Our Kitchen – CliqStudios Cabinetry Reviewed

NOTE:  THIS POST HAS AN UPDATE AS OF SEPTEMBER 2018.  If this is not your first time reading this review, please go to the bottom paragraph just above the pictures to read the update.

I’ve decided to do an in-depth review of the company we used for our kitchen cabinetry, CliqStudios. The reason for the review is that when I was doing my own research for kitchen cabinetry this past summer, I read about CliqStudios, but didn’t find a lot of first-hand reviews from real homeowners. As a result, that had me struggling with the decision as to whether or not to use them at all. In the end, we decided to go for it, in part based on the great review we found a few months ago by a woman named Jo-Lynn on Living a Rewarding Life. (if link is broken, use this: http://nwforeverhome.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/cliqstudios-cabinetry-review/)

And so, I’ve decided to continue adding to the mix by using Jo-Lynn’s review as the model for my own.

As Jo-Lynn said in her 2011 review, the cabinets are from a known brand (Six Square), and assembled here in the USA before being shipped to the customer’s home. We liked the samples they sent, as well as their initial customer service when we contacted them, and used them for our kitchen renovation.

And now, my review (remember, this is not a paid review nor am I someone involved with CliqStudios – I’m a regular everyday consumer who embarked on the process of renovating my kitchen):

The Rating Scale: 5 = Love it, can’t be beat to 1 = Don’t waste your time — REALLY!

Pre-purchase support – 4
Post-purchase support – 5
Price – 5
Overall Quality – 4
Door Style/Color Selection – 4
Inside of Cabinet functionality selection – 3
Finish – 5
Shipping – 3 (that is mainly for the freight company itself, not for CliqStudios)

Pros: Very timely communication with designer; quick customer service; good pricing – better than Big Box; and quick, hassle-free replacement of any damaged items during shipping.

Cons: Not much information provided for installer; not a lot of options for what you can do inside the cabinet.

Pre-sales support: Our designer was Shelly, who was working off a kitchen layout that was pre-determined by our architect. While the flow of the kitchen and appliance placement was in stone, the types of cabinets and general layout among them was not. Shelly quickly put together a great first design, and from there it was just tweaking through six more drafts. She was very quick to respond to emails and even when I emailed her on the weekends she was there with a response! Her turnaround time between my notes and her next draft was relatively quick – only once did I email to say, “Do you have them?” and it was merely my own excitement to see the next draft rather than any true delay on her part. The only “con” with pre-sales is that I had to pay very close attention from draft to draft with the changes. Sometimes I would refer to an option in a prior draft (i.e., glass front doors vs. solid front) and confirm that I wanted the ORIGINAL option, only to find that that change was not made. But these were few and far between and always fixed on the next draft.

Post-Purchase Support: We had three issues come up after we purchased the cabinets. First, the freight shipping company delivered 5 pallets even though our shipping slip clearly said there should be 6 pallets. When my husband alerted the driver to this fact, he merely crossed out “6” and wrote in “5” without bothering to explain about the missing pallet. I contacted the freight company directly and asked about the missing pallet. Sure enough – the driver had not picked up all six, and our last one was still sitting in their warehouse. We arranged delivery a couple days later. What made it more frustrating was that the freight company sent us a bill about a month later expecting us to pay a “storage” fee for that sixth pallet! I know this is not CliqStudios’ fault, but it was frustrating nonetheless. I contacted CliqStudios about it, who promptly told me to disregard the bill and they would clear things up with the freight company. As I have not heard from the freight company about an overdue payment, I believe CliqStudios did take care of it. However, they should consider looking into other freight companies if things like that happen a lot.

Secondly, once our contractor installed the cabinets, we realized that three of our cabinet doors were actually painted linen instead of painted white. When we ordered the samples, we remarked to ourselves the time that they essentially looked the same, but once the actual cabinets were installed, those three doors were clearly not the same color. I contacted our designer Shelly, and after emailing her some pictures to show the difference in color, they promptly sent us new doors. We also had a shelf that was chipped, for which they sent a replacement upon receipt of a picture of the damaged shelf.

