From House to Home » A Primer on Buying Kitchen Cabinets

A Primer on Buying Kitchen Cabinets

Posted by Aaron
on January 30th, 2009
Category: Uncategorized

If you’re shopping for kitchen cabinets, you’ll eventually get into the debate over customization. People will toss out terms like “stock cabinets, semi-custom cabinets, custom cabinets.” What does all that mean, anyway?

Understanding Kitchen Cabinets

Stock cabinets are the least expensive way to go and they have come a long way in the past decade. Check around at a home improvement store and you’ll find 6 to 8 door styles, finishes and wood species, along with three or four molding choices. Enough to get you started in an economical remodeling project. And, you typically can take them home that day–no waiting for weeks for someone to build your cabinets.

Semi-custom cabinets are the next step up financially, as they have more frills, such as the vertical rope molding that can dress up the area around your doors or the cabinet bun feet. You also get into the chocolate mocha glazes and the fancy stains.

For the Picky Kitchen Remodelers

If you’ve done a few kitchen remodeling projects, you tend to get pickier as you go. If you want sturdier drawer glides, stronger cabinet boxes, more crown molding choices, different stains and glazes, you tend to lean toward those semi-custom cabinets. If you don’t plan to stay in the house long, think long and hard about putting too much money into your kitchen cabinets.

Custom Kitchen Cabinets

On the upper end of the spectrum are custom cabinets that are made to your kitchen’s exact dimensions. No shims or tapered cut wood inserts allowed, here. Custom cabinets are a one of a kind deal. These can be great if you’ve got specific design tastes-or an old house that needs a lot of customization.

Whichever route you choose, shop around, compare prices and always check references. You want to make sure you’re getting a good quality kitchen cabinet, regardless your budget.

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Comment by Tori

October 2, 2009 @ 1:00 pm

The gap between stock and semi-custom cabinets is closing. And so are the prices. This is good news for homeowners who want some customization without the custom-made price tag. Before buying “off the shelf”, check with your home and garden center about the difference between stock and semi-custom. You just might be surprised at what you can get for the same money.

Comment by Hank

October 2, 2009 @ 8:34 pm

What can you do with your old cabinets? I have older cabinets that are still in decent shape, anyone that recycles them or perhaps cleans them up and paints them to resell? Seems like a waste just throwing them away. Hardware stores should have a program where you get a discount for bringing your old ones in

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A Primer on Buying Kitchen Cabinets

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