Whether you’re starting a kitchen renovation from scratch or replacing your current cabinetry, shopping for new kitchen cabinets is a big task. Cabinets from big-box retail stores and custom cabinet makers all vary in appearance, cost, and quality.
How do you know if stock, semi-custom, or custom cabinets are right for your kitchen renovation? Stock, custom, and semi-custom cabinetry are all great choices for a kitchen renovation depending on the project. They each offer a unique set of pros and cons, which our following three articles will relate in simple, straightforward terms.
Let’s go cabinet shopping!
As the name suggests, custom cabinets are specially designed and handcrafted to fit a specific space and meet unique aesthetic and functional needs. They offer a high degree of personalization and quality, often using superior materials compared to pre-fabricated and semi-custom options.
When you’re shopping custom, you start with a blank canvas. Everything, including cabinet materials, size, construction, color, and finish (including paints and stains and custom color matches) can be adjusted to suit your taste. Suddenly, oddly shaped corners and exceptionally tall ceilings are a breeze to work around. By collaborating with a professional designer, you can strategically tailor your kitchen design to match your lifestyle.
Because custom cabinets are designed and built to order on a case-by-case basis, they usually come with the longest lead times.
Some custom cabinetry is made with the same materials as stock cabinetry, but the difference is you’re not limited to these materials. Custom cabinetry can be built with whatever material you desire, such as genuine wood options like walnut, white oak, cherry, mahogany, cherry, alder, as well as sought-after engineered materials like exotic wood veneers or acrylic.
Because you’re in charge, the quality of your custom cabinets is ultimately up to you. You can choose to add a worn and distressed cabinet finish. You can opt to purchase taller double-door cabinets for ceilings taller than 8′ to get the desired floor-to-ceiling design. The possibilities are wide open. For example, at Grandior Custom Cabinets, the potential cabinet combinations easily surpass 20,000!
Key Features & Benefits
- Bespoke Design: They are tailored to your exact requirements, including dimensions, style, and storage solutions.
- High-Quality Materials: Custom cabinets often feature durable materials like solid wood and high-grade plywood, unlike some prefabricated options that may use particleboard.
- Personalized Features: You can incorporate unique elements like specialized storage, custom hardware, and specific finishes.
- Maximize Space: They can be designed to fit into challenging or unusual spaces, optimizing storage and layout.
- Enhanced Functionality: Custom designs can incorporate features that improve accessibility and organization.
- Increased Home Value: High-quality custom cabinets can be a valuable addition to a home, potentially increasing its resale value.
- Unique Style: Custom cabinets allow you to express your individual style and create a kitchen that is truly your own.
- More options: Custom cabinets offer more wood species, more colors and stains, specialty finishes, custom colors, color-match, and more design availability. This means limitless design options!
Considerations
- Higher Cost: Custom cabinets generally come with a higher price tag due to the specialized design and craftsmanship involved.
- Longer Lead Time: Designing, building, and installing custom cabinets can take more time than pre-fabricated options.
- Professional Expertise: Working with a professional designer and installer is often recommended to ensure a successful outcome.
Cost & Installation of Custom Cabinetry
Of course, the freedom to personalize your cabinetry comes at a higher cost. Custom cabinets will always be more expensive than stock cabinetry.
Custom cabinet prices are challenging to estimate because it all boils down to your individual selections. For example, cabinets with melamine interiors will be cheaper than authentic wood—this simple selection can add or subtract hundreds, and even thousands, from your final bill.
Prices can fluctuate depending on the materials, finishes, styles, and accessories you choose. As you can see, it’s a wide range. In a way, that’s a positive. How much you decide to spend (or not spend) is up to you. When it comes to custom renovation projects, no two kitchens are ever alike.
What’s Next?
Choosing kitchen cabinetry is one of the most important decisions in any kitchen renovation project. As you weigh your options between pre-made, semi-custom, and custom cabinetry, take your time to decide which choice is ideally suited to you.
Pre-made cabinets offer more in terms of budget and immediate availability, while custom cabinets offer greater design flexibility, better design options, and superior quality. Semi-custom is the bridge between the two. Time to get out that old pen and paper, and with the information provided in this article, write out a pros and cons list of your own.
No matter what your decision and budget, we’re here for you at Grandior. With over 20 years of experience to our name, we provide our clients with a wholly customized experience with our talented team of designers.
Visit us at our Hunt Valley, MD showroom or request a consultation to get started on your dream remodel today.
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