Do you find your house mysterious and perplexing?  

I have decided to bravely serve as tour guide to the home.  Each month I will dedicate one of my columns to illuminating some part of the house that most people might not know much about.  

This week’s topic goes along with my Kitchen theme for December: Kitchen Cabinets  

All in all, this may be one of the single most expensive items in your house.  Kitchens can cost ⅓ of the value of your home, and kitchen cabinets are easily ⅓ the cost of the kitchen.  Wow is right!  So if that’s the case, this is a pretty important decision.  One that deserves some research.  

Types of cabinets:

Cabinets are usually classified by how they are made.  

• Stock     These are cabinet boxes that are pre-made and available off the shelf.  The advantage here is price and speed since they are mass produced.  The disadvantage is that the options are limited.  
• Semi-custom  These cabinets are still made in the factory, but can be customized (to a certain extent) in the design process.  The advantage here over custom is usually found in the finish.  Since they are finished in a factory setting, the finish can have much higher tolerances.  The disadvantage is that they can cost as much or more than custom cabinets that are made locally
• Custom   These cabinets are custom made (usually locally) for your kitchen.  They are often finished onsite after being installed.  The advantage here is that if you can dream it, it can be done, and that the cabinets can be made to fit exactly into your kitchen.  The disadvantage can be the cost over stock cabinets, and the finish may not be quite as high as the factory finishes.

Tips:

• Spend most of your time in design.  The inches matter here.  Use a trained kitchen designer to help plan out the best kitchen for you
• Expect to get what you pay for.  If you want cheap, you will get it.  
• Consider color.  White has been the “it” color for several years now, but it tends to show chips and wear much faster.  

Parts of a Cabinet:

• Box   This box holds the whole thing together.  The construction quality of the box will help determine the durability of the cabinets.  The best quality boxes are plywood ½” or thicker.

• Face (or frame)  This is the front of the cabinet–the part you can see on the outside.  Unless the cabinet is European style, which means it has no face frame.  Look for solid wood face frames.

• Door   This is where the style of the cabinet is determined.  Picking a door style and type is important.  Full overlay means you see all door and little frame.  Partial overlay means you see door and some frame.  Full Inset means the door is set back flush inside the frame.  

• Drawer  The hardware here is everything.  Cheap hardware can be as little as $3 per slide, but they will quickly become frustrating.  Good hardware can be $30 or more per slide, but the difference is clear.  Consider soft close to help prevent slamming (unless you enjoy using that for effect in kitchen arguments)

Hope that helps.  If you have more questions, feel free to ask me.  If I don’t know the answer, one of my architects or interior designers certainly would.   

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