Kitchen cabinets should be assessed by judging costs in light of value received. The variables that affect the cost of kitchen cabinets relate to quality, appearance, and functional effectiveness. These variables include overall con¬struction quality, materials and finishes, door styles (those with molding are more costly than plain ones), hinges, joints, hardware, drawer glides, and storage options.
The cost of a basic box can easily double with the addition of several built-in storage sections, an upgraded finish or raised-panel door style, and high quality hinges and hardware. Frameless kitchen cabinets tend to be more expensive than face-frame kitchen cabinets and can be more time consuming to install.
Your choices for new kitchen cabinets will depend on evaluating both your functional needs and your style preferences, weighing each, and possibly compromising to obtain the workability you need and the look you want at the price you can afford.
Kitchen Cabinet Cost-Saving Strategies
You can achieve substantial savings in several ways. Know that when ordering kitchen cabinets, you’ll have to accept the responsibility for accurately specifying and sizing the particular components to fit your plan. The measurements of the kitchen cabinets must be precise, especially if you’re using frameless kitchen cabinets. You can use the dealer’s staff or hire an independent NKBA kitchen designer to take care of this task for you.
Many homeowners arrange with dealers to deliver the cabinetry without installing it, planning to install the cabinets themselves, but this is a task that’s much more difficult than it looks to do properly, so it’s best to let the dealer or your contractor install them.
Save Even More Money With Unfinished Kitchen Cabinets
A variety of kitchen cabinet manufacturers offer unfinished kitchen cabinets. You can then finish these yourself with special stains or by antiquing or distressing them. In this way, you’ll get the appearance of custom kitchen cabinets at the price of stock. Remember that several small cabinets will cost significantly more than fewer, larger cabinets in the same space, and that adjustable shelves cost more than fixed shelves.
Another cost-saving strategy is to reface your existing kitchen cabinets rather than replace them. This will cost about half of what you would spend for comparable new kitchen cabinets, but such a strategy will only work if the basic room configuration and cabinet placement in your existing kitchen are to remain the same. A good cabinet supplier can also fabricate new cabinets to match your existing ones, but refacing is not an appropriate solution if your kitchen cabinets have sagged over time, or if their storage is insufficient.
Refacing generally includes new door and drawer fronts, as well as new end panels, rails, and stiles (the center support piece in a face-frame cabinet). You may also choose to reface the interiors, particularly if you’re changing the look from dark to light. The delivery time for refacing work is usually shorter than it would be for new kitchen cabinets.
