A Guide for Buying Kitchen Cabinets

So you’ve decided to get some kitchen cabinets. Good for you! Think of this article as your buying guide. What cabinets in particular will you choose?

Will you resurface your current kitchen cabinets or buy entirely new ones? Will you choose low-end, medium, or premium cabinets? Will you choose plywood, wood-and-glass, or a composite cabinet? And will you hire a kitchen contractor or manage the project yourself?

What You Buy Can Determine Your Costs

First, you should note that new kitchen cabinets can account for as much as 40% of the cost of your kitchen renovation. You can choose from stock cabinets from Ikea and other suppliers that are pre-assembled and ready for mounting; semi-custom cabinets that provide more styles and options for a more precise fit; or custom cabinets that are the higher priced option, but may possess the features you really want.

What is Your Kitchen Cabinet Style?

Here’s another choice: framed cabinets or frameless? The former, which are best known as European-style, don’t have a face frame, while their doors and drawers attached to the cabinet box. But the framed cabinets offer a door that precisely covers the frame’s face.

What is the Construction?

The best built kitchen cabinets offer sturdy wood drawers with dovetail joints, a drawer guides that extends easily and fully, and doors with strong wood frames. You should also consider having a kitchen cabinet that doubles as your trash container, one that houses a Lazy Suzan in a corner, or a cabinet just to hold your coffee maker.

What About Resurfacing Your Current Kitchen Cabinets?

We meet many families who have chosen to revitalize their current cabinets. If the “bones” are good and they’re sturdy, you should know that MoonDance Painting can sand, prime and paint your old cabinets. Or you can choose to reface, rather than replace your cabinets by applying new veneers to the face frames, which costs a fraction of what new cabinets go for.

What’s the Cost of Kitchen Cabinets?

Low-end, off-the-shelf cabinets start at about $70 per foot and you have a great many choices but not as many trim options or sizes.

Mid-level cabinets are semi-custom and a solid choice for most home or condo kitchens. You can choose from many made-to-order custom options, so they offer a great value overall with prices starting at $150 per foot.

Or you can select made-to-order premium cabinets with the highest quality materials and hardware options, though they start at $500 per foot. These models also offer the best resale value for your investment.

Can Doors Make All the Difference?

One of the last things you want to consider is the quality of the doors. Today, most of the manufacturers that we know of offer doors with a solid wood frame surrounding panels made with either solid wood or plywood. This kind of sturdy door will feel more substantial than a less expensive, all plywood door.

And What Hardware Should You Choose?

Finally, hardware is the final touch for kitchen cabinets. Instead of traditional white knobs, you can choose metallic pulls that are straight or curved, ornate, or plain. You can select metallic knobs that are artistic or brassy or colorful as a circus.

We recommend that you buy a few pulls for drawers and different knobs for cabinets to see how they look and actually feel in your new kitchen cabinets before committing to purchasing them for your whole kitchen.

What to Discuss More Options for Your Kitchen?

We’d be happy to sit down and talk about how you can transform your kitchen into something new by updating your cabinets. We offer a complimentary detailed estimate and written warranty with every job we do. Contact us today to get started.