Designer Recommended Kitchen Sources.
Designer Value + Designer Upgrade
A curated shopping guide for cabinets, countertops, tile, sinks, faucets, lighting, hardware & more.
Want to skip straight to the sources? I’ve put together my full list of favorite kitchen resources, from cabinetry and hardware to tile, lighting, plumbing and more.
A quick note: Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. I only share products and sources I genuinely recommend. Affiliate marketing has not funded my early retirement yet. For now, it’s mostly walking-around money and an excuse to order more samples.
Modern Transitional Kitchen Design Board
Kitchen Cabinets
IKEA
I’ve personally installed IKEA kitchens in two of my own homes, so I’m not recommending them from a safe distance. I really do believe in squeezing every last drop out of a budget. I also know firsthand how quickly a perfectly reasonable kitchen wish list can go from “we can do this” to “apparently we need a second mortgage.”
IKEA cabinets can be a great place to save, but the installer matters. A lot. During the remodel of our first home, our contractor made it almost all the way to the end of the project before texting me, from the gym, to say: “I had an epiphany and realized that I don’t have to come back and install the cabinets.”At the time, I was standing in a partially finished kitchen holding my two-month-old baby.
In retrospect, there may have been signs. For example, while I was signing the contract, he spent a surprising amount of time telling me how great Bitcoin was and how he was thinking about pivoting his career into it. The red flag was waving enthusiastically. I was simply too tired to restart the contractor search. Dammit.
I called our local IKEA in a mild panic and asked for their recommended installer. They were fantastic. If you’re in Atlanta, I happily recommend them. They’ve now installed several kitchens on projects I’ve worked on, and they’re not only very good at what they do, they’re also genuinely lovely people.
The moral of the story: IKEA can absolutely give you a great-looking kitchen for the money. Preferably someone who isn’t already waving several red flags before the contract is signed
The RTA Store
The RTA Store is another solid place to start when you’re trying to keep the cabinet budget under control. They have a wide range of styles and finishes, and I’ve found their customer service genuinely helpful, which matters quite a bit when you’re ordering an entire kitchen online and suddenly have 47 very specific questions.
Isla Porter
And then there’s Isla Porter, the newer, prettier kid in the semi-custom cabinet world. Their doors are drool-worthy. There are actual design-forward options here, not just six variations of the same Shaker cabinet pretending to be different.
I haven’t specified an Isla Porter kitchen yet, so I’m not going to pretend I have firsthand experience that I don’t. But they get great reviews, and their colors, door styles, and details offer the kind of personality that has traditionally been much harder to find without going fully custom. I will report back once I have hands on experience.
If you want the custom look without necessarily paying the fully custom price, this is one I’d absolutely look at.
Ikea Kitchen Cabinets with Fancy Backsplash
Kitchen Hardware
If you want a perfectly nice, very quiet kitchen, basic hardware will absolutely do the job. But if you want a little more personality, this is one of the places I strongly suggest having some fun. I’m not talking cheesy or kitschy. I mean choosing something with a little shape, texture, or point of view that makes the cabinetry feel more considered.
Hardware also isn’t permanent. You can change it. So if there is ever a place to be a little braver, this is a pretty safe one. Go big or go home-ish.
There is something about pairing simple cabinetry with interesting hardware that instantly makes the whole kitchen feel more designed.
Top Knobs
Top Knobs is a great starting point. They have a huge assortment of styles and finishes, the quality is solid, and it holds up. You can stay very classic or find something a little more interesting without venturing into anything too wild.
Plank Hardware
Plank Hardware is where I would go if you want a little more personality. Their hardware feels playful, sculptural, and just slightly unexpected without crossing into gimmicky. It has a really joyful quality to it, and I especially love it paired with simple cabinetry where the hardware gets to do some of the talking.
Rejuvenation
Rejuvenation is another one of my go-tos. It is a crowd pleaser for a reason: classic, pretty, well made, and interesting enough to elevate a kitchen without trying too hard. And with renovation costs currently being eye-wateringly expensive, it is a nice place to find something beautiful without turning your cabinet pulls into a separate financing event.
Simple Cabinets Paired with Elevated Cabinet Hardware
Kitchen Backsplash Tile
This is where I personally tend to disappear down the deepest rabbit hole. There are approximately a bazillion options. Do I make a statement with the backsplash? Keep it timeless? Will I get bored? Will it feel too stylized in five years?
If you are anything like me, you will eventually be drowning in samples, convinced that there must be one more tile out there that is somehow more perfect than the 14 already sitting on your counter.
At some point, the samples stop representing a design direction and start representing your multiple personalities.
I tend to stick with sources that are easy to work with, have good customer service, offer quality products, and make it simple to order samples. Tile is one of those decisions I really want to see in person before committing.
TileBar
TileBar is a tried-and-true source with a huge range of styles, from simple and quiet to much more statement-making. It is a great place to start, especially if you want to compare a lot of directions without making the whole process harder than it already is.
Bedrosians
Bedrosians has a fantastic catalog and a broad range of tile, stone, and finishes. Their samples are easy to order, which is important when you inevitably need to line up six nearly identical whites and stare at them for 20 minutes.
Fireclay
Fireclay is one of my favorites for glazed tile. Their color selection is fantastic, and they offer so many sizes, shapes, trims, and edge pieces that you can create something really thoughtful and custom-feeling without having to hunt all over the internet for matching pieces.
A Tile Exploration of Basically the Same Option.
Looking for something I didn’t cover here? Head over to my full kitchen product resource list below.
