Small cabinet shops can offer you more personalized service, but you will usually pay more. If you can find a similar price go for it, the difference is small cabinet shop designers do not have to put up with as many distractions and additional duties placed on a kitchen designer at Home Depot, so they will have more time to put into your design to get it right, and have more time to help oversee project after it has started. (If you get a design done at Depot, count how many times the designer had to answer the phone, tell customers where the bathroom is, answer questions from customers in plumbing, etc). Home Depot does sell excellent cabinets though, if you go with them you have the ability to use financing options that you won't with a small cabinet shop, just make sure you take a very active role in your project. Home Depot subs out all of their installs, and the major problem is coordination/communication between installer, plumber, ctop guy, flooring, tile, tearout, etc. They all have different schedules and different jobs to work on, so the lead time between each step is the killer. If you go with Kraftmaid from Home Depot, make sure you get their upgraded box construction, it will have plywood sides and hanging rails. Stay as far away from particle board (engineered wood is the term cabinet manufacturers use) as you can. Yes the stuff holds up just fine in a lab under controlled conditions, but plywood is stronger in the long run, and screws/nails pull out of particle board eventually, with no easy way to repair. Either way, a kitchen is a huge investment that generally offers an excellent return when you sell the house. Make sure you are happy with the design/layout, and double check everything. Oh, and be prepared to be miserable and wash dishes in your bathtub. A GOOD kitchen remodel is very stressful, I work in the kitchen business and you would not believe how many kitchens go perfectly with the client still complaining that their kitchen was in pieces for 3 weeks. It has to look worse before it gets better.......