Recommendations for new kitchen cabinets.

[Golden sunsets]

From an aesthetics point of view I would order doors/drawers that are inset, rather than overlay. I would also make sure that you use matching raised panels on all end cabinets and islands, rather than just flat panels. And I would add moldings along the top and bottom of the upper cabinets. Each of these options will increase the custom look of the kitchen, although at some extra expense, but will deliver returns at resale time.

While the cabinets are being stalled, include led lighting under and over cabinets.

 

[target2019]

Non custom cabinets could mean the shoddy in-store selection, or could be thr standard models offered by established builders. If you can see the specific cabinet it will be a great help to you in evaluating the construction.

You should take a look at what is in the big box stores at least for now. I mean what you see in the full kitchen demo area.

Installation is another part of the job. I would slow roll that decision and get recommendations from others in the area. A big box installer is a hit or miss thing. Be cautious about what you're told by anyone.

If the cabinet is well constructed with MDF (expect that as normal for non-custom) it will have solid wood hangars, rails and stiles. Door should be solid construction also. The end panels are usually laminate. You might see another option in your non-custom.

If MDF gets wet (can happen under the sink and elsewhere, you can have a problem with swelling. Plywood will have a problem if wet, but not as extreme.

 

[Midpack]

Installation is another part of the job. I would slow roll that decision and get recommendations from others in the area. A big box installer is a hit or miss thing. Be cautious about what you're told by anyone.

+1. From what I’ve read and heard, you can get a good installer from a big box store and you just as easily get a schlock installer - and odds are you won’t know in advance. Good kitchen cabinets are not cheap, make sure you use an installer who really knows what he/she is doing, even if it costs a little more.

 

[JP.mpls]

Thanks Golden, all good suggestions.
I was planning to have molding on top.
I'm not sure if I've seen bottom molding. I will have to look it up.
JP

From an aesthetics point of view I would order doors/drawers that are inset, rather than overlay. I would also make sure that you use matching raised panels on all end cabinets and islands, rather than just flat panels. And I would add moldings along the top and bottom of the upper cabinets. Each of these options will increase the custom look of the kitchen, although at some extra expense, but will deliver returns at resale time.

While the cabinets are being stalled, include led lighting under and over cabinets.

 

[lauradrops]

We just completed a full gut renovation on our house and are very pleased with our new kitchen cabinets. We used www.bestonlinecabinets.com. They are built in California and shipped free. 3/4" plywood boxes, solid wood fronts and soft close door and drawers. You can choose from many different woods and styles. They were 1/3 of the price of big box stores.

You do need to have your own installer. I ordered mine pre-assembled, but you can also order them ready to be assembled for a little less. Great company to work with. They offer a free kitchen designer as well.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Thanks Golden, all good suggestions.
I was planning to have molding on top.
I'm not sure if I've seen bottom molding. I will have to look it up.
JP

Bottom moldings on the upper cabinets accentuate the custom look, harmonize with the top moldings and also "hide" the under cabinet lighting that you install. It generally isn't a big profile, maybe 1.5" For that matter we have moldings along the bottom cabinets, which further the custom look. The only place base moldings would not be used is at the sink, where a toe kick is necessary. In that instance you can coordinate a decorative molding with a carve out for feet standing at the sink doing dishes. Toe kicks aren't necessary anywhere else and the way bottom cabinets are built, the toe kick area isn't very attractive and screams builders grade. The undercabinet indirect lighting introduces a very intimate feel when on at night, as does the over cabinet similar lighting, assuming you have no soffit over the cabinets. String LED lighting is very inexpensive. You will have to plan for the electrical connection though so that it is installed during or before the cabinet installation. Other customizations such as ordering a matching panel for the front of your dishwasher continue the custom look. Stainless steel appliances look great, but sometimes those fingerprints are a pain to continually remove. We also have custom matching panels on our refrigerator, which is a built in refrigerator, the same depth as the cabinets.

 

[Rummy]

So can someone provide a quick tutorial on benefits/drawbacks of MDF vs. wood?

My "Pop" (furniture store owner), used to say "It's solid wood, except for the glue that holds the sawdust together." And then chuckle ...

 

[MBAustin]

We remodeled two kitchens using KraftMaid with design help from Home Depot (we did not use their installation service). Very happy with the options and the quality. Our current kitchen is 10 years old and the cabinets look and work like new (except where we've damaged them through our own carelessness).

I will echo to go with drawers instead of doors - we have pans, skillets, cutting boards, colanders, and all our china in drawers. Also have a two-door cabinet with slide pullouts for food processor, pressure cooker, crockpot, mixer, etc. Definitely get the slow/quiet closes. Lights under the cabinets - make sure they are mounted at the front of the cabinets, not the rear.

