Kitchen Cabinet Comparison 2017
Below is our list of the top selling cabinet makers in the United States, and our kitchen cabinet comparison for those brands.
Our reviews rate how these cabinet brands compare for construction quality and for value considering the price point of each cabinet line. Price point is rated from 1 to 6 with 6 being the most expensive cabinetry on the market.
We compare kitchen cabinetry assuming each line is upgraded to the top level of construction available.
Read The Most recently posted cabinet reviews below:
Cabinet Reviews: Ratings for the top 100 cabinet brands.
A grade of A for construction quality will not be equal across different price levels, as the more expensive price point cabinets will have far nicer finishes and construction options.
The value grade we give is not a rating about the quality of the cabinetry but a rating of how good an investment a cabinet line is considering it’s cost.
For example, many of the most expensive well-made cabinet lines receive lover marks on value.
Even though as designers we think the cabinetry is the best in its class. These lines receive lower kitchen cabinet ratings on value simply because there are competitors offering the same quality at slightly lower prices.
Note: The highest grade for Quality in any frameless European style cabinet line is a B. While frameless cabinetry is easier to access and is sleeker looking, it is also less durable than the best made framed cabinetry.
FOR PEOPLE OUTSIDE OUR SERVICE AREA OF WITHIN A TWO HOUR DRIVE OF OUR BALA CYNWYD PENNSYLVANIA OFFICE, BELOW IS A LINK TO RECOMMENDED DEALERS IN OTHER AREAS. GOOD DEALERS CLOSE TO YOU CAN BETTER ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT’S AVAILABLE IN YOUR AREA:
Recommended Dealers
| Cabinet line | Price level 1-6 | Quality | Value | |
| 6 Square | 2 | B+ | B+ | |
| American Woodmark | 3 | B | C+ | |
| Aristocraft | 2 | C | C | |
| Bertch | 4 | A | A- | |
| Bishop | 4 | A | A- | |
| Bishop Frameless | 5 | B | B+ | |
| Bremtown | 6 | A+ | C | |
| Brighton | 4 | A | A+ | |
| Brookhaven Closed | Closed | A | B | |
| Cabico | 4 | B | B | |
| Candlelight | 4 | A | A | |
| Canyon Creek | 3 | B | B | |
| CNC | 1 | B+ | A | |
| Collier | 5 | A | B- | |
| Crystal | 5 | A+ | A | |
| Decora | 4 | A | A | |
| Design-Craft | 4 | B | B | |
| Diamond | 4 | B | B | |
| Durasupreme | 5 | B+ | B | |
| Durasupreme frameless | 3 | C | C | |
| (Omega)Dynasty Frameless | 4 | B | C | |
| (Omega)Dynasty Pinnacle Framed | 5 | A | B | |
| Fabuwood | 2 | A | A | |
| Fabuwood Frameless | 3 | B | A+ | |
| Fieldstone | 4 | A | B+ | |
| Grabill | 6 | A+ | B | |
| Haas | 3 | B | B | |
| Hanssem | 1 | B+ | B | |
| Homecrest | 3 | B+ | B | |
| IKEA (frameless) | 1 | C | C | |
| Innermost framelss | 3 | B | B | |
| Kabinart | 3 | D | D | |
| Kemper | 3 | B | C | |
| Kitchencraft Frameless | 3 | C | B | |
| Kith | 3 | B+ | C+ | |
| Kountry Kraft framed | 6 | A | B | |
| Kountry Kraft frameless | 6 | B | B | |
| Kraftmaid | 4 | B+ | A | |
| Legacy | 3 | B+ | C- | |
| LifeArt | 1 | C+ | A | |
| Marsh | 2 | B+ | B | |
| Medallion | 5 | B+ | C+ | |
| Merillat | 2 | C | D | |
| Mid Continent | 2 | C | C | |
| Mouser | 5 | A | A- | |
| Mouser Frameless | 5 | B | A | |
| Ovation | 4 | B | C | |
| Plain and Fancy | 6 | A | B | |
| Poggenpohl frameless | 6 | B | C | |
| QuakerMaid frameless | 4 | B | B | |
| Rutt | 6 | A+ | A | |
| Schrock | 3 | B | B | |
| Schuler | 5 | B+ | C+ | |
| Shenandoah | 3 | B | C+ | |
| Shiloh | 4 | C | C | |
| Showplace | 3 | B+ | B- | |
| Solid Wood Cabinets | 1 | A | A | |
| Starmark | 4 | A | B+ | |
