Custom Kitchen Cabinets in Wayne, PA
Wayne wasn't established haphazardly. In 1880, George Childs and Anthony Drexel bought around 300 acres along the railroad and laid out one of the country's first planned suburbs. Streets, lots, churches, and water, lighting, and drainage were built in before most of the houses went up. A lot of those houses, and the ones built in the decades soon following, are still standing.
We build kitchen cabinets for these historic homes, and for everything built in Wayne since. Cabinets are made to order in our Honey Brook shop and installed by our own crew.
Kitchens in a Late-1800s and Early-1900s Wayne House
Houses of that era were designed around staff, and the kitchen shows it. It usually sits at the back of the house, sometimes down a short hallway, and often with a pantry, a back stair or a service entrance between the kitchen and the dining room. The ceilings are tall. Walls are plaster, and nothing is square.
Most owners want the kitchen to work like a modern one does, without erasing the home's character. That usually means opening the kitchen partly or fully toward the family space, keeping the period details that matter, and fitting cabinetry that looks like it belongs to the house rather than to a showroom. We scribe every cabinet to the actual wall and profile your existing casing and crown so the new millwork matches the old.
Keep the Butler's Pantry
If your house still has a butler's pantry (that is, the small room between the kitchen and dining room, usually lined with glass-front cabinets and a counter), think carefully before tearing it out to make the kitchen bigger. Restored and rebuilt, it's often the most useful room on the first floor. We often upgrade these pantries with:
- Glass-front uppers for serving pieces and glassware, the way it was originally laid out.
- Deep drawers below for linens, platters and the things that don't fit in the kitchen.
- A bar sink or coffee station, so drinks and dessert happen out of the cook's way.
- A second dishwasher drawer or beverage refrigerator, which turns it into a working prep space for entertaining.
- Matching the house with inset doors, period hardware, and the same trim profiles as the dining room.
If the original cabinetry is still there, and sound, we can often rebuild around it rather than replace everything. If it's gone, we can build a new pantry that looks like it always fit.
Making Modern Appliances Fit an Old Room
The biggest visual problem in an older-house kitchen isn't usually the cabinets, but a wall of stainless steel that looks nothing like the rest of the house. A few ways cabinetry solves that:
- Panel-ready refrigerators and dishwashers with doors built in the same wood and finish as the cabinets, so they disappear into the run.
- A wood range hood built around the ventilation insert, which turns the hood into the room's focal point instead of an appliance.
- A microwave drawer or a microwave behind a cabinet door, placed off the counter and out of sight.
- Ventilation planned early. A good hood needs a real duct path to the outside, and in an old house with plaster, joists, and a historic exterior, finding that path is a conversation to have at the first visit.
We request appliance model numbers before we build, so the panels, openings and clearances are exact.
Request an EstimateOne Town, Three Counties
Wayne's center is in Radnor Township in Delaware County, but the community spills into Tredyffrin Township in Chester County and Upper Merion in Montgomery County. For you, that mostly doesn't matter. We work across all of it.
It does matter when permits become necessary. If a project moves plumbing, adds circuits, or takes out a wall, the permit comes from whichever township your house is in, and each runs its own process. Replacing cabinets in an existing footprint generally doesn't need one.
What Goes Into Every Cabinet
Drawer boxes are made from solid hardwood, and dovetailed at the corners. Face frames are mortise-and-tenon. Boxes are furniture-grade plywood. Our Amish cabinetmakers hand-sand, finish and seal every piece with a catalyzed topcoat. We design, build, finish and install the cabinetry ourselves, and coordinate trusted trade partners for plumbing, electrical, flooring and tile.
Cost and Timeline
Custom cabinetry in this market generally runs $600 to $1,200 per linear foot. Inset doors, panel-ready appliance fronts and a wood hood push toward the upper end. Most projects take 2 to 6 months from first contact to finished product, with shop time as the long stretch and a short install window.
Request an EstimateFrequently Asked Questions
Can you restore my original butler's pantry rather than replace it?
Often, if the original casework is sound. We'll assess it at the first visit and tell you honestly whether restoring or rebuilding makes more sense.
Do panel-ready appliances cost more?
The appliances usually do, and the matching panels add cabinetry. In an older house it's frequently the change that makes the kitchen look like it belongs.
Can you build a wood range hood around my ventilation insert?
Yes. We build the hood in the same species and finish as the cabinets around the insert you choose, and coordinate the ductwork with a contractor.
My house is in the Tredyffrin part of Wayne. Is that different?
Only for permits, if you need one. The cabinet work, schedule, and pricing are the same anywhere in Wayne.
How do you handle plaster walls?
Carefully. We anchor into framing, not plaster, and scribe the cabinets to the wall so there's no gap to fill.
Kitchen Cabinets in Nearby Towns
We also build kitchens in Paoli, Berwyn and Chesterbrook, and across both Delaware County and Chester County. Other cabinetry in Wayne is on our main Wayne page. For a finished project, see our Downingtown kitchen remodel.
Start Your Kitchen
Free in-home consultation. Call 717-692-1200 or request an estimate.
353 Pequea Ave, Honey Brook, PA 19344 · Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
Solid-wood kitchen cabinets and butler's pantries built to order for Wayne's older Main Line homes, in Radnor, Tredyffrin and beyond. Call 717-692-1200.
Cities We Frequently Service
- Ardmore, PA
- Aston, PA
- Audubon, PA
- Berwyn, PA
- Broomall, PA
- Chadds Ford, PA
- Chester County, PA
- Chester Springs, PA
- Chesterbrook, PA
- Coatesville, PA
- Delaware County, PA
- Devon, PA
- Downingtown, PA
- Drexel Hill, PA
- Elverson, PA
- Exton, PA
- Frazer, PA
- Glen Mills, PA
- Glenmoore, PA
- Haverford, PA
- Honey Brook, PA
- Kennett Square, PA
- King of Prussia, PA
- Lionville, PA
- Malvern, PA
- Media, PA
- Morgantown, PA
- Newtown Square, PA
- Paoli, PA
- Parkesburg, PA
- Phoenixville, PA
- Pottstown, PA
- Radnor, PA
- Royersford, PA
- Spring City, PA
- Swarthmore, PA
- Thorndale, PA
- Unionville, PA
- Villanova, PA
- West Chester, PA
- West Grove, PA
- Wynnewood, PA