Kitchen Kabinet

Hope I got this in the correct forum. Can someone please explain to me WHY I should go for expensive cabinets and not Kraftmaid in our (new to us) house? We remodeled our cabin a couple years ago and I used Kraftmaid cabinets - love them and the many options available.

We bought a house and are planning a major remodel (house is for us for many years, not for resale). Not saying this to be "braggy" but to better explain my dilemma - the house is a very nice house in what is called a fancy neighborhood. When I tell people I plan to use Kraftmaid cabinets they look at me like I have 2 heads - I guess it is just expected that expensive cabinets would be used in that quality of house and neighborhood.

I just don't get it. I'm not trying to be cheap but I just can't see the difference in the Kraftmaid ones versus the real expensive ones.

What am I missing? What am I not seeing?

Quote:

Kraftmaid makes several lines of cabinets of varying quality/construction levels, most of which are more than adequate for most people. The more expensive lines of cabs generally have more bells and whistles, and "better" construction- things like dovetailed drawer boxes, plywood carcases, etc. The question is- do you really need any of those things?

In checking the info on Kraftmaid, it looks like they have the dovetail, plywood, etc. That's why I just can't figure out why they are not considered as good.

What's wrong with Kraftmaid? It's another Masco product which are the best on earth. I been selling them for 30 years and will not touch any other brand. I do prefer the Merillat brand which is all that graces my showroom. Merillats high end offering is called Merillat Masterpiece and is made by Kraftmaid. Kraftmaid makes them and Merillat stamps their name in the drawers. Just like Kenmore makes appliances for Sears and Sears stamps their name on them.

There are not many brands more costly then Kraftmaid or any other Masco made product. You want to go higher you can go Omega Cabinets but you have to be real wealthy to afford them. Then you can go Rutt Cabinets or worse yet... Poggenpohl is the most expensive cabinet in the world. Side by side your $10,000 Kraftmaid kitchen becomes $140,000 in Poggenpohl. Ugly too I may add.

I challenge you. Go to Chandlers Plywood Products in Huntington, WV or Reico Distributors in Salam, VA which are closest to you and look at the Merillat Masterpiece. Tell me they dont stand up to the best.

If you want to do your own research then here are some of the best mid range brands in cabinetry:

Merillat
Plain N Fancy
Woodmode
Wellborne
Thomasville
Karman
Huntwood
Custom Cubbards
Shiloh
Cardell

Those are some, there are more. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT buy from Home Depot or Lowes unless you like being raped. They charge full list price. You would not pay full list price/sticker price/MSRP for your new car would you? Then why pay it for cabinets.

And do not be afraid to buy particle board boxes. Only the box is particle board. The face, doors and drawer faces will always be solid wood. Save your money on places no one will ever see and then use that savings to deck out your kitchen with all kinds of options and goodies.

Hope this gives you some starting points........
Good luck!

Quote:

In checking the info on Kraftmaid, it looks like they have the dovetail, plywood, etc. That's why I just can't figure out why they are not considered as good.

Almost all brands have lessor cost boxes which will have a particle board melamine box but offer an upgraded solid maple dove tailed drawer box with undermount guides and soft closers in that particle board box. This I recommend. As I said in my last post, save your money. Ignore popular belief that all plywood cabinet boxes are superior. They are not. Plus they add 20% to the cost of the kitchen.

Go into Lowes or Home Depot and walk into the lumber section. Look at the stacks of plywood. The stacks of plywood, all the top sheets look like a banana dont they. Now look at the particle board. The entire stack is flat as flat can be and will remain that way for 500 years. Now tell me which is better.

Save your money.

Here is what you do: Buy a PB box but upgrade the drawers to solid maple dovetailed with soft close undermount drawers. This upgrade cost about $40 per drawerr. Of course if you buy the upper end all wood box this feature is included. Now....on any exposed ends you buy a wood veneer skin. They are already pre cut to fit uppers or lowers. They are called BEPs All faceframes stick past the sides a quarter inch. We call this the ear. The real wood 3/16 skin will tuck right behind this ear. And no one would ever know that you do not have all wood boxes because everything exposed is real wood.