| Stylecraft | 6 | A+ | B+ | |
| Thomasville* | 4 | B- | C- | |
| Timberlake | 3 | B | C+ | |
| Ultracraft Frameless | 2 | C | C | |
| Village | 5 | A | A | |
| Waypoint | 2 | B | B | |
| Wellborn | 4 | A | A | |
| Wellsford | 5 | A+ | A+ | |
| Wolf | 1 | B+ | B+ | |
| Woodharbor | 4 | B+ | C | |
| Woodmode Closed | Closed | A | A- | |
| Yorktowne | 3 | C | D | |
* Note:
Home Depot can change who manufactures this line although Masterbrands has been manufacturing the line under the Thomasville name for over ten years.
Remember that choosing the designer, the cabinet dealer, and the installer you are working with is just as important as the cabinet line.
Do you need updated rankings for these cabinet lines and an additional 30 popular cabinet lines?
Below is the most up to date kitchen cabinet comparison.
Link to: Cabinet Reviews for 2022. Ratings for Kitchen Cabinet Brands. – (mainlinekitchendesign.com)
Are you looking for more general reviews of cabinetry from 2015 explaining types of cabinetry construction?
https://www.mainlinekitchendesign.com/general/2015-popular-kitchen-cabinetry-brand-comparison/
For those sensitive to the fumes new cabinetry can give off:
Cabinet Off Gassing, Carb2 Compliance, and VOC’s.
Hoping you make all the right choices…and of course…Bon Appetit!
Main Line Kitchen Design
Paul, John, Stacia, Ed, Tom, and Julie
1 Replies to “Kitchen Cabinet comparison for 2017. Reviews of the top selling cabinet lines.”
Rosamond
Thank you so much for your response! Yes, I agree that it must be a very small operation. Their website leaves a lot to be desired! Ha. Thanks for your input.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
R.D. Henry Cabinetry looks well made. I’d prefer the framed line to their frameless line and I have no idea how they compare price wise.
Based on their web site Smithport Cabinets must be a tiny custom line. I don’t like it when a cabinet web site has American flags waving and yet no information on how the cabinets are constructed. The lack of transparency and the flag waving worries me but based on our recent election for many it does not.
Rosamond
Oops, I meant Custom Cupboard Cabinets were bought out by R.D. Henry. Sorry about that!
Rosamond
What do you know about Country Cupboard Cabinets? They were bought out last year by R.D. Henry and now go by that name. Also, have you ever heard of Smithport Cabinets? Two of our local cabinet shops are touting these as their top of the line cabinets but I can’t find any reviews for them! Thanks.
CA Clance
We are considering a Contractor and he said he could get us a good deal on off-white cabinets. He is using J&K cabinets. Have you heard of them? What type of reputation do they have?
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Buying cabinetry through contractors never rarely saves you money and usually gets you a bad design.
Buy the cabinets from the cabinet companies direct and get the design help you need and then you know the contractors aren’t marking them up or getting a kickback.
Architects, interior designers and contractors almost never are getting you a better price for cabinets they are getting kick backs and preventing the cabinet showrooms and their designers from helping you. When I was a kitchen designer working for an independent showroom I gave all the contractor, architect, and interior designer jobs to other kitchen designers because I felt the system was wrong, and not being able to tell customers that the design from their “professional” was amateurish made me crazy. J&K is builder line with better choices for similar prices.
