What should I send an online cabinet designer to get an accurate kitchen quote faster?

Send a simple wall sketch with measurements in inches, your ceiling height, appliance sizes or model numbers, a few photos of the room, and your style preferences. If you already have a floor plan or a quote from another company, send that too. The more complete the package, the faster and more accurate your quote comes back.

We have designed thousands of kitchens, and the ones that go fastest are not the fanciest ones — they are the ones where the homeowner sends us the full picture up front. A designer can only quote what you tell them. Miss the ceiling height or the fridge size, and the first round of pricing is basically a guess that has to get redone.

Why this matters for your quote

An online cabinet designer is not standing in your kitchen with a tape measure. They are building your layout from what you send them. If something is missing, they either have to pause and ask you follow-up questions (which adds days), or they guess at a “standard” size and you get a quote that changes once the real numbers come in. Neither one is what you want when you are trying to move your project forward.

Send the right information the first time and most homeowners get a 3D layout and an itemized quote back in a day or two instead of waiting on a back-and-forth email chain.

The checklist: what to send

Here is exactly what to put together before you reach out.

• A wall sketch with measurements. It does not need to be fancy. A hand-drawn rectangle with wall lengths in inches is fine. Mark where windows and doors sit, and note the trim-to-trim distance, not just the rough opening. If you know where your plumbing and gas lines come up through the floor or wall, mark that too — it affects where the sink base and range have to land.
• Ceiling height. This decides whether your upper cabinets go to standard height, go all the way to the ceiling, or need crown molding and a soffit filler. Measure it in at least two spots if your house is older, since ceilings are not always perfectly level.
• Appliance sizes. Don’t just measure your old fridge or range — pull the exact width, height, and depth from the manufacturer’s spec sheet, especially if you are buying new appliances. A quarter-inch difference in a fridge width can change the whole cabinet run next to it.
• Photos of the space. Take wide shots of each wall, the corners, and the ceiling line. If there’s a window, door, vent, outlet, or anything sticking out of a wall, get it in the frame. Photos fill in details a sketch can’t capture, and they help the designer catch things you might not think to mention.
• Inspiration and style preferences. A couple of photos of a door style, color, or layout you like helps the designer price the right cabinet line instead of guessing. You don’t need a full mood board — just enough to point them in the right direction.
• Any existing plans or quotes. If a contractor already drew up a layout, or another company already gave you a quote, send it. This is one of the fastest ways to get an accurate number back, because the designer isn’t starting from scratch — they’re comparing or improving on what you already have.

A simple example

Say you’re redoing a 10×12 kitchen. You send a sketch with the four wall lengths, mark the window on the sink wall, note the ceiling is 8 feet in the kitchen but drops to 7’6″ near the hallway, attach the spec sheet for the new 36-inch fridge you’re buying, snap four photos of the walls, and include a picture of a shaker-style door you liked on Pinterest. That’s everything a designer needs to build a real layout and give you real pricing — no guessing, no placeholder numbers.

Now compare that to someone who sends “it’s about 10 by 12, I want white cabinets.” The designer can still help, but now they have to ask three or four follow-up questions before they can even start, and each question is a day or two of back and forth.

Common mistakes that slow things down

• Skipping the ceiling height. This is the number people forget most, and it changes whether uppers need a filler panel or crown molding.
• Guessing appliance sizes. “Standard” fridge and range sizes don’t really exist anymore — every brand and model is a little different. Pull the real spec sheet.
• Sending one photo from across the room. A single wide shot misses corners, outlets, and vents that affect where cabinets can and can’t go.
• Leaving out an existing quote. If you already have pricing from somewhere else, send it. We’ll compare it line by line and help you see what’s actually included — and what might be missing.

What happens after you send it

Once we have your measurements, photos, appliance sizes, and any inspiration or existing plans, our designers build out a full layout and give you a free kitchen design and itemized quote. Because we sell through wholesale pricing, customers typically save about 25% on average, and sometimes 40–50% compared with big-box cabinet prices. If you’re comparing an existing quote, we also back it with a 5% savings guarantee on comparable pricing, so there’s no downside to sending it over.

Every cabinet line comes with a lifetime warranty, and we ship nationwide — RTA orders generally go out in about 5 business days, assembled orders in 7–10, and some orders can even ship the next business day. None of that matters, though, if the quote itself isn’t accurate. That’s why the checklist above is the real starting point.

Ready to send your information?

Gather your measurements, photos, appliance sizes, ceiling height, and any inspiration or existing plans, then submit them through our free design form. Our designers will turn it into a real layout and a real number — fast, and without the guesswork.

Savings, availability, and shipping times can vary by cabinet line and order.