 

[Gumby]

That is one thing I would do differently - get the under cabinet lights. You can never have too much light in a kitchen.

 

[Aerides]

oh yes, bottom molding and under cabinet lighting makes all the difference. Especially for the person who does most of the prep work in the kitchen.

The worst home design can be dramatically improved with great lighting. The best will be undercut without it.

 

[pb4uski]

Yes.... we add LED lighting under the upper cabinets in our last kitchen renovation.. well worth the minor added cost.

That is one thing I would do differently - get the under cabinet lights. You can never have too much light in a kitchen.

 

[Brat]

If you’re looking at big box store cabinets, I would also look at ikea. Their cabinets are much better quality than the base models at HD and the price is great. You also get a ton of flexibility that you usually only see on higher end cabinets. Soft close, full extension drawers, etc... Styles tend to be more modern.

We moved from a house with amazing cabinets to one with cabinets that were custom and very expensive, but not as well thought out of designed. All the drawer boxes and frames are mdf and after 20 years are showing their wear, though structurally still sound. I’m in the process of replacing the drawer boxes and slides with solid wood and Blum slides. I’ve installed pullout shelving in all of the bottom cabinets which makes a huge difference. Not as nice as bottom drawers, but still better than crawling around the back of a cabinet.

We’re looking at some of the fold down shelves for the cabinets above the fridge. Our cabinets go all the way to the top of 10ft ceilings. Talk about impractical! We literally have nothing in many of them because it’s just too high to be of any use.

I beg to differ about Ikea cabinets. My DS & DD installed them about 13 years ago and they are more than showing wear.. they look awful and it is impossible to replace the drawer faces to make them look decent.

I second the recommendation of soft close cabinets and drawers. They weren't installed in DD's home but retro installed by DH. The youngest was a preschooler at the time who loved to slam the doors. The look on her face after Grandpa had worked his magic was priceless!

 

[CRLLS]

We bought KraftMaid cabinets from Lowes twice now. Our 1st was some 15 years ago with hickory doors and face frames. We have some cabinets that were suspended from their tops and we opted for cabinet grade ply carcasses for those cabinets. We then bought some painted cabinets for a different project again last year. IIRC, 2 of them had ply boxes.

I have no issues with MDF boxes for base cabinets and for most wall cabinets where there is a hardwood face frame. For a frameless design, I would have to think a bit before we used MDF. They might be OK. I don't really know. a

We paid up for the self closing drawers on our 1st order. Our last order came with soft closing drawers, shelves and doors as std. Also, everywhere we could, we ordered sliding shelves.

Kraftmaid cabinets are made to order and have quite a few customizing options available. We would consider them again and do recommend looking at them.

Both orders had a couple of issues that Lowes simply reordered for us without any inspection or return necessary. The reorders were put on RUSH and I think we had replacements within a week or two.

 

[Jerry1]

A lot of great information above. I would say that the most important thing is to find a great installer, assuming you’re going to farm that out. There are a lot of tricks and skill that can make a big difference in the final appearance. Typically, walls are not square or plum, corners are not 90 degrees, floors are not level . . . .

I’ve done three kitchens now and I guess the last two were considered semi-custom. I ordered the sizes I needed to fill the space and they were made to order. That allowed for a good amount of flexibility when I just needed that 6 extra inches to fill the space and I didn’t want large filler strips. The person who installed the cabinets was a true craftsman. He charged me a flat rate for the install and I’m glad he did. He was so picky, I’m sure I would have choked paying him by the hour

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

I would say that the most important thing is to find a great installer, assuming you’re going to farm that out. There are a lot of tricks and skill that can make a big difference in the final appearance. Typically, walls are not square or plum, corners are not 90 degrees, floors are not level . . . .

When I was contemplating renovating my kitchen, my uncle (who is a contractor and with whom I had worked multiple times as a youth and young adult) pulled me aside at a family gathering. He said "Jesus Christ, O-t-L, the corners are never square. So what you do, you just take the corner cabinet, you lift it up yay high, and then slam it to the ground on the back corner. That breaks all the joints loose, then you can just screw the cabinet to the walls."

It was then that I decided to gut and renovate the kitchen myself!

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah. My guys came up to me when they were putting in the long granite backsplash and showed me the half inch gap.

No slamming, no cracking, they just caulked it.

 

[DrRoy]

We got these for our family room. Very high quality.
https://crystalcabinets.com/

 

[Amethyst]

The Thermofoil (vinyl-covered MDF) cabinets in our 2004 house (we are the 2d owners) looked okay when we toured the house. Not long after moving in, one of the cabinet doors fell off. The door had worn out right at the hinges, just as you said. Fortunately, we had planned from the start to re-do the kitchen.