Carrie
I wish you guys were closer to my area, with all the information you’ve readily made available here I think you guys are extremely knowledgeable and really very talented. I’m in central NJ, close to the very start of the Jersey Shore, which I believe is right out of your service area, even for travel. We’re 10 miles inland from Sandy Hook. 🙁 I have quite a few KD’s in my area but haven’t visited any in person just yet, we’re in the research stage as of now. I want to go in as informed as I can be in order to be able to make the best decisions for our home and our family, so I’ve been educating myself on quality vs cheap… There are real differences and it’s not very easy to figure it out, it takes a lot of work. And I really want to be able to put my trust into the designer we end up choosing. Thanks to you guys for all the information you’ve put out, sharing your combined years of experience and knowledge has been extremely helpful to me 🙂
Carrie
See, that’s what I was missing!!! Thank you so so much!! Lots of info to research, starts becoming jumbled after reading so much!! Thank you, that distinction is a huge one!
Carrie
Also, your blog is the BEST thing I’ve seen on the topic thus far. Thank you for this. Many of us just want quality when spending this much money and it’s really hard to find any substantial comparison shopping in this field. It’s not just about price, it’s a real investment and so it’s equally about quality as well. So again, THANK YOU!!!
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Surprisingly construction quality is not an expensive thing. But many even expensive cabinet companies don’t bother adding 5% to the cost of their cabinetry because contractors and home builders don’t ever want to pay for it.
Carrie
I’m confused as to why you give Decora a better rating for quality than Starmark? Decora uses staples & glue to piece their cabinets together (I had to dig through their 470 page PDF file to even find that out) where Starmark uses screws & glue. Both use all plywood so this is the only real distinction I can see between the brands besides different finish options. I’m only asking because I’m about to do a big Kitchen remodel and I’m considering one of these lines, and for the sturdiness of the construction I think Starmark might win with this slightly better construction application; staples can slip over time just like nails, but screws won’t budge. Give me a reason you like Decora more, you might be able to change my mind!
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Hi Carrie,
Starmark,Fieldstone, Medalalion, DuraSupreme, and several other high end lines only use a 1/3″ thick back. Decora, Kraftmaid, Bishop and many better made custom lines use a 3/4″ solid wood hanging rail. Even the least expensive line we carry Fabuwood uses a 1/2″ plywood back which is much better than 1/3″.
The back of the cabinet especially the back of wall cabinets are very important. The backs are what get screwed to the wall and hold the wall cabinets up. Problems with 1/3″ backs can arise because walls are never perfectly flat and have bumps and bows. The contractors are supposed to shim the backs of the cabinets to account for any irregularities in the walls but some homes are very out of whack and this can be particularly hard. A small bow in a wall will pull the back of a 1/3″ plywood back back to the wall when the screw to the wall is tightened essentially pulling the back of the cabinet away from the side.
Solid wood hanging rails will not flex like plywood and 1/2″ plywood not only flexes about 50% less than 1/3″ plywood but it has more wood to catch and hold onto the side of the cabinet.
Wellsford the full custom custom line we carry uses 1/2″ plywood backs and a 3/4″ thick hanging rail so it is doubly strong, Or the Bishop Ultimate box uses 3/4″ plywood sides and a 1/2″ plywood back, Kraftmaid that we don’t carry has a similar offering.
In our rating system you can not get better than a B+ for construction with a 1/3″ back. And so the 6Square line we carry only gets a B+ for construction. But it costs 50% less expensive then some of those expensive lines with 1/3″ backs. Of course the stained finishes on the expensive lines are more beautiful but surprisingly most of our customers can’t tell the difference,
Robin Shiffrin
We really appreciate your guidance. We are looking at Hanssem cabinets, the ones that are 3/4 inch plywood cases and have blum hinges and drawers hardware, and 1/4 inch bottoms in their drawers. They say their plywood is formaldehyde free (in the ones we would order.) What are your thoughts for those compared to CNC? We are wanting a white finish, so are most concerned with finish durability, carb 2 compliance, and durability for a kitchen with young children.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Hi Robin,
Even though we carry CNC I would recommend getting a higher grade of cabinet than either CNC or Hanssem if you are looking for durability. Painted white finishes are less durable to begin with but I worry that these very inexpensive lines have finishes that are a little rougher and will get dirty more easily. Construction wise upgraded you should be OK but if durability is a priority I would get a more expensive foundation for the kitchen you are building. Don’t splurge on quartz countertops, more expensive appliances, and farm sinks. Get a great design first and these lines also tend to be represented by less experienced designers. I’d upgrade to a cabinet line at least to the level of Fabuwood or a mid priced line like Homecrest or Timberlake. Timberlake is sold also as American Woodmark (Home Depot) or Shenendoah (Lowes).
