Many people choose to install custom kitchen cabinets because their kitchens are oddly built or because they have very specific needs for their kitchen space. For some families, the kitchen is the center of the home. If this sounds familiar, you probably already have some experience trying to fit your family’s life into the cabinets that come already installed in your home. It can be a big hassle!
Of course, custom cabinets can end up costing you a lot more money than standard kitchen cabinets. This is because in addition to paying for the specific building materials you want, you also have to pay for the hours that go into the building process. A carpenter/cabinet designer doesn’t work for free! Then of course you will usually have to pay some money to have someone install your custom kitchen cabinets and sometimes custom cabinets can be more difficult to install than standard cabinets.
Of course, there are ways to offset the cost of having custom kitchen cabinets designed for you:
- Limit your custom cabinets to one or two pieces – Many families find that they do well with regular cabinets if they have someone build them a custom kitchen storage cabinet that will house all the odd shaped items or act as a pantry, freeing up plenty of storage space for other things. Having just one or two cabinets built is much cheaper than having an entire set built from scratch.
- Do some of the work yourself! – If you know how to build things and have some woodworking experience, why not build your own custom cabinets and a set of custom kitchen storage cabinets? Building your own custom cabinets can save you quite a bit of money, all you have to do is pay for the materials!
- hire a student – Often students studying to become carpenters, designers, or contractors will be happy to help you assemble and install custom kitchen cabinets for a fraction of the price. The work they do at home will help reinforce their resumes, and if the student does a good job, you can act as a reference for them later!
- Request a discount or commercial service – Sometimes custom kitchen cabinet designers will exchange their services for other services or goods. If you have a website, for example, you can offer to advertise for the cabinetmaker in exchange for a discount. If you run your own business, you may be able to trade your services in exchange for paying a lower out-of-pocket cost for your custom storage cabinet. Be creative!
While it costs more to have someone build you custom kitchen cabinets, the benefits of having custom cabinets more than outweigh the cost. After all, don’t you want cabinets that perfectly fit your kitchen and lifestyle?
