Caruso's Cabinets

It did not go. We did not like the choices of cabinets. We were given very limited choices and told the one maple cabinet we considered could not be painted in off white. We went elsewhere and are very satisfied with what was offered. We had new B4 cabinets installed mid June They seemed inferior to other

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They were great!!

So why am I writing this review so late?  First I'm new to Angie's list and second I saw a big advertising push for Caruso's new showroom and thought folks needed a word of caution when working with Caruso.
We were presented to Caruso with the understanding that they had excellent Cabinets and were just what we needed to help make sure our project was a success.  Let me state up-front, that in the end our project took 1st place in the NEO re-modelers Assoc project awards for $250,000 and above.  But getting there was not easy.
So some history.   On our first meeting with Caruso, we arrived with our dream kitchen plans, but we had flexibility to move walls and rework the layout.  We explained that we were open to all suggestions at this point in the project, we wanted their help and input in making sure we were providing enough space, both for counter top workspace and the width between our appliances and the large island.  We had already purchased our appliances, so we brought with us installer requirements with all the dimensions and drawings for a refridgerator, double oven, 6 burner range cook top, dishwasher and microwave.
We had 2 additional design meetings with the Jerry  Caruso.  As we were creating a stagered/layered look with the cabinets, where the depth and height was changing with each stack of cabinets, we relied on their expertise to make sure that we got it right. At no time were any suggestions made on the wall placement for depth.  We had chosen Crystal Cabinets in solid Cherry  with a light cherry finish, so the kitchen installation was a very large custom installation project. On completion of these meetings we never made any additional changes to the layout, components or finish.
Push the clock forward 7 months.  At this point we had finalized the prints, our general contractor had dug the new foundation, completed the framing, electrical, plumbing and heating was complete and it's the day/week+ of installation.  The Kitchen Cabinets were $50K of this project, but we had a large number of problems.  I list them in order of severity.
1.)  We went to install our refrigerator which we had designed to be "built-in".  It was NOT a counter depth unit.  It was a large 28cu ft unit which needed a 30" depth so the french doors were flush with the cabinets.  They provided counter depth.
2.)  When we discussed the cabinet options under the gas 6 burner cooktop we stressed 2 things.  We needed to have 6 inches of clearance from the back of the cooktop to the wall which was on an angle and was completely available as we could move the one wall in and out to make sure we had the room.  Second, we wanted the cabinet to maximize pullout drawers underneath, since the depth of the cooktop was only 3 1/2".  We ended up with 2 inches in the back and only one pullout underneath and 8-10" of deadspace, after our contractor pretty much rebuilt the whole cabinet.
3.)  Last was the Microwave cabinet, (they had the dimensions)  above which was suppose to be a maximized cabinet. Not really sure what they sent.  My contractor sent it back before I saw it and we waited on a rush order to get it replaced.  Our microwave is not 12" tall yet they sent a cabinet that would support something 18" or bigger.
So if you take nothing else way, understand how we were treated as we tried to get these issues fixed.  After several phone calls, reluctently, we finally got Tom Caruso to come on-site and see the issues along with our general contractor.   The really big issue was the depth of the refrigerator.  Once installed you could not stand in front of the refrigerator open the doors without being pushed into our island.  The suggestion from Tom Caruso, "Replace the refrigerator with a counter depth one".  He was unwilling to acknowledge the mistake.  I will only say, that I needed to remove wife from the room, before it got really ugly. 
In the end, I was unwilling to pay the remaining balance unless Caruso, paid ALL my additional costs to move my island 12", the only solution we had at this point.  This meant moving a very heavy unit with a solid granite top, redoing electrical in the island, redoing floor tile, and redoing all the island lights which were pendents, all the drywall was done at this point.
As for item two, we were screwed.  In order to correct the back wall space, the wall needed to move the wall out.  It was not reasonable.  It works but it was not what we wanted.  Getting the cabinet pullouts corrected was 10-12 weeks and given we were over a year into the project decided to forgo this as well, since it would disrupt too much and the completely customized cabinet by our contractor would no longer be accepted back.
We did get the microwave cabinet finally corrected, but in the overall scheme of things this was minor.
So if you decide to move forward with Caruso, do so at your own risk.  They had all the information they needed to get it right and they dropped the ball in a very big way.  We had expected that their expertise would catch all these issues, but instead I don't think we got their full attention, and the results are evidence of that.
Last point.  They did save us quite a bit of money when it came to selecting our laundry room cabinets, also cherry, but we went with a stock cabinet, and given there were more units in the laundry room than the kitchen, this advice was very good.
In closing it has been almost 3 years and the Crystal cabinets are still exquisite, and we are enjoying our award winning kitchen, I just wish we had not gone through all these issues with Jerry and Tom Caruso.

Our experience with Caruso Cabinets was great.  Jerry worked with us to help us design our cabinet layout and was totally patient with us, as we had certain expectations as to what our kitchen and bathroom should look like.  We are totally pleased with the quality of the cabinets and the overall outcome of our renovation.  Friends and family have all commented about how beautiful our cabinets are.  We are currently renovating our Master bath and, once again, we chose Caruso Cabinets.  We would not hesitate to recommend Caruso Cabinets to friends, family or anyone looking for quality, well made cabinets.  They are a pleasure to work with.

My dealings have been with Carusos Cabinets on Richmond Rd. in Bedford Heights. Adam Abrams CKD came to our house, conferred with us and measured kitchen, then drew our plans. We had two additional consultations and changes to layout. We liked the Wellborn cabinet line that they carry, so we ordered them through Carusos and the fee for kitchen design was applied to the price. That was a great deal! Our new cherry cabinets are beautiful. He also helped us pick cabinet hardware and we ordered Cambria quartz countertops through him. He was pleasant, professional, and courteous, always returned my calls, and coordinated the delivery of everything we ordered. The receptionist Brittany has also been very courteous and helpful. Nice showroom and they are adding to & improving it since I started working with them in May of this year. Very convenient east side location. Can't say enough about the value of a good kitchen designer helping us through the planning of our kitchen.

We enjoyed working with Jerry at Carusos - he expained the cabinets choices to us carefully and spent alot of time with us as we made decisions on kitchen layout and plans.  He worked with Brady III to provide floor plans and ideas and then the contractor completed the remodeling project itself.  When the job was complete, Jerry was there to answer any questions and make some adjustments that needed to be made.  He was professional and responsive to our questions in a timely manner.  It was a pleasure to work with Jerry and his staff.