We will be replacing with maple plywood cabinets with solid (well, really it's narrow slabs of solid wood, glued together - not one solid piece) doors. Natural, not painted. Yes, everyone says painted sells better than natural wood, but who knows? That could change.

The ceiling is 10 feet, and the cabinets go up to a bit more than 8 feet. This is already stepstool territory, so I decided to go all the way and have lighted, glass-front display cabinets all along the top of the regular cabinets. Why leave room between cabinets and ceiling, which only serves to gather dust.

We are using a local cabinet installer; cabinets coming from Dura Supreme https://www.durasupreme.com/. I investigated having another local business make the cabinets, but the cost was astronomical, nearly $60,000.00 and it's not that big of a kitchen.

It seems to me that MDF is more likely to have screw failures on hinges and then is much more difficult to repair than wood. The biggest problem with MDF is that they wood particles are hygroscopic and if exposed to standing water will tend to wick moisture and swell. Plywood and wood are not immune to this but wood, especially hardwood, is much more resistant (that said not too many people can afford to use hardwood on kitchen cabinets aside from doors which are the least susceptible component). Swelling will affect the overlying finish as well as the fit and integrity of the cabinet. Some poor quality MDF will absorb moisture even in high humidity locations such as bathrooms and has increased susceptibility to mold growth.

 

[Gumby]

The Thermofoil (vinyl-covered MDF) cabinets in our 2004 house (we are the 2d owners) looked okay when we toured the house. Not long after moving in, one of the cabinet doors fell off. The door had worn out right at the hinges, just as you said. Fortunately, we had planned from the start to re-do the kitchen.

We will be replacing with maple plywood cabinets with solid (well, really it's narrow slabs of solid wood, glued together - not one solid piece) doors.

The ceiling is 10 feet, and the cabinets go up to a bit more than 8 feet. This is already stepstool territory, so I decided to go all the way and have lighted, glass-front display cabinets all along the top of the regular cabinets. Why leave room between cabinets and ceiling, which only serves to gather dust.

Our cabinets go all the way to the ceiling and we have never regretted it.

 

[Music Lover]

A lot of great information above. I would say that the most important thing is to find a great installer, assuming you’re going to farm that out. There are a lot of tricks and skill that can make a big difference in the final appearance. Typically, walls are not square or plum, corners are not 90 degrees, floors are not level . . . .

If someone has no experience then it's probably a good idea to have someone else install the cabinets. But, it can be done by a competent DIYer...I've installed cabinets twice for friends. In both cases they subbed out the countertop installation after (quartz for one and marble for the other).

 

[Janet H]

I've done several remodels over the past few years - here's my best advice:

1. If you are intending to actually use the kitchen and would like the investment in cabinets to be money well spent get plywood boxes and and drawers that have dovetail joints. DO NOT SKIMP HERE. There are a number of reputable brands and you can buy in a variety of places including Big box stores, costco and online.

2. Consider spending some money on a kitchen designer who sells cabinets. In the long run they may save you money and have some great ideas. They know their products. often they will rebate the cost of the design work with the cabinet purchase. I found that I actually came in cheaper going this route than buying in the usual discount house sort of places and I got a better result and excellent service when I had a problem with one of the boxes. You can have boxes delivered directly to your location.

3. Choose neutral colors. Trendy finishes will quickly become passe.

4. Consider euro boxes (frameless). They are a little less forgiving to install but the drawers are soooo much deeper and storage in cabinets is maximized because frames don't impede access to interiors.

5. Semi custom is a thing - don't dismiss it out of hand. Cost may not be may higher and end results may be better.

6. Order all trim at the same time you order boxes, and order a little extra.

7. If you are considering cherry.... stained alder looks almost identical and costs about 30 % less.

 

[Koolau]

Can't recall the brand, but we bought ours from a company that bought from China. They arrive (probably in a container) broken down. The local company assembles them and you wouldn't know they were not from a "normal" source. After 10 years, we're still happy with them. Saved 1/3 on the cabinets - installation was, of course, the same.

 

[ponyboy]

If you have the pocket, go for wood mode cabinets. Insanely high quality. Sadly, you'll have to go to a dealer to have them ordered.

 

[Ronstar]

.....
7. If you are considering cherry.... stained alder looks almost identical and costs about 30 % less.....

The reason - cherry is almost twice as hard as alder.

Alder is great looking - has a lot of character with knots, etc.
Cherry has less knots, awesome grain and hardness. And darkens as it ages.

 

[RobbieB]

We got our stuff from the same Co. that did the granite. Chinese granite too! No choice of wood, all Maple.

Choice of stain or paint -