For a real connection to wood kitchen cabinets Portland, OR, Portland is the place to be. I seem to remember a bright and beautiful weekend spent looking for a pair of socks — that’s right, a single pair. So think how important choosing kitchen cabinets must be! The hunt is soaked in Pinterest boards and styled before flipping pages on lifestyle (too fun). When your kitchen is the heart of the house (and my, what a mess that heart can become), the cabinets are your veins-keeping everything swept up and put away in its place or at least into one of those delightful junk drawer bins.

So put yourself in this picture: You’re strolling down a picturesque street in Portland, coffee in hand from that little cafe on the corner where the barista with attitude and perhaps even tattoos or piercings will know your name every time you come in. The air smells freshly sawn lumber as it passes woodworking shops that you’ll walk by. But inside those shops there is magic–endless rows of cabinets which could make or GBaked your combination oven. Does your kitchen need that rustic touch, as though barn-like? Or ARE Is it more modern in style, like something out of a science fiction film? The choice is as broad as the Willamette and can turn your head right around faster than a record player at a Seventies disco.

As I rubbed their surfaces, imagining them in my home, each cabinet was auditioning for a part it never knew it wanted. Pay attention to the handles, for you’ll shake their hands every day. A friend of mine once got handles shaped like little baseball bats. Though his enthusiasm for the sport was evident, reaching up to get a box of Bran Flakes was as much exercise in the morning as it was the start to his day.

Let your budget sit this one out. the material issue. Should the spiritual be strong–do you want oak, cherry, or something that whispers, “I’m recycled but oh so chic”? You may be a kindred spirit if you are like me and have once tried your hand in Dad’s work room only to end up with a lopsided bookshelf. Trust me, it’s not a big deal. Portland’s suppliers are fathoms beyond any basic understanding of carpentry that we can ever hope to achieve with just glue and screwdriver.

If you feel awash in the plethora of choices now available, here’s a new approach to try: browse social media groups, strike up a conversation with locals, and then be sure to investigate that nosy neighbor who’s always peeking out from behind the curtain. You never know: there might just come up some secret tip residing up his or her sleeve.

In truth, after touring the home improvement stores all day, nothing beats relaxing with a local brew and sitting down in a comfortable chair. Or maybe it’s time to pour out your problems to a friend, as you marvel over how invested you have become in…storage. And yet this is the thing: kitchens are where stories are cooked and laughter simmers. And those cupboards? They form your backstage crew, holding everything together, sometimes almost literally.

Unintentionally, the process of browsing brought about a kitchen that is perfectly good for showing off to friends or posting a social media upload here and there–#blessed. So remember to put on those decision- making boots, and get started; Who would have thought that shopping for cabinets could be an endless journey in itself?