Buying kitchen cabinets at one of those Big Box or Home Improvement stores can turn out to be a big mistake. You have no idea if the person who helped you design and order one of the biggest purchases of your life has been in the cabinet business for 20 years or 2 weeks. If you want to take a chance with your money and your project schedule, don’t bother reading any further and just do it. Lots of people do it, and many of them really regret jumping so fast. Please keep reading.
DECIDING WHICH STYLE CABINETS TO BUY ONLINE
There are two basic cabinet styles available now, the traditional cabinet and the European-style frameless cabinet. For people who would like a clean and modern look, the European style is probably right for you. No front frames on the cabinet boxes, all you see are the doors and drawer fronts with no intermediate trim. Kitchencraft or Arch Bay by Kitchencraft is the best-known manufacturer of modern European-style cabinetry. Made in Canada.
For an antique or historic style home, traditional-style cabinets are probably what you’re looking for. A face frame is attached around the entire front of the cabinet box, leaving a visible border between the doors and drawer fronts. Kraftmaid Cabinets is the company best known for producing traditional style cabinets. Made in the USA Norcraft, Mid Continent, Ultracraft and Somersby kitchen cabinets also feature traditional styles and are made in the USA.
Many accessories and trim items are available for both types of cabinets, including but not limited to crown molding, light rail molding, infills, corbels, glass door inserts, glass shelves and the list goes on and on. It can be quite a challenge to decide everything you would like in your new kitchen.
Kitchen cabinets are basically built in the same way. They all start with a box, with or without a front frame, fixed or adjustable shelves, a door, and possibly some drawer fronts. Sorting out cool options for your kitchen is always an option, like pot and pan storage, rolling trays, full-extension drawer runners, etc. You now have a box with one or two shelves, possibly a drop-down tray, doors, and a couple of drawers. So what’s the deal with the huge price difference you’re asking? That is a good question.
The thickness and type of material used on the sides of the cabinet is one of the differences between cabinet manufacturers and options. Door profiles, wood species, and finish color vary somewhat between companies. It’s not enough to create such a huge price difference between certain kitchen cabinet companies. All finishing processes are excellent, but Canadian manufacturer Kitchencraft claims to use a finishing process that the US EPA does not allow here. Whether it makes that much of a difference to the quality of the finish, I don’t know. Please don’t spend a lot of time researching all the big cabinet companies’ finish specs. Get some samples and choose what you like. Keep going because there are many other decisions you will have to make before the kitchen project is complete.
Plywood ends and all plywood construction are a couple of construction options to consider. Some companies offer plywood ends as a standard construction method. High quality furniture board or particle board is what most of us know as the other building material. Furniture board is fine for the ends of the cabinets, since they will all screw together and to the walls. Some contractors prefer plywood ends in very humid weather. That’s a personal choice that I’m not sure I agree with. Now, when it comes to a sink or vanity base cabinet, I would probably order those cabinets with plywood ends in case of a water leak under the sink. I think plywood would dry more consistently than furniture boards. But again, the choice is up to you. Do some research on that and decide for yourself if it’s worth the extra cost.
A couple of great things to look for as standard equipment or an option are full-extension drawer runners and easy-close drawer glides like the Blum Blumotion types. Full extension slides allow drawers to open fully so you can use space in the back of the drawer that is normally inaccessible with standard drawer slides. Blumotion drawer slides slow down the drawer as it closes so they won’t slam shut and damage drawer fronts over time. Nice and quiet too.
Specification books and color brochures are a must after deciding on a kitchen cabinet manufacturer. This will help you decide on the gigantic number of plugins that are available to you. If you already have an idea of what you need in your kitchen, such as baking sheet storage, spice racks, pantries, you’re ahead of schedule. Take a walk through your current kitchen and think about all the things you didn’t like about it and what you had with it, and make a list to help you design the layout of your new space.
The main species of wood for kitchen furniture are maple, cherry, oak, alder, hickory and pine. Maple and cherry are probably the most popular, as they have a firm, consistent grain and take the finish very well. Don’t forget that cherry cabinets will darken over time, so you may want to select a color that’s a shade lighter than what you want for years to come. Ask your cabinet specialist more about how much or how much darkening you can expect over what period of time.
Thermal foil is another finishing process used by most major cabinet companies. They place a thin sheet of material on a cabinet door or drawer front, heat it, and vacuum it to the surface. This method creates a very clean, smooth, and durable finish on your cabinets. It’s also less expensive than solid wood doors and drawer fronts. The only big downside to thermal foil is the colors. Typically, people who order this type of cabinet want a very uniform white or beige color throughout the kitchen. I’m sure it comes in more colors than that, but would you really want any of them? Take a look and see if this is something you would like.
Since some of the cabinet companies operate on 8 and 9 week lead times, you don’t want the person who sends your order to the factory for production to make any mistakes. If they make a mistake on your order, even the smallest thing, like a letter or number on a single major cabinet, you’ll have to wait weeks or even months to get your new kitchen installed. Use a cabinet specialist from a reputable online cabinet dealer. They do it day after day. They have years and years of training in the cabinet industry. Don’t risk this great project on a pimple-faced kid and the DIY store who attended a 2-week training course on how to design and sell cabinets. This is a great investment for you, so don’t make this mistake with your kitchen cabinet project. You will be so upset if this happens.
Stock up on brochures from your local cabinet stores. Find out if you like traditional or European style cabinets. Pick a couple of wood species that you really love. Find your favorite colors, finishes and glazes. Take a look at Blumotion full extension slides and drawer guides. Look at all the accessories in the brochures you are thinking of buying. Get really accurate measurements of your space and start making a list of the cabinets you’ll need for your project. You may also be able to get a list of common cabinet heights and widths. You may want them to give you a quote for the project and also create a cabinet list for you. If you don’t buy from them, make sure the company you buy from triple checks all cabinet nomenclature before ordering them for you. You may also want to get another quote or two from some smaller cabinet companies. This will give you some good comparables to work with.
It is important to choose a reputable online dealer. Do your research on them and read the testimonials. Make sure they have great and knowledgeable cabinet specialists on the sales team, great customer service, and fast warranty follow up. Ask lots of questions and make sure they know what they’re talking about when it comes to your new kitchen cabinets. Fax the list and go over every detail and every cabinet with them to make sure you didn’t forget the infills, end panels, baseboards, etc. These things are very easy to forget if you don’t do them day after day like everyone else. But you are going to get very upset if you do not have everything you need when installing your kitchen.
