06 / Jefferson and Adams counties / Northwest metro
Cabinets911 builds and installs custom cabinets in Arvada for three very different kinds of house: older homes near Olde Town, the bi-levels and tri-levels that spread across the city in the 1970s, and new construction on the west side in Candelas and Leyden Rock. Each fails in its own way. Each needs a different first conversation.
The 1970s split-level is the house this page spends the most time on. In a split-entry bi-level, the kitchen sits a half flight above the front door, often walled off from the living room with one window over the sink. The lower floor is partly below grade. That arrangement decides what's possible: where an island can go, which wall can open, and whether a tall pantry cabinet can even get up the stairs.
Brief 01 / Arvada
Walk into a split-entry house and you're on a landing with stairs going up and down. Upstairs holds the kitchen, dining area, living room and bedrooms. Downstairs has the family room and windows set high in the wall. Tri-levels, common in neighborhoods like Lake Arbor and Ralston Valley, put the kitchen on the entry level with bedrooms a half flight up.
Either way, the kitchen tends to be small and closed. Owners want it open. Before anyone draws an island, someone has to confirm whether the wall between kitchen and living room carries load, and what runs inside it. Replacing half that wall with a peninsula often gets most of the openness for far less structural work, and cabinet installation around a peninsula is simpler than anchoring a freestanding island.
Tall cabinets have to get into the house first. A split-entry landing with low headroom and a tight turn can stop a full-height pantry or a long one-piece upper cold. We measure the stair, the landing and the headroom on the first visit. When a cabinet won't make the turn, we build it as two stacked sections that join on site. Less elegant on paper. Sometimes the only way a bi-level gets a tall pantry at all.
Plenty of 1970s kitchens have a boxed soffit above the wall cabinets. Some are empty. Some hide a duct, a plumbing vent or the range exhaust. We find out which before quoting cabinets to the ceiling, because rerouting a duct is a different job from pulling drywall.
Brief 02 / Arvada
Arvada was platted in 1870 as Ralston Point and incorporated as a town in 1904. Historic Olde Town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the residential streets around it include some of the city's older houses. Their kitchens are small, and many have been remodeled more than once, so the walls hide layers of earlier work.
Those projects start with a careful measure, not a catalog. Expect fillers at the walls and scribed panels where a corner runs out of square. In a tight room, drawers in every base cabinet and a kitchen layout that earns every inch matter more than door style.
Brief 03 / Arvada
Candelas is Arvada's largest master-planned community, laid out in residential villages, with Leyden Rock nearby. These homes are new, and their cabinets came from a production builder's package: limited sizes, uppers that stop short of the ceiling, and a pantry that's often a reach-in closet. Nothing is failing yet. The question is what to add.
The upgrades that pay off are additions. Uppers taken to the ceiling. A tall pantry wall. An island with real drawer storage. The hard part is matching, because builder finishes come in production batches and a new cabinet beside an old one rarely matches exactly. We'd sooner design the new piece as a deliberate contrast, say a stained island against painted perimeter cabinets, than chase a color that misses by a shade.
Response units / Arvada
How each service usually plays out in Arvada houses.
Layouts for closed bi-level kitchens and small Olde Town rooms.
Replacement vanities for 1970s hall baths, set at a height people now expect.
Benches, lockers and storage walls for garage entries in newer west-side homes.
Full tear-outs when 1970s boxes are past saving or the layout is the problem.
Includes planning around split-entry stairs and tight landings.
Production cabinetry for builders working new lots and infill sites.
Routing
IfYou're in a bi-level and want the kitchen opened up
ThenGet the wall checked for load before designing around an island.
IfYou need a tall pantry on the upper level
ThenMeasure the stair and landing first. Plan a two-piece tall cabinet if it won't turn.
IfYour Candelas or Leyden Rock kitchen works but runs short on storage
ThenAdd to it. Ceiling-height uppers and a pantry wall beat a full replacement.
IfYour Olde Town kitchen has been remodeled before
ThenExpect surprises inside the walls and allow time for scribing.
Coverage / Jefferson and Adams Counties
Arvada stretches from the older streets near Olde Town and Ralston Creek, where Lewis Ralston found gold in 1850, out to newer subdivisions on the west side. Most of the city is in Jefferson County, with a small piece in Adams.
Call transcript / Arvada
Often, but not always. That wall can be load-bearing, and it may carry ductwork or a vent. A structural check comes before cabinet design. If the wall has to stay, a wide pass-through with a peninsula below still changes how the room feels, and the cabinet plan can be drawn around whichever answer comes back.
Look at the boxes. Some cabinets from that era were built well and are worth refacing. Others are particleboard with a sagging sink base. Refacing is the wrong call when the layout is the problem, and in a closed bi-level kitchen it usually is. The refacing vs replacement section of our cabinet guide lays out what each one can and can't fix.
Yes. Pantry walls, ceiling-height uppers, islands and garage-entry built-ins can all be added to an existing builder kitchen. If the home is still under a builder warranty, read what it says about modifications before anyone touches plumbing. Photos of the current cabinets help us scope it.
Drawers. Converting door-and-shelf base cabinets to deep drawers on full-extension slides does more than adding a cabinet would, because nothing hides at the back. After that, take the uppers to the ceiling for things used a few times a year. Spend there before spending on door style.
Open a case / 06
Send photos and a rough sketch of the kitchen. We'll measure, including the stairs, and tell you what the job really involves.
Accessibility / Language
