Off-the-shelf kitchen cabinets: a primer on styles, options, and estimated costs for today's prefabricated units

Sunset, April, 1999 by Barbara Boughton

Cabinets can make or break a kitchen. The best cabinets provide the storage and display space you need while meeting your budget and expressing your personal style. But one-of-a-kind, custom-designed cabinetry isn't the only way to go. A broad spectrum of manufactured cabinets is now available, from Shaker-style wood varieties to sleek, contemporary models made with brightly colored laminates. You can special-order such features as glass doors with mullions, built-in wine racks, movable shelves, and utensil holders. Other options include divided wood drawers, pullout wire baskets, and even collapsible tables and refrigerated drawers.

It doesn't take a fortune to buy new cabinets. Most economy-priced lines can furnish a typical kitchen for $5,000 or less. If you're handy, you can also save money by buying cabinets that you assemble and install yourself.

To help you find the cabinets that fit your needs, we've put together a list of shopping tips from designers and contractors, a glossary of common terms, and a chart to illustrate the array of choices now on the market.

Tips from designers and contractors

* Bring a rough layout of your kitchen to your designer or cabinet shop. Be sure to include the exact measurements of doorways and window openings and casings.

* Measure your extra-large pots and pans so you can buy cabinets that are big enough for them.

* Consider going to a local cabinet shop if you want something that manufactured cabinets don't provide, such as exotic woods, elaborate detailing, or rounded corners. Many local cabinet shops offer competitive prices.

* Remember, most standard cabinets use solid wood for fronts and doors only. The sides, bottom, back, and interior are usually made of particle- or fiberboard, typically covered with wood veneer. You can buy sturdier varieties, for $30 to $100 more per cabinet, in which the sides, back, bottom, and interior are plywood. They're available from most manufacturers.

* Count on waiting at least two weeks for most cabinets, even stock varieties, and up to nine weeks for custom.

Cabinet-speak

FRAMED: Traditional-style cabinets with a visible cabinet frame. A good choice for classic decor.

FRAMELESS: The door covers the face of these cabinets, hiding the frame. They provide more storage space than framed varieties and are good for kitchens with a clean, modern look.

STOCK: Manufactured cabinets available in standard sizes, especially standard widths - that is, widths measured in 3-inch increments.

SEMI-CUSTOM: Manufactured cabinets available with some custom options such as increased depth. Some lines also offer more variety in widths, such as measuring in 1-inch increments.

CUSTOM: Cabinets produced by manufacturers or local cabinet shops in which - in addition to standard sizes - custom heights, depths, and widths are available. Most of these cabinets are made to order, and manufacturers or shops can build them to fit any space.

Cabinet briefings

This chart includes a variety of manufactured cabinet systems selected to show the range of products on the market. We determined price estimates for cabinets to fill an average-size kitchen by surveying contractors, designers, and cabinetmakers in several Western cities. Prices do not include installation costs, which vary widely, depending on the location.

Price ranges: $ = $3,000 to $8,000; $$ = $8,000 to $15,000; $$$ = $15,000 and up.

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