Cabinets receive a lot of wear and tear on a daily basis but especially with busy families. Not all cabinets are created equal and making a wise choice is important. Quality cabinets wear better, last longer and offer a better return on your investment down the road if you sell your house. So what make s quality cabinet?
Here's what to look for:
Solid wood doors with solid wood frames
Solid wood drawers with dovetail construction
1/2" thick plywood boxes
3/4" thick plywood shelves
Soft close doors and drawers
Useful features like pull out trash bins, organized pantry storage, mixer lift stands, etc.
Low quality cabinets have many issues over time and are often constructed with thinly veneered particle board vs. quality plywood. Particle board cabinets are the least expensive option because they are weak, prone to sagging and disintegrate when they come into contact with water. Poor quality cabinets often don't fit well and have flimsy hinges and drawer slides leading to wobbly doors and drawers. Not a good fit for family life with kids and busy moms.
If you are in the market for new cabinets, you can choose from stock, semi-custom or custom. Making the best decision for you and your family will depend on your budget, time frame and what features you would like or need your cabinets to include.
Stock cabinets offer the lowest price point because they are mass produced with a limited number of configurations, styles, colors and finishes. Some ship ready to be assembled and others ship already assembled but they ship out quickly. Stock cabinets can made be of good quality, they just may not fit your space quite as well as semi-custom.
Semi-custom cabinets are often the most popular because of their options and mid range price point between stock and custom cabinets. Semi-custom cabinets allow you to really fit your space with well designed cabinetry. They usually come with standard size plywood boxes and many options for door styles, drawers, decorative molding, glass, cabinet feet and finishes.
Custom cabinets are at the top tier of pricing and hand made with the highest quality materials. The sky is the limit for design choices and due to the custom nature and craft involved, they also take the longest to produce.
At the end of the day, the best cabinet option for you will really depend on your budget, how long you want your cabinets to last and what features you need. Just make sure that whatever choice you go with, you know the quality you are investing in to support your busy household for years to come.
If you are in the market for cabinets because of a remodel or new construction project, you can download my FREE 10 step guide to learn how to design your dream kitchen the same way I do! Just head to the home page of this website and enter your email, easy peasy.
Also, join me in my new FB group Kitchen, Baths and Mudrooms by Design. Each week I will select one member's design challenge to solve for the whole group to learn from. In addition, private members have exclusive access to the behind the scenes design work going into a brand new custom home I'm starting. See you there!