Your home,
your cabinet shop.
Most Calgary homeowners hire one company to design and build their cabinetry — and lose the ability to bid the build out. We do things differently. We design the millwork, draw the shop drawings, and hand them to you. Take them to any qualified Calgary cabinet maker. The choice is always yours.
What usually
goes wrong.
You pay the cabinet shop's markup on drawings
Most Calgary cabinet shops include drawing time inside their per-linear-foot price — typically a 5—10% markup. On a $25,000 kitchen, that's $1,200—$2,500 in drawing cost you're paying with no transparency. Drawings live with the shop; you never own them.
You can't compare bids
If every cabinet shop draws their own version, you're not bidding the same kitchen — you're comparing three different design proposals at three different prices. Real bidding requires identical drawings.
You're locked in once you commit
After the first deposit to a cabinet shop, the drawings belong to them. Switching shops means starting design over. Most homeowners realise this only when something goes wrong.
You buy what they like to build
Cabinet shops have favourite construction methods, preferred hardware, and standard finishes. Their drawings reflect those preferences — not what's actually best for your home. You get their library, not your kitchen.
We design.
You choose who builds.
Separating design from production gives Calgary homeowners three things that are otherwise impossible: real bidding power, full transparency on pricing, and a cabinet maker you actually chose based on reputation.
You own the drawings
Released native AutoCAD files, complete shop drawings, finish book, hardware schedule. The drawings are yours — for this project, for future renovations, for resale documentation.
You bid the build
Take the drawings to three Calgary cabinet shops. Get three real apples-to-apples quotes. Choose on price, reputation, timeline, or relationship. Typical savings: 10—20% on the build.
You see the whole budget
Design fee is fixed and quoted upfront. Cabinet shop bids are itemised. Material, labour, hardware, finish — everything visible. No "and the cabinets cost what they cost" surprises.
Your design is independent
We design what's best for your home and your life — not what fits a specific cabinet shop's production line. Materials, hardware, and construction methods chosen for the project, not the manufacturer.
What you need
to start.
You don't need finished plans, an interior designer, or even a fixed budget to start a conversation. Most homeowners arrive with much less than they think.
A rough budget — even just a range
We need to know if you're thinking $15K or $50K on the cabinetry build. A range is fine. We'll tell you honestly whether it's realistic.
Photos or measurements of the existing space
Phone snapshots of the room from multiple angles, plus rough dimensions if you have them. We'll measure properly during site visit — these get us through discovery.
A Pinterest board or saved inspiration
Three or four reference images you keep coming back to. We're not designers in the interiors sense, but visual reference grounds the conversation in what you actually want.
Your timeline pressure (or lack of it)
Is this finishing for a baby due in October? A holiday? Or do you have all year? Timeline shapes the scope conversation more than most homeowners expect.
Six weeks
from first call
to released drawings.
Most Calgary kitchen renovations move through Planar in six weeks. Here's what your time looks like along the way.
Week 1
01
Discovery & scope
Thirty-minute call. You share what you're thinking; we ask follow-up questions. Within two business days, you get a written scope and fixed-fee quote.
Your time: 30 minutes
Week 2
02
Site measure
We come to your home for one to three hours. Measure every wall, every opening, every service rough-in. Photo documentation. You don't need to do anything special — just give us access.
Your time: 1—3 hours, you can be home or not
Weeks 3—4
03
Concept design
We model your cabinetry in Mozaik, apply finishes in SketchUp, render photoreal scenes in Enscape. You receive a 3D walkthrough — every angle, every material, every hardware choice visible.
Your time: Nothing — we're working
Week 4
04
First review
One-hour call walking through the renderings together. You give feedback — change finishes, adjust layouts, swap hardware. We capture everything.
Your time: 1 hour video call
Week 5
05
Refinement
We update the design with your feedback. Second-round renderings reflect the changes. Final approval before drawings move to production format.
Your time: 30 minutes review
Week 6
06
Shop drawings released
You receive the complete drawing set — AutoCAD files, PDF print set, finish book, hardware schedule. Send them to two or three Calgary cabinet shops for quotes.
Your time: A few hours arranging cabinet shop visits
Real questions
from Calgary
homeowners.
I've never hired a millwork designer before — how does payment work?
A flat fee, quoted after discovery, paid in two installments: 50% to start the work, 50% on release of final drawings. Etransfer or credit card. The fee is fixed — no hourly creep. If the scope changes mid-project, we discuss a change order before doing the work.
I have an interior designer — do I need Planar too?
Maybe. Interior designers cover the whole brief — paint, flooring, lighting, soft goods, and millwork as part of the package. Many include solid millwork drawings in their fee. Others sub-contract the millwork detail to a specialist like Planar. Ask your designer who's drawing the millwork and how detailed those drawings will be. If they're vague, you probably want us.
What does my Calgary kitchen actually cost — drawings plus cabinets?
Drawings from Planar start at $2,500. Calgary kitchen cabinets typically run $250—$650 per linear foot installed, depending on materials and complexity. A 25-foot mid-range kitchen runs $15K—$25K for the cabinet shop, plus our $2.5K—$5K design fee. Total: $17K—$30K. Custom or premium materials push higher.
Do you recommend Calgary cabinet shops?
Yes. We've worked alongside several Calgary shops we trust — for residential renovations, custom builds, and multi-family. We'll recommend two or three based on your scope, budget, and timeline. The choice and the contract are always yours — we're not paid by the shops, and we don't collect referral fees.
What if I don't like the design?
Two revision rounds are included. Most homeowners use one for refinement after the 3D renderings, and a second for final adjustments. If after two rounds you still don't like it, additional revisions are quoted hourly — but we're explicit about scope upfront so this is rare. We'd rather have a tough first conversation than a tough fifth.
Is this only for high-end renovations?
No. The smallest projects we've drawn are single-vanity bathrooms at $2,500 in design fees, going to cabinet shops that build the vanity for $4,000—$6,000. Our model works any time you want real bidding power and independent design — not just for $200K kitchens.
What if I'm doing a whole-home renovation, not just one room?
See our whole-home tier — starting at $7,500. We design all the cabinetry in one coordinated package: kitchen, baths, mudroom, closets, library, built-ins. Same model, larger scope. The bidding power gets stronger at scale; cabinet shops compete harder for whole-home work.
Tell us about your home.
Thirty minutes on a discovery call. Send a Pinterest board, a phone snapshot, or a rough sketch. We'll talk through what's possible and what it costs.