Custom Cupboards, a 30-year-old 'reinvented' cabinetmaker, worked with a leading kitchen design industry expert to create a brand new, comprehensive palette of exciting new finishes. The Artisan Collection captures new trends in kitchen design, and inspired new choices in traditional finishes, including fresh whites, grays and rich browns, and lots of color options. The longtime cabinetmaker is shipping 40,000 samples of the Artisan Collection, applied to nine wood species, to its kitchen and bath designers nationwide. Exact color matching for custom jobs is also available.

WICHITA, Kan. -- Custom Cupboards has introduced The Artisan Collection, a new finishes palette featuring 150 standard, "no upcharge" stains, along with 18 paint choices, for a total of 168 beautiful options. More than 40,000 samples are ready for distribution to Custom Cupboards dealers nationwide. The company celebrated 30 years in business in 2011 and its products are installed in kitchens and baths nationwide.

"It's very refreshing and exciting to see how this company has embraced design and change. It shows their investment in the industry when everyone else is pulling back," says Janice Pattee of Janice Pattee Design. She is a 25-year kitchen industry veteran and longtime member of the Color Management Group.

"They (Custom Cupboards) make beautiful cabinets," she says.

Inspired choices

The new nature-inspired palette includes dozens of colors and finishes that reflect current trends in the home fashions industry, along with sophisticated updates, fresh choices in whites and grays, and timeless finishes for traditional designs.

The company also can custom-match colors from fabric swatches, paint, wallpaper or other samples for unique kitchen projects.

A wealth of design options

"The Artisan Collection is rich with possibilities," says Custom Cupboards president Mael Hernandez, "providing virtually limitless individuality and personalization. Kitchen designers and Custom Cupboards dealers will be proud to show this to customers."

Designers can explore an incredible range of textures, colors and styles by combining the new finishes to any of nine wood species and four glaze options.

"Finishes are more than just a color or a stain. Each finish can have a different look on different woods," says Pattee. "The Artisan Collection is designed for clarity and depth, allowing the wood's natural beauty to come through."

Research and customer input

Custom Cupboards began the redesign of finishes after gathering feedback from dealers, requests from customers, and conducting other research.

"Even though we had added new finish choices from time to time, we had not approached it in a strategic or comprehensive way in terms of design trends and what customers want and expect today," says Hernandez.

"We are making changes that build upon our company's good 30-year reputation in the business," he says. The Artisan Collection is another major step in positioning Custom Cupboards as an innovative competitor."

The company's new business model focuses on innovation, flexibility, lean manufacturing, great design, quality and value -- and helping more dealers to sell more dream kitchens to more people.

CEO Ron Henry and his brother, Dan Henry, founded Custom Cupboards in Wichita, Kan., in 1981 with a commitment to customer service and beautiful cabinets. Within two years the privately held company outgrew its original 3,000 square-foot building and expanded. In early 1994, Custom Cupboards bought property and moved to a new location where it built a 200,000 square-foot manufacturing facility, with room to grow. The company's cabinets, vanities and custom kitchens are in homes throughout the U.S.

SOURCE: Custom Cupboards