Lastly, the third issue we had related to the mix of drawer-style cabinets and roll-out trays. When Shelly asked me what kind of base cabinets I wanted, my reply was that I wanted a good mix of drawer cabinets and roll-out trays. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize until AFTER our contractor installed everything that we ended up with four base cabinets that are just shelves – unmovable, 24″ deep shelves. As a result, you really have to bend down to see into the cabinet – especially the section of the cabinet right by the ground. I contacted CliqStudios and they didn’t have much of a response other than the fact that my detailed quote showed all of my cabinets and it was my responsibility to review that quote to ensure that each cabinet I was ordering was what I wanted. And to some extent they are right – I should have reviewed it more closely. However, I also stand by the fact that during our ONLY discussion of base cabinets, I said I wanted drawers and roll-out trays. Never did I mention static shelving in the base cabinets. CliqStudios offered to let us buy the gear to convert those cabinets into roll-out trays, but my husband and I decided to live with the shelves for now, and if they are driving us nuts in a year, we’ll circle back and order the roll-out trays. We’ve been in the kitchen for two months now and the static shelving hasn’t been a problem yet, so time will tell.

Price: When we placed our order there was a promotion going on to save 20% off your total order. When I initially contacted CliqStudios I had a price in mind of what I was willing to pay. When they asked for my budget, I gave them a price $2K less than I had in my head, figuring that they’d try to oversell to me and I would cave and say, “okay, I take that dinglethorpe that I don’t really need but sounds really cool.” Alas, when all was said and done, our final price came in $1,800 under budget! AND we got free shipping to boot.

Overall Quality: So far, I am very happy with the cabinet quality. The soft-close on drawers and roll-out trays is terrific – no more pinched fingers if I move too slow! We ordered the 36″ wide base cabinet drawers for my Fiestaware dishes, and despite the heaviness of that dinner china, the drawers slide well and cleanly, while not throwing my china all over the place when we pull open the drawer. As promised on the CliqStudios website, the drawers all have dovetail joints and the cabinet boxes are plywood construction. The only negative is that with two of our drawers, the rails shift and the result is that the door of the drawer sticks out about an inch and doesn’t lay flat. The correction involves pulling out the drawer and using an implement of some kind to straighten out the rail so the drawer will close flat.

Door Style/Color Selection: I have absolutely no complaints here because they had exactly what I wanted. Their Dayton door was the door I envisioned when the hunt for a cabinet company started. They also seemed to have a nice color selection although we also knew we were going with either white or off-white as our choice. Do their selections measure up to the Big Box? I doubt it – those stores seem to have an overwhelming style to choose from. But for what we wanted, CliqStudios had the style and color. YMMV.

Inside Cabinet Options: I won’t lie – Kraftmaid did some serious wooing of me when it came to cabinet options. Their brochure of cabinetry is heavenly to sift through and dream. To that end, when sifting through CliqStudios’s website, it was plainly obvious that they didn’t have nearly the razzle-dazzle of the Big Box brands. Our budget dictated we concentrate on the overall functionality of our kitchen, not the bells and whistles. And so once the rose-colored wishing glasses came off, and we got down to business, it was no big deal that Cliqstudios didn’t offer tons of add-ons. And as Jo-Lynn pointed out in her own review, there are many retailers that now sell the fancy inside cabinetry options so upgrading down the road is not out of the question for us. Those upgrades just weren’t necessarily all available from CliqStudios themselves. But you know what? I came in under budget for that very reason.

Finish – Our maple cabinets are very smooth to the touch, and clean well. My husband used one of those Mr. Clean erasers to one of the cabinets and I cringed, envisioning the paint coming right off the cabinet door. But it didn’t! The paint is evenly applied and very bright white – just what we wanted to counterbalance the almost-black bamboo floors we had installed.