Guess how much you just saved by that advice?

Quote:

Kraftmaid makes several lines of cabinets of varying quality/construction levels, most of which are more than adequate for most people. The more expensive lines of cabs generally have more bells and whistles, and "better" construction- things like dovetailed drawer boxes, plywood carcases, etc. The question is- do you really need any of those things?

Several years ago I read a great comment on another house-renovation site: "Kitchen cabinetry is nothing more than fancy boxes." And you know what? It's 100% true. Kitchen cabinets are simply boxes in various sizes that are made of a wood or wood-like material, with doors and drawers added to them. That's all they are, yet many people think nothing of spending mega-bucks on "fancy boxes" with bells and whistles that they most likely don't need and/or will rarely use.

desertsun41, I hear you about those Rutt cabinets! People seem to think that if their house costs more than X dollars they HAVE TO have Rutt or Smallbone cabinetry, a Sub-Zero fridge, a Viking range, and more granite than you can see in Yosemite, or else their friends and neighbors will sneer. So silly.

Quote:

Several years ago I read a great comment on another house-renovation site: "Kitchen cabinetry is nothing more than fancy boxes." And you know what? It's 100% true. Kitchen cabinets are simply boxes in various sizes that are made of a wood or wood-like material, with doors and drawers added to them. That's all they are, yet many people think nothing of spending mega-bucks on "fancy boxes" with bells and whistles that they most likely don't need and/or will rarely use.

desertsun41, I hear you about those Rutt cabinets! People seem to think that if their house costs more than X dollars they HAVE TO have Rutt or Smallbone cabinetry, a Sub-Zero fridge, a Viking range, and more granite than you can see in Yosemite, or else their friends and neighbors will sneer. So silly.

You said what I said but just more simple....but just as correct. You are right on. It's just a box. Nearly all carry the same 5 year or a lifetime warrenty. Only the colors are different.

I said this before so forgive me if you heard it. People wak into my kitchen store every day and rather then say hello, they just start hollaring "I DO NOT WANT ANY PARTICLE BOARD CABINETS, JUST SHOW ME ALL WOOD". Then I say whatcha got in your hand? They say oh I brought in a piece of the flooring I just bought so I can match it to a cabinet color. I take it from their hands and say: "do you realize that this floor is nothing but pressed plastic with wood grain particles, and no wood to be found? They are stunned. They quickly realize that they have made themselves look more stupid then a box of rocks. They are ashamed.

So why is it people dont walk into a flooring store screaming "I ONLY WANT WOOD". That Pergo crap is the worst garbage on the face of the earth. Pure junk. All those laminate floorings are trash. Sounds like you are walking on plastic too, which is all it is.

When ordering cabinets on a budget you really need to think long and hard about whether any add-on upgrades are going to justify their cost.

For example, in my last house I got talked into getting the pullout shelves in some (not all) of my lower cabinets. They sounded really convenient but you know what? In the 5 years I owned that house, I probably used the pull-out feature less than a dozen times! I found no difference in convenience between the pull-out and fixed shelves because I did what I've always done which is to put the seldom-used items toward the back of all the shelves anyway. So I could/should have saved myself a little money if I'd said No Thanks to the pullout shelf option.

However... for a wheelchair-bound person the pullout shelves probably make a lot of sense and would be worth the extra money.

Also, quite a few built-in options can be added on later with a store-bought accessory that will be cheaper than if you add it to the original cabinetry cost. For example, you can easily find corner lazy-susans in stores and online if you eventually decide you need/want one. It won't look as "nice" as one that matches the cabinet interior but honestly now: Who else but you will ever see it? Especially when the top of the lazy susan is covered up by whatever you're storing in the cabinet.

Ditto for spice racks and whatever else the kitchen cabinet manufacturers have thought up to entice customers into spending more money than they originally intended...

Kitchen Kabinet

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