Raleigh Kitchen Cabinets
How to Buy Kitchen Cabinets
How do you make the best decision in choosing a cabinet manufacturer, cabinet style and cabinet finish for your kitchen? With all the choices available in today’s marketplace, you will need some guidelines to chart your course.
The first question I ask my clients is this, “Are you going or are you staying?” Your strategy depends on if you need a short term or a long term solution. If you plan to be living in your home less than 3 years, then consider short term. Otherwise, take the long term strategy.
If you are going: (to sell your home within 2 years)
- Price is usually the most important factor
- Features are selected on the basis of appearance not functionality or utility
- If you are putting your home up for sale soon, timeliness may be more important than style or features
- Craftsmanship and design have to be “just good enough” to please the average person without complaint
- Service is not that important, as long as the job gets done on time. You can tolerate poor service to get a lower price.
If you are staying: (in your home for 2 years or longer)
- Thoughtfulness to design and functionality are very important. (This kitchen will be yours to enjoy for a lifetime)
- Craftsmanship will be part of the personality of your kitchen. You don’t want to be reminded of shoddy workmanship every time you enter your “dream kitchen”
- Features make the kitchen useful, so extras like deep pot drawers, roll out shelves, glass cabinet doors and “soft close” dovetail drawer boxes make the difference
- You want value for your money, but price will be second to quality and service
What causes a great deal of angst and frustration is when homeowners confuse these two strategies and try to blend them. Instead of ending up with what they want, they end up with the worst of both worlds. They either shop for price and receive little value or they pay too much for features they don’t want.
Once you have developed your strategy, move on to selecting a kitchen designer who will work with your ideas. Make sure to communicate your desires up front, so the designer knows how to help you best. Kitchen designers and planners will be limited by the manufacturer’s products they represent. Don’t expect a custom kitchen from a home improvement store kitchen designer. On the other hand, don’t expect a “no frills” dirt cheap kitchen from a custom cabinetmaker.
Some intelligent planning will get you off to a great start and a fruitful experience in realizing your kitchen dreams.