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Kraftmaid is better. We have other comparable lines.
Margie
Do you sell both?
Margie
Thank you very much. Between Kraftmaid and CNC which would you recommend?
Paul Mcalary
Kraftmaid is a better choice
than Schrock and certainly a less
Expensive Line like CNC. We use The
Yale appliance website for appliance
Reviews.
Margie
Do you have any response to my prior inquiry?
Rosamond
Do you have any knowledge of RD Henry Cabinetry? Wondering how they compare to Brookhaven?
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Never heard of them. Brookhaven is a guaranteed good product.
Margie
Thank you for your quick response. The designer did gear towards Shrock and CNC. Are these brands better than Kraftmaid? My budget is limited. I have to also purchase appliances. Any recommendations on appliances?
Margie
Remodeling kitchen: Kitchen designer has affiliation with these 4 cabinetry: Schrock; Designers Choice; CNC and Style craft. Can you kindly provide me feed back on these brands? Which if any are good. Thank you.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Hi Margie,
Schrock is OK for the money and CNC is OK for a less expensive cabinet line we sell it sometimes. I don’t like the other lines. Actually when a dealer chose to represent all these particular lines it gives me pause that he or she did’t get one big winner out of 4.
Brian
Hello, we’re from a small northern California town. We recently spoke with a Wellborn provider and the Kitchen Estimate was rather pricey.
What are your comparison thoughts on CNC, Fabuwood, Solidwoof and Wolf?
Also we plan on having the cabinets painted and using a Quartz countertop as well.
Thank you!
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Those other lines are much less expensive than Wellborn. Wellborn is a great line but not a budget line.
Brian
Hello, we are in a small Northern California town.
We recently got some rough quotes from a Wellborn vendor for our kitchen remodel Price was relatively steep for our home I feel ($40kish).
How would you say CNC, Fabuwood, Solid Wood, and Wolf compare to Wellborn as we really liked their style and feel of the cabinets?
Also we are looking to have a lighter grey painted lower cabinet and a white painted upper with quartz counter tops.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Yes Design Craft and just about all cabinet brands with the word craft in them are frameless.
Melanie
Is Design Craft frameless cabinetry? Thank you.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Wellborn has several lines from reasonably priced to expensive. All are good values for the money.
GSills
You seem to like Wellborn.. The cabinet company also sells Wellborn. What percentage higher in price would they approximately run ?
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
No we don’t rate them well. There are many other cheaper better choices just look at the ratings in the blog.
GSills
Thanks for the responses. I’d love to buy the best, but I’m trying to keep it reasonably priced. We are doing about a $175,000 renovation in a condo on the ocean. A chunk of that is all new flooring and baths, AC, etc….. I want a good middle of the road cabinet that gives you some options and will wear well over time. Would you consider Kith or their frameless line Eudora to be “good middle of the road?
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Executive is a frameless line but well made for frameless construction. If you aren’t getting contemporary style cabinets that need to be frameless to look the best why get a less durable cabinet? The Executive web site also lies by saying their frameless construction gives 15% more storage than framed cabinetry. Actually frameless construction gives at most 5% more storage space. It is however easier to access that space. Putting lies on the company web site doesn’t give me a great feeling about the company.
