There are 3 main kitchen cabinet types that you should consider before signing any contract or making your final kitchen cabinet choice. Each type of cabinet serves its purpose and presents the homeowner with unique benefits depending on the goals and budget that you may have.
Here are 7 questions you should ask yourself or the contractor that will be remodeling your kitchen:
What kind of kitchen cabinet types will be used?
What materials are cabinets made from?
What will be the design and styles of the cabinets?
What kitchen cabinets types fit my budget?
What kitchen cabinet types meet my goals?
What kind hinges will be used on cabinet doors?
What kind of drawer slides will be used on cabinet drawers?
How will my kitchen cabinets be installed?
Once we review the answers to these questions you will be better informed and not have any buyer remorse of the choice you make when obtaining your new kitchen cabinets.
RTA Cabinets
Ready To Assemble
These RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets come in flat boxes and require assembly prior to installation. The entire components needed to to build the cabinet come already inside the flat box. The boxes are about 6 to 8 inches in girth and are as wide as 3×4 feet in width and length, weighing between 60 to 200 pounds depending on the size of the cabinet. Each unit will require a helper to move around safely with out running the risk and dropping the box on a corner and damaging the goods inside. They are after all wood and even though they come tightly packed with Styrofoam they can still crack if not handled correctly.
Here at Modern Carpentry LLC we offer assistance with any issues.
Cabinet Materials
1/2″ Plywood Boxes
RTA cabinets come in plywood boxes, hardwood face frames, and hardwood doors/drawer fronts. The way to tell is to look at the exposed unpainted edges to see if its real plywood.
Stay away from MDF or Composite Wood for your kitchen or you will be replacing cabinets due to moisture that causes those materials to easily swell up and paint to fall off.
Also when you drill to put on hardware you will be able to tell if either wood or mdf saw dust come out of drilled area.
Undermount Soft-Close Drawer Slides
The undermount drawer slides are the best quality of drawer slides out there because of the structured system that makes your drawer move in and out as whole with the slide system with out every having to worry that it will put out.
The old style of drawer slides are the side mount soft-close slides that instead of running under the drawer are placed beside the drawer or left and right side. The only time these are used in our company is when certain depth of a drawer size can’t be found or if there is not the required amount of space need on the back of cabinet. Also the cabinet drawer build has a lot to do with the kind of system used.
The benefit of having the under mount system is that you don’t have to worry about the bottom of your drawer ever popping out or getting lose because the system is supporting it underneath.
Soft-Close Hinges on Doors
They say that soft-close hinges save relationships because when you hear slamming doors your first reaction is a feeling of rage that when behind the pushing the door to make that slamming sound. But the truth is that most outdated doors always slam shut by them selves because they are spring loaded hinges or simply do not have any clear rubber bumpers to soften the blow.
What does Soft-Close mean anyways?
Soft-close hinges and drawer slide systems are meant to slowly and softly close automatically when pushed in 90% of the way.
Stock Cabinets
What does it mean to have to use stock cabinets for your kitchen remodel? Stock cabinets are what most builders use in new construction homes meaning they come in a handful of sizes, colors, and styles, that can be rearranged in multiple layouts to accommodate almost any space imaginable. Stock cabinets are the basic kitchen cabinet construction option that will allow you to help build and design in the most affordable manner but still getting the new kitchen upgrade look and feel.
Cabinet Colors
Now were going to go over the options of the kitchen cabinet color types that the RTA cabinets have to offer. The colors for these RTA cabinets will not vary much because they all revolve around the same basic color structure.
RTA Cabinet Color Options:
- white (Plain linen, dovetail white)
- light grey (harbor)
- dark grey (Stone/pebble)
- Black (matte finish)
- Dark brown Stain (Expresso)
- Light brown Stain (oak or natural wood)
- Blue (Dark Navy Blue)
- Teal (Sage green)
These color options will vary depending on which manufacture you use. If you are trying to use different product colors from multiple vendors, we do not recommend it because you will notice a slight difference in sheen of the color. We understand that not all venders carry the same options that you may need for your project but we have methods to mix & match cabinets products if necessary so we can still come out with an outstanding finish product showing minimal product variation.
Cabinet Sizes
The cabinet sizes come in only increments of 3″ depending on the style, color, and availability of the vendor. They measurements go as follows:
RTA Cabinet Sizes:
- base cabinet 9″
- base cabinet 12″
- base cabinet 15″
- base cabinet 18″
- base cabinet 21″
- base cabinet 24″
- base cabinet 27″
- up to 42″ in width of products for most vendors
This does not mean that if your space is larger than 42 inches then this will not work for you. What we can do is use multiple cabinet sizes to fill the space from wall to wall with out leaving any gaps, it’s simply a math equation to figure out your new or possible layouts that best suit you.