Shipping: I’ve already mentioned the problem we had with the freight company earlier in my review, but I will say that out of six pallets, we only ended up with 1 shelf that was chipped. Everything else arrived in perfect condition. So there are no complaints whatsoever on the quality of delivery. Well, wait – there is one thing. The driver who brought the five pallets expected my contractor to help him unload the pallets from the truck. My contractor said never in his life has he ever been asked to help unload cabinets from the freight company, and that the guy was very rude when my contractor said no (rightly so – who is liable if my contractor gets hurt while moving the pallets – me or the freight company)? But it could just be that our delivery man was having a rough day, between forgetting our pallet and not wanting to unload his pallets. But the pallets were shipped in a timely manner, and without damage. That’s the main thing.

At this point I’ll quote Jo-Lynn’s review. My contractor didn’t have an issue with organizing the cabinets to install, but Jo-Lynn’s had a different experience:

The cabinet numbers noted on the boxes are NOT the same as the numbers on the legends provided by cliqstudios for you/your finish carpenter to lay out your install. I would recommend tagging each unit with the legend number associated with it immediately upon unboxing so that you don’t have to wonder where any of it goes later on.

So far, two months into the kitchen, I’m extremely pleased with the decision to go with CliqStudios for our cabinetry. My contractor thought they were very nice cabinets, and we like how they look in our kitchen. Our designer, Shelly, was fabulous and other than one minor glitch (forget my base cabinet directive), she did a great job with our kitchen. I liked that even after I placed and paid for my order, she continued to be in communication with me, and quickly helped me resolve not only the damaged shelf but the random storage fee collection attempt by the freight company.

All that is to say that I definitely recommend you consider using CliqStudios.com for the new cabinets in your new home construction or remodeling project!

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 13, 2018:

Last night one of our dish drawers had a minor incident.  We could not open the upper drawer – and once we finally got the drawer to open for us, we found that the bracket on the back wall of the cabinet that holds up the roller bar for the drawer had snapped in half, causing that half of the drawer to drop down in the back, making it unusable (see picture to the left).  The bracket on the other side was also decidedly compromised as well (we have VERY HEAVY dishes). We emptied out the dishes from that drawer once we got it open to ensure no further damage would be incurred, and contacted CliqStudios first thing this morning.  Once again we were very pleased with their service – they recommended I submit an RMA request along with a picture of the broken brackets, and that they would ship out new ones for us to install on BOTH drawers in the cabinet.

It literally took just a couple minutes.  No mention whatsoever about being possibly out of warranty since the cabinets are now six years old.  It did help that I still had all my emails from six years ago, including one that listed our original order number, but even before I found that email I needed only to provide my name and address and the representative found me in their system. We hope to receive the replacement brackets sometime in the next week.  Until then, our dishes will hang out on the kitchen table.

As I said, our dishes (Fiestaware) are very, very heavy, so while some may be shocked that a bracket would fail after “only” six years, I consider this a success.  I had a LOT of dishes in that top dish drawer, and that drawer gets the most use out of all the cabinets in our kitchen (it probably gets opened/closed a few dozen times a day at a minimum).  So I consider it a WIN to have the brackets last for six full years before needing to be replaced.  Because I use Fiestaware I got the dish drawers so that when (not if) the cabinet failed, the dishes would not have far to go and would have less chance to suffer damage.  My expectation came true – I had no damage whatsoever to my dishes when the bracket failed.  I continue to be a big, big fan of CliqStudios – their product AND their customer service!

And now – the before/after pictures from our construction project!

Before:

Our old kitchen – not bad, but not good either.

After (CLICK DIRECTLY ON PICTURES TO SEE LARGER VERSIONS):

What people see as they walk into the kitchen.
The workzone, with a view of the Silgranit sink we bought.
The “work side” of the small island.
From the corner of the bar looking into workzone and island.
The cooking work zone. LOVE the ovens!
View of new eating area with new dining table and chairs.
Another overview, taken from the breakfast area.
Overview of kitchen. Closed door on the right side of picture leads to pantry.

I hope folks who find this post find it helpful. I normally close comments after 30 days, but I’ll leave this one open indefinitely so people can comment and asked questions about our kitchen. Thanks for reading, and good luck with your own renovation/construction project!