GSills
How would the Kith cabinets compare to Executive Cabinets
GSills
I’m considering Kith cabinets for a condo. We’re turning a large dining room into the kitchen. The price is very good in comparison to other product lines. . Any experiences with Kith ?…
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Yes we give it two c’s in this blog.
Melanie
Thank you so much for your quick response! This is seriously the most helpful blog I’ve found on the web and have come back to this thread several times. I did see that on your blog about the frameless and now it makes sense to me why some of their drawers did not look straight and kind of moved around when you pulled them out. Thanks again. We are really between Bertch and Design Craft but given they are about $8,000 apart in pricing I might be willing to do the B rated Design Craft for a home we will only be in for about 5 more years as the line does offer some customization. Have a great Saturday!
Melanie Morland
I meant to type ‘compared’ above not impaired 😉
Melanie Morland
Hello! I am so glad I found this thread. It has really helped me narrow things down! We are looking for mid range cabinets for a suburban house and are looking at Design Craft. Today though we stopped in a local cabinet store who carries ProCraft which I don’t see on the list. Have you heard of them? Impaired to the Design Craft they seem lower quality but maybe I am not the right judge! Thank you very much.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Hi Melanie,
No I haven’t heard of Procraft. I checked their web site and they are another frameless line with no specs on how their cabinetry is made. As you will read in our blog we aren’t big fans of frameless cabinetry in general except for very contemporary door styles and not being transparent as a company gives you another two strikes.
Paul McAlary
Hi Shamonne.
Yes we have very good results selling Brighton inset and beaded inset. Our Bishop line is a little less expensive and does inset successfully, but we do find that they require more replacement parts when we design in Bishop inset. We sell both Brighton and Bishop inset cabinetry for the same price that Home Centers sell some Kraftmaid full overly doorstyles. Because of this we sell an unusually high percentage of inset cabinetry. So we have more experience with inset cabinetry than most dealers in our area.
Our Wellsford line does inset at an even higher level of exactness. They are so confident in their construction standards that they permanently attach the Blum Blumotion drawer tracks to the back of their cabinets eliminating Blum’s adjustable back drawer track attachment.
shamonne
pmcalary, would you recommended inset styles in Brighton Cabinetry? As you mentioned, inset can be difficult to be done well so I wonder if Brighton Cabinetry would be good choice if I want inset. Thanks so much for you blog!!
Cory
I have a few questions. Why are you ranking Omega Cabinetry’s lines by calling the frameless line “Dynasty Frameless” and the custom line “Dynasty Pinnacle?” Why haven’t you ranked the actual Dynasty semi-custom line? They are Owned by Omega Cabinetry and the different lines are called: Dynasty (semi-custom), Full Access (frameless), and Pinnacle (full custom). Medallion has four lines within their umbrella as well. Why haven’t you ranked them individually either? I actually question a few of these rankings since the lines you carry have better rankings versus what you go against.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Hi Cory,
All the ranked cabinet lines are assumed upgraded to their best construction. If we ranked the lines you refer to un-upgraded they would get very low marks. So only listing their upgraded ranking actually skews their ranking upward. My extended family are Medallion distributors across 6 states so I tried to rank Medallion without regard to my own Family. Feel free to use other resources if you feel we are not impartial enough.
Joan
Which maple white cabinet would you recommend that your company sells?
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
All 8 cabinet lines we sell have fine white finishes. In maple the least expensive line would be 6 Square. There are reasons customers would want to upgrade to some of the more expensive lines we carry like Bishop, Brighton, and Wellsford but durability of finish is not a reason. You need to work with a knowledgeable kitchen designer to have the advantages of the lines they carry explained to you. And as I am constantly remind people asking questions about cabinetry on our blog: The designs we get sent to us are usually so bad that getting a better design is far more important than the slight difference in construction quality in the cabinet lines we sell.
Joan
Are Kraftmaid cabinets the same at a local dealer’s shop and a big box store?
