It’s time to remodel your kitchen. Maybe you are trying to increase the value of your home, or perhaps you are just tired of looking at the same colors, finishes, and panels that you have been staring at for the past several years. As you begin to look into your cabinets, you begin to notice that not all cabinets are created equally, especially in regard to price. MDF Boards versus solid wood, framed versus frameless, stock cabinets versus custom cabinets, there are a multitude of options that can be more or less expensive. So, are expensive kitchen cabinets worth the cost? Before you stress out and make a decision rashly, here are a few things to consider.
Customization
You might start looking at pre-assembled kitchen cabinets, running you in the neighborhood of $150 to $300 for each cabinet. Then you look at the prices of custom cabinets, which, depending on the material, can run you in the neighborhood of $500 to $1200 per square foot. At this point, you might be thinking “with a price difference like that, why would I even bother with custom cabinets?” This is a fair question, but there are a few things you should consider:
- With custom cabinets, you get to make all choices regarding materials, finishes, stains, etc. If you fill your kitchen with already assembled cabinets, you are going to be limited on what you can get, and when you are designing your dream kitchen, don’t you want all your options to be yours?
- Custom cabinets are expensive because you are working with a highly skilled laborer who has taken years to perfect their craft. Preassembled cabinets are generally factory-made and may not be assembled by true artisans. Therefore, the work done on the already-made cabinets may be of inferior quality and may not have the longevity of a custom job.
- Custom cabinets are a selling point if you want to increase the value of your home. Boxed cabinets of inferior quality might look fine initially, but they do not do much to increase the value of your home. A custom cabinet job can add thousands of dollars in value to your home.
The reality is, if you are looking at non-custom, pre-made cabinets, you may pay less, but you are not getting any real value. Custom work tends to be quality work.
Materials
You should definitely have your cabinets built from solid wood, even if solid wood is significantly more expensive than other materials, it provides significantly more advantages than cheaper materials, such as:
- Solid wood cabinets can be repaired if scratched.
- Cabinets made from solid wood are strong and durable. Solid wood cabinets can last the user a lifetime if proper care is given.
- Solid wood is naturally beautiful and lends itself to more customization options. You can do almost anything you want with solid wood cabinets.
So, you should spend the extra money on solid wood cabinets, but what wood should you go for, and is more expensive wood better? For example, birch cabinets tend to be cheaper than maple cabinets, but birch cabinets don’t lend themselves to as many finish options, while maple can be beautifully stained or painted. Maple is cheaper than oak, though, while still providing more finish options. You also have to consider things like red oak versus white oak, which the more common material used is red oak, which is slightly cheaper.
Hire a Custom Cabinet Builder in Perry, NY
Custom cabinets are worth the money, so if you are in the market for custom cabinetry, you should give Kustom Kabinetry a shot. Kustom Kabinetry takes great pride in creating the dream kitchen that you’ve always wanted, and we’d love nothing more than to help make your dream cabinets come to life. Our highly rated and reviewed professionals can work within your budget to create the ultimate kitchen for you, so get a free estimate started today!