49 comments on “Our Kitchen – CliqStudios Cabinetry Reviewed

  • DenaMarie , Direct link to comment

    Thank you so much for this post and detailed review of your experience with Cliqstudios. I am considering them as well, despite some issues with the design team. How are the cabinets holding up? Any issues with the painted finish? Have you installed any after-market interior fittings, like roll outs or Rev-A-Shelf? Can’t wait to hear more!

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    DenaMarie, the cabinets are holding up well. We’ve been using them for about eight months now with no problems with the finish. We have *gently* used Mr. Clean sponges on them to spot clean and haven’t had paint rub off. And when I say gently I mean BARELY TOUCHING. That stuff is hardcore and I know if we were to really scrub with one of those the paint would disappear. We have had no issues with staining or anything. We normally just use paper towel and water and have only used the Mr. Clean sponges on stains we didn’t immediately notice.

    As for after-market interior fittings, no we haven’t installed anything because the cabinets are working well for us. Despite not having the assumed roll-outs we’d have in those few cabinets we found that we put the rarely-used items in those cabinets so the lack of roll-outs wouldn’t annoy us. And it hasn’t.

    We’ve been very happy with our choice to go with CliqStudios and continue to recommend them!

    Thanks for commenting!

  • Claudette , Direct link to comment

    Thank you for this post. I’m about to order and have a couple of worries. I have read other reviews and one was from an installer complaining about no back bar support for the cabinets to support the weight when screwed into the wall and how he fears the screws will eventually tear through the back with the weight and fail. How did you install the uppers? Did you add anything to the wall or the cabinet back or screw them directly into the drywall? Thanks so much!

  • Elizabeth , Direct link to comment

    Thanks so much, this has been very helpful. My husband and I have been researching online cabinet retailers and are quite close to ordering. CliqStudios’ return policy for defects and shipping damage is very comforting. That is our topmost concern with buying online. Their 20% sale right now makes them much better than the other online retailers and the quality of the cabinets seems quite good. We too are looking at painted (white)cabinets and are worried about how well they will hold up to cleaning and how much they will stain.

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Claudette: My contractor installed everything, and I’m sure if he had any hesitation about the secure installation of the upper cabinets he would have mentioned it. He was very open about all his concerns about anything throughout our whole kitchen renovation.

    I can certainly email my contractor and find out his thoughts, although it has been a year since he worked in my kitchen so he may not remember specifically. But after a year with the cabinets, I still have nothing negative to say about these cabinets. They are fantastic and still look brand new.

    Good luck!

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Elizabeth – after one year our cabinets have no stains whatsoever. We have been able to clean them with no issues. We use a soapy sponge and everything comes off. We do not use hard cleansers. When we use Mr. Clean sponges we do so VERY GENTLY since they are abrasive and can remove the paint from any painted cabinet. But we’ve not had any issues during the past year.

  • Elizabeth , Direct link to comment

    Thanks again Jaynee. By the way, your kitchen is gorgeous!

  • Lori , Direct link to comment

    Did you have to pay up front for the cabinets? We are about to order, but my husband is nervous about paying an online company the total cost before receiving the product.

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Lori – yes, we paid up front for the cabinets. I’d normally be nervous about paying that much to an online company as well, but having emailed and spoken directly with our CliqStudios kitchen designer, and knowing that the company was legitimate based on research I had done online, I felt comfortable with making the payment – especially knowing that you can always file a grievance with the credit card company if something goes awry. Fortunately, as you see by my post, all went well and they even helped us out when the shipping company they were using at the time attempted to send us a bill a few weeks later (to my knowledge they are no longer using that company to ship their cabinetry).

    I recommend that when you take delivery, check each box carefully for damage and make sure to write anything you notice right away and contact CliqStudios to let them know. They were quick to address my two relatively minor mishaps (wrong door color send for the sink base cabinet, and one damaged corner shelf).

    Good luck!

