why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

My kitchen is a long kitchen. So I would have cabinets along two walls and a large island at the front corner. When I priced cabinets the custom comes in at about $10,,000 more (consumers, kitchens by ken Kelly) then the stock cabinets from kitchen depot. I don't see much difference in the design. The only thing really is I'd lose an inch or so at either end, a slightly smaller island and a slight space on either side of the window above sink.
Do you think it's worth spending an extra 10 grand for this?
I guess it would be nice to have a little better off a in door style too but I'm not sure if it would be worth it.

Am I going to regret going with the stock?

why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

I am guessing the quality of custom cabinets versus stock cabinets is what would account for the price difference.

why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

I used consumers and got kraftmaid. They are wood and the only thing I have is a small spacer panel and you would never know it. Love them.

They aren't stock but they aren't custom. Happy medium IMO.

Re: why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

The biggest difference is that those stock cabinets are particle board construction. Your interior shelves on your base cabinets are useless (the shelf is half the depth). You can not customize your interior shelving, whether it be pull outs, adjustable or pull out pot and pan drawers.

Custom cabinets give you real wood doors that are stained, painted or glazed, all plywood construction. These things drive the prices up. In custom cabinets you even have a choice of woods (cherry, ash and oak)

Try HD or Lowes and look at the Kraftsmaid or Thomasville lines. Those are solid wood doors and drawers and they give you the option of a full plywood box. They usually have promotions if you get all wood you get 10% off. The 2 times we used Kraftsmaid, we had that coupon. They if you spend X amount of $ you get X$ amount off. Kraftmaid also comes standard now with soft close cabinets, before it was only drawers and you had to buy and install the part for the doors.

Have pots and pan drawers as opposed to cabinets also drive a price up. So I would actually look at your quotes and compare them side by side. You may be getting different base cabinets. They may have included crown moldings, end panels for fridges and dishwasher if needed, you said you were doing an island, was a panel added to the back to look like cabinets, light rail for under wall cabinets.

Now, with all that said, you will still get a beautiful kitchen with stock cabinets, you are just limited to what you can do.

Re: why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

The stock cabinets are not particle board. They are 3/4 inch plywood same as custom. I didn't have a choice in wood but it is real wood (alder), all soft close cabinets and doors. Also the stock cabinets had large pots and pan drawers, crown molding, side panel for fridge. And island is wood all around with cabinets, drawers, and place for microwave. Also I can choose between pull out or regular shelves for cabinets.

So what am I missing? I mean it would be nice to get the added little touches of custom but I'm trying to understand if it really justifies $10,000
I did like the choices of door panels and color slightly better for custom.

I thought doing my kitchen would be more fun than this.

Re: why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

Get a quote from Dynamic Kitchens and Bath from here. They did my custom cabints cheaper than Home Depot and they are great quality all wood maple cabinets.

Re: why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

i honestly dont think its worth it to spend that much more for custom cabinets
we are almost done with our kitchen remodel and we love the stock cabinets we ended up with.

i believe the main benefit of custom is that you can have sizes that you want. we had a few inches of dead space above our cabinets bc the stock sizes didnt fit right, so we just got molding to cover it up. we also had a few inches of space (a 6inch space) between the refrigerator and the next cabinet that we ended up making a spice rack pull out instead of dead space (the cabinet company ordered the 6inch cover and we got the pull out from home depot and our contractor installed it).
10k is a lot of money for those small little things IMO

Re: why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

Message edited 3/3/2014 2:23:32 PM.

Re: why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

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Re: why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

many people will tell you custom.

i do not have a custom kitchen, and in my opinion its the nicest kitchen i know. JK, obviously i love my taste, but seriously, i wouldnt over spend if you dont have to.

Re: why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

Hi Marcie, This is Ken Kelly, I only saw your post last night, so sorry for the delayed response. In my experience the only way you could have a $ 10,000 difference is if you are: 1. Buying a $100,000 kitchen or 2. You are not comparing apples to apples.
The details make all the difference.

Here’s the challenge. Since they cannot duplicate our design with stock cabinets, but we can duplicate their’s, bring me your Kitchen Depot quote and I will give you a line by line comparison. Then, I will give you an ala cart list of all the differences.
Door style, wood species, and finishes –these items can make a huge difference in the costs.

My bet is that the $ 10,000 difference will drop to less then 10% difference. In the past when I’ve done this for clients it has dropped to ZERO.

Many times clients do not realize what those little “extras” or “upgrades” really cost.

I am that confident that the budget will work out.

Ken Kelly, Kitchen Designs by Ken Kelly

Re: why should i spend $10,000 more for custom cabinets over stock cabinets.

We used a master carpenter/cabinet maker for our cabinets. They actually came out to be almost the same price as the stock cabinets but there is such a difference in the quality. You will find a wind range in prices on custom cabinets so if it is something you are interested in I would shop around. I found better pricing with the smaller organization. Good luck!