Custom cabinets make any room special

Any cabinet shop can fill your walls with cabinets, but will they be functional and aesthetically pleasing?

That is the question posed by Barbara Quatroke, owner of Q's Cabinet Shoppe in Naperville.

If you need cabinets for your kitchen, bath, laundry room, home office or family room, you can always find them for a lower price at a big box store, she admitted. But how will those low-price cabinets be constructed? Will their finish hold up over time? Will they contain the exact number of drawers and rollouts that you need, located in the correct place within your space?

These are the questions Quatroke encourages homeowners to consider when choosing someone to make over their kitchen or bath or to enhance any other room in their house with built-in cabinets.

"Our greatest strength is our design ability," Quatroke said. "We have three designers, including myself, and two drafters who are also very good at design, so there are many eyes on each and every project we do.

"I believe in having everyone weigh in. I want to hear my staff's ideas because I want to present my clients with the best functioning kitchen or bath possible," she said.

Quatroke began her career in commercial interior design, working as a salesperson for a firm that designed the interiors of offices and banks.

"I was working with so many designers that I decided to go back to school for interior design courses. Then, we got transferred to Arizona where I worked for a kitchen designer and fell in love with designing kitchens," Quatroke said.

When she later returned to Illinois, Quatroke managed the kitchen design section of a Handy Andy big box store and when it went out of business, was recruited to start up and manage a high-end kitchen design boutique in Lisle. After several years of working 70 to 80 hours per week, she decided to open her own store and work for herself.

In 2002 she worked from her home and had a partner. By 2003 she was totally on her own and established Q's Cabinet Shoppe. In 2005 she signed the lease on her current location, 2916 W. Ogden Ave. in Naperville.

"I enjoy finding a challenging situation in a client's home and creating something to solve their problems. Clients are so appreciative and that is very rewarding," Quatroke said.

When potential clients come to Q's 2,500-square-foot showroom, Quatroke or one of her staff members gives them a tour of the showroom, explaining the attributes of the various cabinet lines so that when they are comparison-shopping, they can make an educated decision.

Next, they schedule an in-home consultation during which a client is interviewed about their vision for the room, how they want it to function, etc. Appliances are noted and measurements and photos are taken.

Then the designer goes to work, coming up with a floor plan and cabinet design and pricing it. The preview designs and price are then presented to the client and any necessary changes are made. Finally, the contract is signed and a six-week clock for construction and delivery of the cabinets starts ticking.

Installation is then done by one of Quatroke's bonded and insured partner contractors.

"I believe that my clients get the best work and the best price from contractors who are not my employees," she said. "I'm not marking up their work and they aren't marking up my cabinets. In addition, they want the client's referrals, so they do their absolute best work."

Q's Cabinet Shoppe carries Shiloh and Ovation cabinets, as well as a full-custom Amish line that is made in southern Illinois. When it comes to bathroom vanities, she carries Bertch Bath, Ronbow and Fairmont. In addition, she handles a variety of countertop lines made of granite, quartz and Cambria and a limited number of plumbing fixtures.

"The biggest challenge we have is to understand each client's budget needs," Quatroke said. "It is easy to over-design, wanting to give them everything, and then the price can scare them away. Clients need to understand that we can help them at any price level. If they are willing to give us a budget, that can act as our road map during design. If they have a lower budget, for instance, we won't include glass doors because then you have to finish the cabinet interiors. We can also cut back the number of drawers and rollouts, which are expensive.

"Educating a client about what their money will actually buy is part of our job," she added.

Q's Cabinet Shoppe can be reached at (630) 848-1871 or online at www.qscabinetshoppe.com.