  • Aryn , Direct link to comment

    I am seriously considering Cliq also. I think they are superior to the Chinese brand ones and the big box (for the price). I was wondering if you have kids as that is my concern about how they will hold up with the kid factor. Of course this is an issue with any cabinet but I am particularly concerned about the paint.

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Aryn – sorry for not replying to this comment earlier!

    We do have kids. Mine are 9 and 10 years old. We’ve not had any issues over the past year of having these cabinets. The doors still work properly on the hinges, the drawers still close in alignment. The paint has held up during this first year, and the cabinets still look brand new. As I told Michelle in an earlier comment, we clean them every now again and so far they always clean perfectly. We do not use hard cleansers.

  • Amy , Direct link to comment

    I am just about to order cabinets from Cliqstudio. Dayton – Cherry Russet. I am spending 10,000 vs $6,000 for Ikea. Is it worth the difference? Has anyone done a modern kitchen with the Cherry Russet. I would love to see pictures.

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    I debated about using IKEA but decided against it because of my general experience with IKEA furniture (i.e., I have a computer rolling cabinet that is so shaky that I wonder when I’ll come home to find it in a heap on the floor). I just can’t wrap my head around using “disposable” furniture as a permanent fixture in my house. That’s my opinion only – not everyone agrees that IKEA is disposable and many people have had good experiences installing IKEA kitchens.

  • janet , Direct link to comment

    I received a door from Cliq recently and was amazed at the fact that you could hardly see the seams of the white painted door. Can you tell me, if that is how your doors look or is that just how the samples come. I really dislike seeing the seam that I see on so many of the painted doors.
    Thanks and I love your kitchen.

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Janet, you’ll be happy to know the samples are true in that regard. I just looked more closely at our doors to confirm, but there are NO SEAMS visible on our painted white door. We’ve now had the cabinets for 15 months. And thanks! =)

  • Paul , Direct link to comment

    Hi,

    I’m encouraged by your review. I bought an old home with a 70 year old kitchen so am eager to make it better. You were very thorough and complete with your report.

    I have to ask, as I understand that many bloggers receive things of value for their reviews. Did you receive anything of value from Cliq (discounts, free product…), or was there any condition that might be seen as a conflict of interest? Did any person at Cliq know that you were a blogger that covers home issues? Did any person at Cliq know prior to the completion of your project that you intended to review their products?

    Sorry to sound so suspicious but knowing whether or not a review is independent bears greatly on the opinion.

    Thanks!

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Hey there, Paul! No, I did not get anything from Cliq in return for my review. It is truly just my own experience with the company. I used to do things like “Pay for Post” (which I don’t think exists anymore), but always said at the beginning of the post that it was a sponsored post. I don’t think I’ve done a sponsored post in over 4-5 years. It just wasn’t worth the energy.

    No one at Cliq knew I intended to review them once I was done working with the company (I didn’t even know until our renovation was done and I was so pleased with the end result I wanted to share).

    You can trust that my review is absolutely independent and not paid for. =) I’m just a woman who is REALLY pleased with her new kitchen (although now that it’s 18 months old, is it still “new?”)!

  • Betty , Direct link to comment

    Truly, thank you for your efforts in this review and updates. I noted in other review sites that those written between Dec.13 and Mar 14 were universally negative however ones written prior and after were great…literally all one star or all five star. Problem at company resolved?
    I am kitting out a laundry room and a couple bathrooms storage pieces, so I’m not going all in on a kitchen, still it is a significant investment and your narrative has been most helpful. Let me add, you kitchen design is divine 🙂

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Sorry it took me so long to respond, Betty! My site got swarmed with spam comments and yours got lost in the shuffle as I sifted through. That’s interesting that the bulk of negative comments are for a four month timeframe. But it’s also good that they obviously found a problem and fixed it. Were the negative reviews all similar (i.e., focused on one topic such as damage during shipping, bad kitchen designer, pricing higher than anticipated, long time from order to delivery)? If so, then I’d say they definitely fixed the problem. If the complaints are all over the place – that is something entirely different.

