24 June 2010

Medallion Cabinetry introduces custom colors


Have you ever wished you could have a lavender hutch? Even better, would you like that lavender hutch to be  Sherwin-Williams 6548 Grape Mist? How about Benjamin Moore 2072-60 Beach Plum? Or maybe you're a Pantone person and you're looking for PMS 257. What ever the source, Medallion Cabinetry can simulate that color as a painted finish.


It used to be that if you had a need for a special paint color on cabinetry, you'd order the cabinetry unfinished and then have it painted in the field. This method would sometimes get you where you wanted to be but just as often would leave you with something less than what you were expecting.

Medallion Cabinetry's new Expressions custom paint color process takes away the guess work and leaves you with a multi-step, catalytic paint that will look great and stand up to normal wear and tear far better than paint from a can ever could.


How it works is pretty straightforward. A client sends a paint swatch  or 3" x 3" painted wood chip to Medallion. Upon receipt, Medallion will analyze the sample with a spectrophotometer and it will then generate a formula for that particular color. Once they establish a color formula, they then mix up a test batch of the custom paint and prepare a sample. The sample goes through the typical stages of finishing (sanding, priming, painting, oven curing, top coating and oven curing again) only in a paint booth and curing oven dedicated to the Expressions program. At the end of that process is a full-size sample cabinet door.


The sample's compared to the original swatch and if it's a good match the sample door gets cut in half. One half sample goes back to the client for approval and the other half stays with Medallion.


Upon sample approval, the cabinetry goes into production. When the completed cabinetry ships a few weeks later, Medallion will cut its remaining half sample in half again and ship a quarter of the originally-approved sample with the order.


It's a pretty slick program and the costs involved are reasonable. Painted finishes are always a premium, and the custom Expressions program comes in at 10% higher than a stock paint color. Standard painted finishes cost an additional 14% on plywood constructed cabinets and 18% on furniture board construction. For Expressions custom color, the surcharge is 20% on plywood construction and 24% on furniture board construction. The benefit to approaching custom color this way is in the result of course. Having cabinetry painted in the field will cost about the same amount of money but there isn't a field-applied paint out there than can compare with a multi-step, oven-cured catalytic paint when it comes to longevity and resilience.

Medallion Cabinetry's sold all over the US and theirs is a product I've been selling proudly for the last five years of my life.

If you have any questions about this finish option or any of Medallion's offerings, feel free to ask it here or to send me an e-mail privately. So the next time the topic of custom kitchen cabinetry colors comes up, think of Medallion Cabinetry.

10 comments:

  1. Some great traditional designs - hard to be innovative with traditional kitchen design, but the louvred green doors are a real success.

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  2. On this side of the Atlantic, traditional framed cabinetry is still the order of the day. It's good to see a manufacturer play around with the category. You have a great website by the way, thanks for checking in.

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  3. Wow that teal coloured door is gorgeous... now how the heck would I ever incorporate that into my home?

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  4. Bright ocean colors are perfect for this Coastal Charleston market!

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  5. However you incorporated it Nim, it would sure brighten up a cloudy day in the Pacific Northwest. Not that you guys ever experience those sorts of things...

    Cassina: I had the identical thought about my coastal Florida market.

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  6. I love this idea--you can really make a one-of-a-kind kitchen or bathroom this way. But I do wonder how many people will take advantage of it for wow colors such as you've shown above, rather than another shade of off-white or taupe(just as useful, I guess, but not as exciting). I say this because I read AGAIN the other day how only the easily changed aspects of a room should be used for "personal expression" and things like cabinets should always be neutral...I disagree, but I suspect a majority of people, as much as they might love purple, would never go for it in a kitchen cabinet because of the dreaded resale issue. Maybe a bathroom though.

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  7. The bright colors are there to show off how far this process can be taken. I love the idea of going crazy with these colors but I have a feeling I'll be doing the lion's share of these from SW neutral palette. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'd love to sink my teeth into a set of cabinets with some real life to them.

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  8. The lavender hutch is to die for! I can't imagine a whole kitchen of lavender - but maybe with just the right tile ;-) !

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  9. Uh no.. cloudy days? Whatever do you mean? *looks outside at the humid gray gloom*

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  10. Cyra: Where oh where would you find lavender tile? ;)

    Nim: Exactly.

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