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Upgraded to the same levels all Kraftmaid cabinetry should be the same construction whether you are at a private dealer, Lowes, or The Home Depot. There usually is little difference in price between suppliers. Home centers and private dealers will all have a few door styles exclusive to them.
Home centers sometimes offer sales that aren’t from Kraftmaid that can make them a little less than private dealers but they also have been known to inflate pricing to offer discounts which I find dishonest. I also think that encouraging customers to purchase before a deadline breeds mistakes and bad designs which I also find questionable integrity wise.
Joan
We are planning a kitchen remodel and we want maple cabinets painted white. We have been looking at Kraftmaid and there are some bad reviews online for their painted white cabinets. What brand of maple cabinet painted white do you recommend that has a durable finish that does not expose the cracks as much over-time?
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Hi Joan,
All painted white cabinets have a less durable finish than a stained cabinet and because they are white will show any damage instantly. Kraftmaid has a fine finish. As with many online complaints the complaint is more about misconceptions and misplaced blame than actual faults. Because Kraftmaid is sold at both Home Depot and Lowes the people that buy Kraftmaid are often not informed and have unrealistic expectations. Here is a blog on why online reviews are not reliable:
https://www.mainlinekitchendesign.com/general/hard-compare-kitchen-cabinet-brands/
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
As far as smaller cabinet makers are concerned. It depends on how small. Small factories and production facilities are probably OK although they won’t have any good designers. Very small cabinet makers I would stay away from. And as I say all the time: The designs that get sent to us are almost always absolutely terrible. So as much as customers worry about cabinets they should be worrying about using a good designer. Here’s a blog on the very small cabinet makers:
https://www.mainlinekitchendesign.com/general/custom-cabinets-handmade-or-homemade/
shamonne
Thanks so much for your reply, pmcalary. If you don’t mind, I would like to ask you a few more questions.
1. Shiloh dealer is saying “beaded inset” is usually more forgiving and recommend it. This dealer has a good reputation although they’ve been around only from 2013. They said they don’t really have problems with “beaded inset”
2. Also we found a couple of local small cabinet makers. They have been in the area more than 30 years and have very very good reputation. I remember you said small shops don’t have “oven” or something for really good finish. But when I looked at their cabinets, their painted finish was amazing and they said it lasts for a long long time. So just wondering if it would be still better to go with a big manufacturer.
Thanks so much again for your input.
Shamonne
Thanks so much for helpful information regarding the cabinets. Currently I am planning major kitchen renovation. Around where I live, I was surprised to see Shiloh offers a very good price for insets. We also looked at Brookhaven but they have very limited door styles in our budget price range and it’s way more expensive if we want insets.
So we probably go with Shiloh but your rating seems a little low , which is concerning. Can you please tell me about your experience with Shiloh? Thanks so much!
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Hi Shamonne,
We might have been a little hard on Shiloh. But I worry about the very small hanging rail and the 3/8″ tops and bottoms on Shiloh cabinetry. In general Shiloh cabinetry construction is somewhat suspect. I would never recommend getting inset cabinetry from a cheaper cabinet line. Inset cabinetry is very hard to do well. For example we sell 6 Square cabinetry which is a less expensive line that does inset but none of our designers sell their inset products because the likelihood of problems is so much greater. We all believe that it takes a better made more expensive cabinet line to reliably build inset cabinetry. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Sury Vepa
Hi, Your site and blog are very informative. Thanks. We live in Maryland and are in the earlier stages of kitchen and bathroom remodeling. Regarding cabinetry, the proposals we are getting are from Ultracraft frameless (Ferguson suggested this, midcontinent, wolf. From your ratings these seem to fare worse than Fabuwood and CNC. We are given the impression that Ultracraft and midcontinent are a step up from wolf both in terms of quality and price. St. Martin was quoted as the high end. What we want is really a simple shaker cabinet style with reliable and durable construction and few add on accessories. Any suggestions on what we should look for. Thanks.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
CNC, Wolf and Mid Contenents aren’t that different but Fabuwood is a big step up from those lines. St Martin isn’t just a step up from those lines it is a giant step up in quality and in Price. There are lots of well made in between brands.