    I’m glad that my review helped with your research, and good luck with your remodeling!

  • Stephanie , Direct link to comment

    Thanks for your post we are building a house and are ready for cabinets. We ordered them from Cabinets to Go Big Mistake! They told us we would have our cabinets in three weeks. I said that was great I can do without a kitchen for three weeks it has now been 8 weeks and still no cabinets. I have to go to our old house 3 times a day and fix meals for my family of 6. I am about to cancel my order with Cabinets to go and give these guys a try. How long did it take you to get your Cabinets?

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Stephanie, as it was over two years ago I don’t remember the exact time frame for shipping, but I know they arrived when Cliqstudios said they would and even the missing pallet didn’t cause any noticeable delay in our construction project since we received the missing pallet within a couple days after our call.

  • Valerie Schreiner , Direct link to comment

    Jaynee,

    Thanks for your review. Very helpful and your kitchen is lovely. I am also considering Cliq for my kitchen redo and the Dayton Shaker bright white cabinets that it looks like you chose as well. The website currently shows a 40% discount if I order “this month.” I won’t be able to pull of ordering in February as I still need to have a structural engineer come out and verify that the wall I want to remove can in fact come down! Did you find that they would work with you? In other words if I call them up and say I want the 40% discount but cannot order until March, are they likely to work with me on that? Just curious what your experience was. Also, I did receive door samples this week and I can see the seam in even the sample (not a lot but it’s there). The seam is a square edge rather than angled at the corner . It seems like different manufacturers do this differently. Were your seams square or angle edged? I am wondering if there is an advantage to either. It seems that square edge would be the cheaper way to go. Thanks again for your very helpful review.

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Valerie – our seams are square edged, and we have had no issues with them being cut this way. The seams are pretty much invisible. I just went into the kitchen now and my husband and I both inspected several doors – the seams on the doors are 99% invisible after 2 1/2 years of use. Perhaps they are not as diligent about covering the seams in the samples? I don’t have our samples anymore, so I don’t know. But the cabinets themselves look great with no obvious lines on the doors.

    As for discounting in March, I believe Cliq is ALWAYS running a program. I’m sorry I didn’t see your question before February ended, but I would guess that they will still be offering some kind of discount to customers even in March.

  • Linda , Direct link to comment

    Jaynee, great to have your blog review to guide me. I just received my door samples in the mail and am very impressed. Going with the white finish as well, and thus am happy to hear that staining, scratching and chipping hasn’t been a problem for you. (Whew!)

    In the other blog you referenced, Living a Rewarding Life, Jo-Lynn has had frustrating issues with her larger pot drawers staying in alignment and closing squarely. My question to you: Do you also have the larger drawers for your pots and pans and has that problem plagued you as well?!

    Thanks in advance!

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    We do have four large drawers – two for pots and pans, below our oven, and two near our dishwasher to hold our dishes. One of our drawers by the oven is out of alignment, but it’s an easy fix and we’ve just been too lazy to do it. Essentially, what happens is the guide rail for the drawer shifts a tiny bit in the back (it’s not screwed down) and causes the misalignment on the front end. Straighten out the rail, and the drawer sits flush. In our case, the fix we know we need to do is simply to put a small 1″ wide piece of wood in the very back left corner between the side of the cabinet and the rail, thus not allowing that left rail to slide over to the side of the cabinet. Problem solved – no need to remove the drawer and screw down the rail (although that’s certainly an option as well). We just haven’t done it. We should have asked our contractor to do it (it was out of alignment on day one but we knew why), but since we knew the reason and how easy it was to fix, we didn’t bother telling him and then never got around to doing it.

    With the dish drawer cabinet, I was sitting at the computer desk the other day and noticed that the BOTTOM of the top dish drawer sticks out a bit – but I investigated and quickly found the reason for this. I originally thought it was because my 18 place settings of Fiestaware was causing the drawer to droop, but that’s not the culprit (the rail and back bracket are completely intact and held strong). The culprit is one of the rubber stoppers on the inside edge of the drawer that keeps the drawer from slamming closed. While three of the stoppers are smooth, one actually sticks out a bit more than the other four – and amazingly, that tiny fraction of an inch on the stopper causes the bottom of that drawer to stick out just over 1/4″ from the cabinet, unlike the other dish drawer.

