Kitchen remodeling can increase your home’s resale value, but it can also increase your own daily enjoyment of your home. Cabinets are really the equivalent of furniture, and buying them is similar in many ways to buying a car. All cabinets will hold your stuff, just as all cars will get you around town. However, once you determine a budget for your car, you generally have to decide between a higher quality vehicle with fewer upgrades, or a fully loaded car of less expensive manufacture. Choosing cabinets is pretty much the same process. You must balance the quality of construction and materials versus the “bells and whistles." Deciding which type of cabinets are right for you and within your budget requires some planning before you begin talking to builders.
Cabinets come in three basic types - stock, semi-custom, and custom. Stock and semi-custom cabinets are manufactured in pre-determined sizes, and you purchase the size closest to your needs. Because the cabinets will not fit your space exactly, the extra gaps are covered with a variety of trim techniques, and you may lose usable storage space. Semi-custom cabinets generally come in a wider range of sizes and a wider choice of materials than stock cabinets. High end semi-custom cabinets can actually cost much more than many custom built cabinets - think fully loaded Chevy versus mid-level BMW. Custom cabinets are built specifically for your home, to the exact measurements of your space. Well made custom cabinets will look like they grew right out of your wall.
Low end stock cabinets are generally made of inexpensive materials with inexpensive assembly techniques. The final cost may actually be quite close to the cost for custom cabinets, but your money is spent on the visual bells and whistles rather than durability - think fully loaded Hyundai Accent versus a base line Toyota Camry.
If you are about to invest money in new cabinets as a means of home improvement, you owe it to yourself and your investment to be sure you are getting a good value. Although you may not think so initially, with careful planning and thoughtful choices, you may be able to afford custom made cabinets.
It is critical to know everything that you want - and to tell your cabinet maker - before you start on a project.
The price quote that you get from your cabinet maker will be based on a specific plan. Adding or changing things once the job has begun will cause the price to change. A lot of unnecessary stress will be generated for both you and your cabinet maker if a change causes the price to go above your budget, especially if it's a change you really want but forgot to mention earlier. Thoughtful pre-planning can avoid that type of problem.
Here's how you do it: Sit down and make three lists.
List one is Usage. Include all the ways in which your cabinets will be used. For example, note how often you cook, how many people use the kitchen at a time, whether you have a lot of pots and pans, whether you have a lot of cooking gadgets, whether those gadgets need counter, shelf, or drawer space, whether you use a lot of spices, if you bake, if you entertain in the kitchen, if you have dishes you want to display, if you have other decorative items you want to display, how much food storage you need, etc.
List two is Needs. Include items on this list that are your absolute bottom line, the things without which you are not willing to move forward. This is the stage at which you should research the types of gadgets and hardware available. This list should also include a basic listing of the number of drawers and number of shelves you need, as drawers cost more than shelving.
List three is the Wish List. These are things that you really would like, but that you can live without if they push you over your budget.
With these three lists in hand, a cabinet maker can put together a bid for you that will meet both your needs and your budget.
Pamela Parker owns Perfect Piece, a custom cabinet and furniture shop in Austin, Texas. www.furnturewithflair.com |
