can measure for the counter tops.  They tend to take about two weeks or so, depending on material specified. By the time the countertops are installed, that all-important sink can be hooked up and then we can install the cabinet doors.  This means that Tropical Kitchens can normally complete your new kitchen before the ‘Big Box’ stores can even ship!

·     Selection is important.

    These days, most kitchen outlets show the same styles since kitchens tend to come from big factories.  Box sizes are limited to every three inches, 12, 15, 18, 21 inches etc., leaving few good choices for that ‘odd’ space. The difference is made up using ‘fillers’ that waste critical cabinet space.  Since we manufacture locally using the latest technology, we can build any cabinet in the size you need, maximizing space and storage, and the design looks better without ‘fillers’. Tropical Kitchens offers cabinets in any style you can find almost anywhere and we have also developed some interesting ‘Island Style’ cabinets, reflecting our local, tropical island lifestyle.  These new styles are not available anywhere else.  We have a modest showroom in the P.I. Industrial Park and have samples of almost any doors or countertops you have in mind. 

·     Value is really important.

      Tropical Kitchens manufactures locally using the latest state-of-the-art computer controlled machinery.  We can build what you need whenever you want.  We do not need to warehouse, box, crate or ship.  These savings are passed on to you in higher quality.  If there is a problem, we can respond immediately, not call the factory and wait.  Want garage, laundry or closet cabinets? No problem.  Need an entertainment wall, bar, or something a little unusual? Our computer software can make you a drawing for your approval and output to our machines, whatever your imagination desires.  Since we build and pay taxes on materials, there are no taxes due on our kitchens.

 Shop and Compare.

        Factory cabinets are mass produced therefore it is important to the factory to cut costs in every possible corner in their manufacturing process. They know that most customers look at the door and drawer and never really consider the box or hardware.  Don’t be fooled by a pretty wood drawer installed in a cheap cabinet box or terms like “Engineered Wood” which is really particleboard. Using real melamine (not vinyl paper) on the particleboard surfaces is an absolute minimum but a melamine box lasts only 15 years at most if it stays dry.  A Plywood box is much better for our local, (wet/dry season) weather and a plywood kitchen has an indefinite life and can get wet temporarily with minimal damage.

            As you can see, Tropical Kitchens offers a higher level of Design, Style, Construction, Strength, Availability, Selection and Value.  We are your trusted local Pine Island source for cabinets.  Let us help make your new kitchen a joy to use and the focus of your home.