    Hope that helps, Linda!

  • Annette , Direct link to comment

    THANK YOU for your honest review. I feel good about ordering from them now. I am remodeling a house and wanted something other than prefab cabinets from the big box stores. My cabinet samples have been sitting in my garage and I was just not sure I was going to do it. I am happy I found this!

  • Liz , Direct link to comment

    Hello! Thank you for publishing such an in detail review. We just received the quote and design from Cliq yesterday. My husband is skeptical because of the insanely low price and he has questioned the quality of the cabinets. How have yours held up for the last 3 years?

    Thank you,
    Liz

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Liz, I can say with all confidence that after three years of daily abuse, our kitchen still looks just as good as it did when we unpacked everything back into the space. This is with kids slamming cabinet doors shut, husbands inadvertently yanking out the flatware drawers a bit too aggressively, and Fiestaware dishes being heavier than typical china. Nothing has had to be repaired, touched up or treated with kid gloves. We don’t regret our decision to use CliqStudios one bit!

  • Judi , Direct link to comment

    We are working on a kitchen remodel, the new cabinets, lay out, the contractor. I have spent 3 weeks going back and forth to the local kitchen design center which a contractor suggested. The price quote for particle board cabinet sides, no soft close, partial overlay, etc was crazy high for our kitchen. I have samples from Cliqstudios, and was hopeful that we’d find a perfect blend of decent quality and reasonable price. Then I read some negative reviews…of course became concerned. Thankfully, tonight, I found your comments on Cootiehog.
    I am encouraged to work on a design and get these cabinets ordered. Would love to have new kitchen before the Christmas holiday. I do have a potential contractor lined up.
    Please comment on how your kitchen is holding up. thanx!

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Judi, if you look back through the comments on the post, you’ll see that I have updated through commenting over the years on the cabinets. It has been three years and they still look great, function perfectly, and we’ve had no issues. Feel free to read through the previous comments (all mine are in bright bold red) to see my updates over the past few years.

  • tina , Direct link to comment

    Thank you for a wonderful site and reviews …
    we just bought a 111 year old home and the kitchen is a wreck.. I love what cliq offered…style colors etc… I am pondering the white with black counters and black pantry…or maybe cabinets in the tea green ..with the black cabinets… would be a little different … they have the 40% again but it ends in a day
    Not sure if you can get things started to hold the price… great deal and gorgeous product ..plus your wonderful ongoing review thank you very much … look forward to the project result

    I also pondered cabinets to go.. but their choices are less and rollouts are a bug add on..cliqstudio also has so many nice details and options like the stove hood…. .I hope the freight scenario is not a hassle …thank you so.much

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Sorry, Tina – I only just now saw that you commented back in October. I’m sure you already made your purchase, but I LOVE the idea of the tea green cabinets with black counters – that would be lovely! Do come back and let me know what you ended up doing!

  • tina , Direct link to comment

    Hi Jaynee, thank you for the response… we did end up deciding on a local cabinet company.
    Though the cliq products were gorgeous, we were just a little concerned with the project (my husband had surgery so he would be limited to do much for that project).
    The local company, we opted for knotty maple for the lower -upper cabinets, then did floor to ceiling pantries in black with rubbed edges.. the maple will have green glass hardware & the black will have antique copper hardware.
    The counters in brown tan granite (the color looks more like black with copper).
    The work officially starts next week – demolition then electrical, plumbing , drywall fix, repaint, and then the following week the floors will be ripped up and redone.. and finally after that the cabinets go in.
    In between we also will be working over the bathroom directly above the kitchen (due to some plumbing work we need to do before the cabinets go in).
    So definitely lots going on…
    Again thank you.. happy new year!

