Updated 4/1/22
If you are not happy with your kitchen cabinets, there are a lot of things you can do to change that. First, you need a cabinet design idea that will go well with the rest of your kitchen. You don’t have to know all about kitchen cabinets to come up with an idea. Just look at pictures of them online to see the various styles that are available and get some ideas for your own kitchen.
Complete kitchen units are a good way to transform a space and get all of the storage you need in the kitchen. Many people go with horizontal storage cabinets with doors and shelves to give themselves the storage space that’s needed. These units are made to be easy to access as well as look good.
If you are interested in prefab solid wood kitchen cabinets, these can be a less expensive choice than getting a set of cabinets custom-made for your space. It’s possible to get great prefab units that are on-trend and that are affordably priced. If you want custom-made cabinets, this will take longer and will be more expensive. However, it’s a good way to use the space in the kitchen well.
The best custom wood cabinets cost quite a chunk of change; there’s simply no way around that. However, there are many benefits that can make custom wood kitchen cabinets, in particular, worth the extra expense. The kitchen is the center of a home. You’re likely to spend lots of time there, and these rooms are increasingly being seen as showplaces, rather than purely functional spaces. So why can custom wood cabinets cost so much? Here are a few of the factors that go into determining pricing on custom cabinetry:
- The Size of Your Kitchen
The larger your kitchen is, presumably the more cabinets you’ll need. For obvious reasons, this increases the price of the quotes you’re likely to see.
- The Types of Units You Want
One of the greatest advantages of choosing custom cabinetry is that there are many cabinet types that make a kitchen easier to organize and use. Drawers, open shelving, lazy susans, hanging wine racks and pot racks can all be integrated into the cabinet designs so that you can keep everything at your fingertips (and spend less time piling everything up on standard shelves). But these add-ons cost more, of course, so you’ll need to balance out the functions you’ll actually use against your budget.
- The Material Your Cabinets Are Made Of
Cabinets can be made of many different types of wood. Oak, maple, pine, birch, alder, walnut, bamboo and cherry are all popular choices. Oak and pine are the most affordable, maple is in the middle, and cherry is the highest end.
- The Door Style You Choose
Cabinet doors come in many styles, from flat panels to understated shakers to elegant raised patterns. Generally, more detailing means a higher price.
- The Finish You Want
Most of the time, wood is stained to bring out the natural grain and color of the wood variety. But painting is a popular choice as well. Custom painting can cost a little more, but is an integral part of some design schemes. White cabinets can be very traditional (either in formal or cottage-y designs), but more and more kitchens are using bold colors on the cabinets, or mixing wood and painted cabinets for a unique look.
What kind of custom cabinetry would you choose if price weren’t a factor? Share your dream kitchen ideas in the comments!