Ferguson is not known for having good kitchen designers. It is really more of a bath place. The one thing I always try to get our customers to understand is that the design itself is more important than the cabinet line. It is easy to get well made cabinets just use our rankings. Getting a good design very difficult. And customers because they aren’t kitchen designers usually believe the design they are doing can’t be improved. The blog below stresses this point:
https://www.mainlinekitchendesign.com/general/whats-the-best-investment-on-a-new-kitchen/
Maura
Hello! Great info since all opinions differ so greatly. Looking at Kraftmaid, Omega (dynasty ) & have you ever heard of Allwood cabinets? Not sure if better to go to kitchen place for Kraftmaid vantage or just do all upgrades at big box stores. Even found dealer that only sells to contractors, but not sure who can actually go there. Big decision & don’t want to mess it up. Costco sells the Allwood cabinetry & only one dealer in Pittsburgh.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Buying a kitchen at Costco sounds like a bad idea. More than good cabinets you need design help to get a good kitchen. Dealers that only sell to contractors will also be terrible designers. Because customers often don’t appreciate design they overlook the importance of good design. A well designed kitchen is far more valuable that any upgrades to cabinetry. Kraftmaid framed cabinets are the better choice here.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
DP,
They are a lower price point Pennsylvania brand with a broken web site where they are supposed to show how their cabinetry is made.
That is not encouraging.
Dp
How is echelon brand. I was told they are by Armstrong but don’t hear or read much about that brand being talked about. Thanks!
Dp
Thank you so much for detailed info on how to select cabinets and what to look for in getting good long lasting cabinets. I am getting a estimate for $14k for 26 cabinets and 14 drawers from home depot for American woodmark all plywood construction and solid wood doors. For kraftmaid for exact same number of cabinets and drawers and all plywood construction and solid door is coming to 20k. The woodmark price is very tempting plus I am getting what all good cabinets can have. I am very spectical to decide if I should go for it or not as I read lot of mix and negative reviews for delivery and receiving damaged goods and also lot of other measurement issues. I am planning to call HD person for final measurements before placing the order and most likely my contractor will be installing them. Can you please give me your expert advice to see if I should go for woodmark or not. Thank you so much for your time and guidance.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Both cabinet lines are well constructed when upgraded. The finishes will be nicer in Kraftmaid but if you spent the $6,000 on an upgraded countertop, appliances, and flooring you might like your finished kitchen more than the difference in Kraftmaid and Woodmark. This really comes down to how much you care about the difference in door style and finish and the how much tiny imperfections in the cabinet box or side panels bother you. There will me more slight defects in a less expensive cabinet line but they can be touched up or the cabinet replaced under warranty if they are unacceptable.
Anne
Do you have information about which companies have 1. made in USA cabinets? 2. Which companies are CARB2 compliant/low VOC?
Thanks!
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
All the higher priced cabinetry will be made in the US. The best buy in lower priced cabinetry will be for cabinetry owned by US companies and assembled in the US but the doors and cabinet fronts being made in China. Many cabinet companies will be carb compliant across all price ranges. The less expensive 6 Square and Fabuwood lines we carry are both carb compliant. You will need to ask your cabinet rep about the lines you are considering.
Lisa Smith
Thank you for this information!! This helps us decide and gives us an idea if we are getting the best for our budget.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the compliment. These are just the top 70 cabinet lines that we are familiar with. There are many good lines and good values not mentioned here, but if you apply the construction standards we discuss in our 2015 blog:
https://www.mainlinekitchendesign.com/general/2015-popular-kitchen-cabinetry-brand-comparison/
You can’t go wrong.
pmcalary[ Post Author ]
Hi Claire,
Do you have a question?
Claire Duplain
Great information. I have a kitchen that is to be approx. 10.4 x 11.5 with an additional area for two pantries: one approx. 36″ w X 24″ d x 93″ and one 24″ w x 24″ d x 93″ h.