  • tina , Direct link to comment

    — and to toss in a PS.. have to have green, so along with the hardware we will be painting the walls a moss green (where the wall is exposed).. and doing a backsplash in white handcrafted (look) and penny tiles..
    so should come out pretty nice.

  • richard , Direct link to comment

    Cliq Studio review. When they compare their cabinets to IKEA, they leave out vital information. Frameless cabinets like IKEA give you 30% more storage space, much wider drawer boxes, are the same price, and Ikea has 3/4″ thick sides tops and bottoms where as the Cliqstudio and 3/8″ thick sides. Sure, it may be plywood, but understand that plywood is always never flat so a faceframe is necessary to straighten it, loose space and much of the plywood is from 3rd world countries and is a cheap product. And since Cliqstudio is assembled in USA, where is it actually manufacturered?

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Thanks for your comment, Richard. I can only speak to my experience, but our cabinets are now four years old and, despite our heavy use and abuse, still look brand new and have had no issues whatsoever. That speaks volumes to me over plywood width.

  • Linda , Direct link to comment

    Thank you for the review. I am going ahead with my order this week.
    Your color issue, I may have received the linen instead of painted white for my sample. When I compare it to other white cabinets it is slightly off white. I have ordered another sample and am hoping I am right. This color thing is what has me hesitating.
    I am very happy to here tha the quality is very good.

  • Christina Bukaty , Direct link to comment

    Thank you for your post! How many quotes did you get from other kitchen designers? How would you rate the cabinet quality? Moderate, Best? You have the kitchen I am designing. Same cabinets and all! How much did you save compared to your other quotes? I have not come across the 20% off code anywhere? how did you find it? Functionality,..do you know if they have “usable” bases to store items and actually use. I agree with you, I do not want base cabinets with non moveable shelves. Would you recommend Shelly again as a designer? Thank you again your honest post! Christina

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Christina, I’m sorry that I’m only just now responding to your comment! I got quotes from 2 other kitchen designers – IKEA and Home Depot. I think my review and subsequent responses to other commenters answer your initial questions of quality. The 20% discount was a special that Cliq was running at the time I made my cabinet purchase from them. I saw it on their website when researching cabinets. Cliq DOES have usable bases – I just didn’t order them for mine. I would recommend Shelly although it has been 6 years since our renovation, so there’s no telling if she is still there or not. Good luck with your renovation!

  • Carol A Stelling , Direct link to comment

    Hello, are you still happy with your click studio cabinets? Have they held up over time? Thank you.

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Hey there, Carol! Yes, we are now almost 6 years into having our cabinets and still love them. My husband and I were just talking the other day about how well they continue to hold up despite constant usage. White paint still looks clean and uniform, drawers still close gently, and we’ve had no maintenance issues crop up at all.

  • joanne wells , Direct link to comment

    HI there,
    I see you’re still happy with the cabinets from Cliq…I’m seriously considering this company for our kitchen remodel. I’m worried about the longevity of the paint finish itself I.E wearing of of paint at heavy use areas, paint chipping, etc. Any insight would be greatly appreciated! -jo

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Joanne,

    We’ve had the cabinets six years and only just now are starting to see some paint chipping on our trash can drawer. But seeing as how that one lower cabinet is opened literally DOZENS of times a day, I’d say six years is a good run. All of our other cabinets still look almost brand new after six years.

  • Archie , Direct link to comment

    Hi Jaynee, your kitchen is lovely. Would you please confirm if the color of your cabinets is “painted white”? If painted white, what is the tone? Is it cream or yellow based? Thank you!

  • CliqStudios Review , Direct link to comment

    It seems that the quality of CliqStudios cabinets became worse. I know that their customer service is excellent, their sales agents are knowledgeable and do their best. But when it comes to installation, it appears that cabinets are poorly made and paint is peeling, unfortunately.

  • Jaynee , Direct link to comment

    Thanks for commenting. I still stand by my original 2012 review and my subsequent updates. I’ve also seen more recent posts from other bloggers who have used them in the past year with much success and satisfaction. I’m sorry that you didn’t have the same experience.

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