Kitchen Cabinet Buying Tips in Woodstock

Kitchen Cabinet buying tips in Woodstock
Buying Guide: Kitchen Cabinets and Kitchen Cabinet Hardware

Is your family one of the estimated 5 million that will be living on pizza and frozen dinners during a new kitchen installation this year? If so, you can speed up the process, make informed decisions and focus your resources wisely by doing your homework early. Start with your kitchen cabinets--not only will they be your kitchen's most dominant element, they'll probably take longer to get than any other component.
As you begin to shop for kitchen cabinets, you'll discover a nearly overwhelming variety: laminates, hardwoods, veneers, lacquered finishes and much more in hundreds of different styles, configurations and sizes. You'll find ready-to-assemble cabinets that can outfit a kitchen for under $1000 and high-end cabinets that cost more than many houses. How do you choose the right ones for your kitchen? The answer is to know what you're looking for before you set out, ask lots of questions and look closely at floor models.
Kitchen cabinet selectionIn addition to many sizes, manufacturers offer a wide selection of styles and finishes. It's not unusual for a single company to offer three different cabinet lines, distinguished by price and quality, and a dozen different door styles in each line. Styles typically range from contemporary laminates to traditional hardwoods like oak and cherry. Most companies also offer several finishes on natural woods.One way dealers can offer a broad selection without carrying an unwieldy inventory is to utilize a "box and door" program. They carry standard-sized cabinet "boxes" and a wide range of door and drawer fronts to fit the boxes.
Face-frame or frameless kitchen cabinets?When shopping for cabinets, you'll discover two main types: face frame and frameless (or "European-style"). Though some manufacturers make both, most make only one or the other. Despite a trend toward frameless cabinets, about 80% of the cabinets made by American manufacturers are the face-frame type.With a face frame cabinet, the front edge of the cabinet box is masked with a frame made from 1 by 2 hardwood. When fitting to an irregular wall, the frame around the perimeter can be shaved to fit and the frame makes it possible to use affordable, low-quality materials for cabinet sides. Unfortunately, it narrows opening sizes for doors and drawers.Frameless European-style cabinets are made up of panels finished on both sides and edged with a simple laminate banding or narrow strip. Most types utilize the "32-mm system." With these, holes are drilled on 32-mm increments vertically along each cabinet side panel. European hinges, cabinet joinery fittings, drawer slides, shelf pins and other hardware fasten to these holes, providing plenty of versatility and adaptability.Most ready-to-assemble cabinets are frameless. Assembling and modifying frameless cabinets is relatively easy. For more information, please see our guide to face-frame vs. frameless cabinets.
Photography courtesy of American Woodmark