Picture this: You’re designing your new home. You need cabinets—a lot of them, and fast. You don’t want to visit any big retailers and flip through samples of builder-basic cabinets you’ve seen before, you also don’t want to spend a big chunk of your budget on custom millwork. Enter: BOXI by Semihandmade.

Now, you can purchase the boxes and the fronts both from us. The cabinets arrive fully assembled. No more allen wrenches or hours-long assembly at the hands of an expensive contractor. And that’s not even the best part—BOXI by Semihandmade ships in just a few weeks. Making it the obvious choice in a renovation landscape plagued by delays.

We chatted with John McDonald, the founder of both Semihandmade and BOXI by Semihandmade, ahead of our launch and are answering all your questions below:

I Want to Buy Now—Can I?

We recently launched our website, so yes, you can order samples and jump into the order process now. To start, we are servicing six major cities across the country: Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin, Minneapolis, Chicago, and the New York City area. Don’t worry, we’ll be opening orders to the rest of the country soon. And if you are not located in one of those six cities, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you’re in the beginning stages of a home renovation.

Do You Sell the Same Styles as Semihandmade? 

In short, no. But some of the same styles we offer—and you love—at Semihandmade will be available. We’re launching with eight cabinet profiles chosen carefully by our team: six Shaker and slab styles available in white, grey, and black, along with two wood grain slab options. “From the early response so far, Shaker doors top the list of favorites. Color-wise, White is always the winner,” says John. “Something fun is the excitement we’ve seen to our Oat and Rye wood grain choices—not that much of a surprise considering how popular our Semihandmade Walnut doors are.”

Visit our website to learn more. We plan to expand these offerings by the end of 2021, so stay tuned for new additions.

Is BOXI by Semihandmade Only For the Kitchen?

No! BOXI cabinets can be used in any room of your home. There are systems made specifically for the bathroom, and Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum of the Brownstone Boys, a design duo based in Brooklyn, New York, who focus on renovating and restoring historic homes, have already used our cabinets as a closet storage solution in the bedroom. 

But How Do I Actually Order?

We offer three services to help you go from “thinking about a kitchen renovation” to signing for your cabinets at your front door. We’ll let John tell you all about them: 

Option 1:

“The first is working with a long-time Semihandmade partner Inspired Kitchen Design who manages remote design as well as anybody in the industry. You simply snap photos of your space and include dimensions, and they do all the work from there.” 

Option 2:

“The second option is AI/3D design company Skipp, they’re one of the biggest BOXI differentiators. With Skipp, you make an appointment and a technician comes out with a 3D camera to digitally scan your home. From there, they’re able to map out three detailed and different designs for your room of choice. So they’re not only working with your existing footprint based on the data they retrieved from the scan, they’re also able to give you choices like moving electrical and walls and windows that a designer might not typically do.”

Option 3:

“The last option is the most old-school: having someone come to your house to measure your space and discuss design options and samples in person.” Easy! 

…TWO WEEKS?

“Supply-chain delays have been an issue worldwide for the last year. And while we all understand the reasons, it’s made the purchasing process frustrating for a lot of people, especially our Semihandmade customers waiting on IKEA, or partners we work with in the appliance, hardware, and lighting industries,” says John. 

We know part of the headache of renovating is collecting all your parts, needing one thing before you can do the next thing. “Because our manufacturing partner here in the US manages the inventory, we’re able to ship from the factory in a week, and get the fully assembled cabinets to your home in 2 to 3 weeks total. So while we can’t control every issue in your renovation, we can ensure BOXI won’t add to the frustration.”

Have I Seen Your Cabinets Somewhere Before?

If you keep up with design news, yes. We worked with a handful of designers we love and respect to be the first to install BOXI by Semihandmade. Albie K. Buabeng, a designer, Emily Henderson contributor, and first-time homeowner based in the Pacific Northwest, is chronicling her kitchen renovation experience on Emily Henderson and her own Instagram. Southern California-based designer Anita Yokota lived in her home for 10 whole years before finally renovating her kitchen—you might have read about it on Apartment Therapy or followed along with the process on her Instagram.

We already told you about the Brownstone Boys’ closet project, but if you haven’t seen it yet, you should probably take a look now. Multiple rooms at NYC-based Swift Studios are being outfitted with BOXI by Semihandmade cabinets—kitchens, a bathroom, and entryway storage. Designer Anne Sage just installed her first BOXI by Semihandmade kitchen this week. Our cabinets arrived for the first time in Chicago this week to our trusted partner Tracy Cimba of Bespoke Redesign. And oh yeah, Semihandmade collaborator Sarah Sherman Samuel is working on a Princeton, New Jersey kitchen renovation that’s due to wrap any moment. 

To learn more about BOXI by Semihandmade, visit our website.