Hillsborough firm designs kitchen for home on "Moving Up"
By:Emily Craighead
Three East Coast homeowners are taking the risk of turning their houses over to strangers for renovation in a new TLC program, "Moving Up."
As frightening as that might be, these homeowners can rest assured their kitchens, at least, will be in capable hands right here in Hillsborough.
Royal Cabinet Co. on Park Avenue designed and remodeled kitchens in two of the houses featured on the program, which premieres at 8 p.m. Jan. 29 on TLC.
"The (Flemington) homeowner found out about us by reputation and by looking at our Web site," said Paul McDonald, owner and president of Royal Cabinet Co.
The show’s producers at BBC Production USA then contacted Mr. McDonald.
"It means a lot because it will make people more aware there is a manufacturer in their own backyard," Mr. McDonald said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Usually, he said, customers begin the process of renovating a kitchen by meeting with a designer in one of Royal Cabinet’s showrooms, sometimes armed with photographs and sometimes with only vague ideas of what they want.
"Some people have very specific ideas about what they want and others want more help through the design process," according to Mr. McDonald.
The three homeowners featured on "Moving Up" will move into and renovate each other’s homes, and the improvements or faux pas of interior decorating, depending on your point of view come at the cost of having cameras following their reactions to their new homes for six months.
For the casual viewer, drama will be just around the corner when "Moving Up" host Doug Wilson brings each family to rediscover its house, transformed by strangers.
For Royal Cabinet Co., the 15-part series is an opportunity to build on its reputation beyond central New Jersey and parts of Florida, Georgia, New York and South Carolina, where it currently has dealers.
"We are well known and highly regarded in our own backyard, as well as through our dealers up and down the East Coast," Mr. McDonald said. " ‘Moving Up’ will help us showcase our expertise just a bit more."
Mr. McDonald said he’s excited to have his company featured on a program "viewed by over 93 million people throughout North America."
The company has manufactured fine cabinetry since 1962, designing and building libraries, bars, entertainment centers and other custom cabinetry for homes in central New Jersey in addition to kitchens.

