Kitchen decision... made

Remember that little post saying we were going to announce the winner of our 'kitchen cabinet contest' the next day. Well, we kind of forgot to put that post up... And the winner is...:

Yoder Cabinets out of Fredricksburg, OH.

Yep, we went local and we went Amish. In the end it came down to two suppliers. The shop that already was awared the countertop job and our Amish supplier. The countertop supplier was literally $3 lower than our Amish supplier on the kitchen pricing. Not 3%, no, $3... okay, and 32 cents.

The supplier out of Medina was more than 100% over the median price so that was elimination 1, the supplier out of Akron pretty much doubled their quote over the initial estimate so they got booted after that, the supplier out of Copley was in the ballpark price-wise and had a good quality product but we simply didn't connect so they came in 3rd.

In the end, the final decision was fairly easy; for the same price as a semi-stock cabinet ordered out of North Carolina we could get a local, full custom, Amish-made kitchen. Both suppliers had a great product and were the only two that understand what we wanted, took the time to listen to us and connected on a level we needed to feeel comfortable with for the items which will be the focal point and most used in the whole house.

Our Amish supplier recently started his own company after learning the trade for 15+ years at a fellow Amish cabinet maker. He doesn't yet have a showroom so he invited us into his home. It's a rare and very much appreciated gesture to get invited into an Amish house with the family at home going about their business. From the outside it appears completely modern and at first glance, the inside also looks just like an 'English' house. Until you see that the lights are gas-powered and a solar panel is powering the few electrical tools they can have.

His family was so welcoming to us and he connected with us on a personal level it made us decide he would get the job even if he would be a bit more expensive. When his price came in dead even with our 2nd place finisher it took all but 1 second to make the final decision.

In return for his business and hospitality we are also very happy to offer him a showroom for about 6 months when our dreamhouse will be used as the model home by our builder. This way both parties come out ahead and -- rant alert: unfortunately we don't see too much of that shared effort in our country lately -- end of rant alert.