A DADO consultation is about an hour at our Kitsilano showroom, 1737 West 3rd Ave, Unit 110, in Vancouver's Armoury District, by appointment. You bring what you have, a few photos and rough measurements, and you leave with a real planning range for your kitchen and a clear next step. There is nothing to sign at the end and no pressure to come back.
The showroom is open by appointment, Monday to Friday, 10 to 5. Book a time so we can give you the hour uninterrupted. What to bring, in order of usefulness: a few photos of your current kitchen from the doorway and from each corner, rough wall lengths and the ceiling height, a list of what bothers you about the room now, and any pictures you have saved of kitchens you like. If you live in a condo, bring the strata's renovation rules if you have them. If you already know the appliances you want, bring the list. None of this is required. People come with nothing and we still get somewhere.
Real cabinets, open and working. You can pull a drawer on runner systems and feel the soft-close, open a space tower and see how a tall cabinet gets used all the way to the back, and slide a pantry out to see why nothing gets lost in it. You can put a painted slab MDF door next to a modern shaker and next to rift white oak and walnut veneer, in the same light, and see which one your room wants. Counters are there too, so a quartz sample can sit against the door you like. Function first, then looks, and the showroom is set up to show both.
How you cook and who is in the kitchen at the same time. Whether the layout works or the fridge is in the wrong place. Whether the sink, stove, and fridge stay where they are or move, because that one decision changes both the cost and the schedule more than any finish does. Timeline, and what is fixed about it. Then the number. We do not make you book a second call to hear a range, and we do not wait for you to ask. A custom kitchen at DADO runs from about $18,000 for a smaller kitchen to past $100,000 for a large, fully custom build, with most projects between $30,000 and $50,000. By the end of the hour we can tell you which part of that range your kitchen is in and why.
A planning range, not a quote, tied to the choices that put you there. A direction on finish and door style, usually narrowed to two. A view on the layout, including whether it is worth moving services. And the next step, which is a design package with 3D renderings once we have measured your actual room. If new doors on your existing cabinets are the better spend, we will say so. If the right answer is to wait a year, we will say that too.
The order of work does not change from one project to the next. Design first, with renderings you can walk through before anything is built. Then a measurement of your real room, because the cabinets are sized to the wall, not to a catalogue. Then the build, which takes about four weeks as our standard. Then installation, with cabinets arriving pre-assembled and fitted by our team or your own contractor. Your contractor handles demolition and any plumbing or electrical, and we coordinate the dates so the room is ready when the cabinets are.
Designers, builders, and architects use the showroom the same way homeowners do, to put finishes side by side and confirm a spec with a client. Second visits are normal. Some people come once to see the doors and again with a partner or a contractor to settle the details. The hour is yours either way.
If you want a number before you come, the Vancouver Kitchen Cost Calculator gives a planning band from three inputs in a couple of minutes, and we can start from there. How long a custom kitchen takes walks through the schedule from the first visit to the last cabinet. When you are ready, book a free consultation and we will see you on West 3rd.