Not only that but pantry cabinets (tall storage cabinets that take space from the floor almost to the ceiling as high as your wall cabinets reach) can be used in a combination effort to give you any extra storage solutions that you may need.
2nd level tier of wall cabinets is also a very good solution if you have high ceilings normally higher than 9 or 10 feet. Having that extra headspace can allow us to stack smaller wall cabinets on top of your normal wall cabinets, there fore using up all the empty space on your kitchen space for either aesthetic or storage solutions.
Cabinet Styles
Due to modern technology advances in CNC machinery and building software now you can find all the most popular cabinet styles in RTA format. Including the following kitchen cabinet types.
RTA Cabinet Styles:
- shaker
- double shaker
- skinny shaker
- inset shaker
- classic raised panel
- beveled edges
These are the current most popular cabinet styles that are trending and to be honest it all comes down to supply and demand. These RTA cabinets are being imported in large containers from over seas from countries like Vietnam, China, Philippians, and other Asian territories. We wish that these RTA cabinets could be made and purchased here from with in the United States but the price to manufacture is competitively unbeatable compared to these external countries.
Goals
What is your goal for your kitchen remodel, if you have short term plans to remain in the residence you are remodeling then perhaps the RTA cabinets is your better option. Also if this is for a rental property then “yes!” RTA will work for you since you will receive a new kitchen look and feel with brand new cabinets for the most economic price.
Budget
Most RTA kitchen cabinet remodels will land between $6k- $15k just for the cabinets, not including any countertops, backsplashes, plumbing or electrical add-ons. This is definitely the most affordable option available while still receiving an outstanding finished product. Just make sure your RTA cabinets are made from plywood and hardwood.
Pros and Cons
Positive
- Affordable Price Point
- Manufacture Painted Finish
- Real wood boxes
- Soft-close hardware systems
- Select styles and colors available
Negative
- Few sizes available
- Few colors available
- Big kitchen layouts become more difficult
- Not made in USA
Custom Cabinets
Hand Made Custom Cabinets
When it comes down to remodeling your kitchen and you decide to go with custom cabinets it will be the best investment to help increase the value of your home. Custom kitchen cabinet styles give a very personalized feeling when you enter your kitchen because you get the absolute best of both worlds in style and quality. Custom kitchens are ment to last generations with in the house they are made because the material and innovation process will be a timeless solution.
Value of Custom Cabinets
Custom kitchen cabinet styles make up the most valued space in your home. The kitchen is the place for family and friends to gather around while cooking a feast or enjoying a quick snack over some drinks with great company. The benefits that you get out of a custom kitchen is that everything you could possibly need for storing of cookware or utensils has already been thought of so there is a place for everything. In fact so much planning is done in custom kitchen cabinet styles that you end up with extra storage space than you know what to do with at first because we know how to take advantage of every square foot of space in a horizontal and vertical manner.
Cabinet Materials
The Box
The creme de la creme is in this cabinets, in other words you get the best of the best there is. Custom kitchen cabinet styles are made from three quarter plywood material that come in a very unique cabinet grade sheets. Most options give you prefinished plywood sheets with UV protection, they come with a clear coat on either one or both sides so that you do not have to worry about any moisture going through the pores or any unwanted staining or color discoloration to happen the future.
The Fronts
The Face frames and door make up is the creative side of building these beauties because you get to decide what specie of hardwood you want your cabinets to be. The most popular is the maple hardwood, followed by the birch, or poplar. From there the higher grade species that are used in special occasions are the oaks and walnuts, these wood species have very unique characteristics that show off their beauty when simply finished with a clear coat or very light stain.
The Hardware
What is the hardware? Well these are the components that are made of various metals that make up the structure and function of the kitchen cabinet styles. For example the drawer slides you receive with custom built cabinets have a ton of adjustment options that help keep your kitchen aligned and looking uniform across the entire space. As well as the hinges for all the doors that in this custom option come in larger pieces made up of 2 separate pieces that make it fast and easy to adjust any door in any direction but also quick access to remove the doors if necessary perhaps for cleaning or moving around in any case.
Cabinet Colors
The color possibilities for a custom kitchen paint color is limitless. We can mix and match any color you can find or think of because just how there are custom cabinets there are custom paints that can be created for a one of kind finish that nobody else will be able to replicate exactly.
We work hard along side the biggest paint companies in the industry. Hand in hand with companies like sherwin williams and shupert paints that give us products from lenmar and benjamine moore to name a few.
What kind of paint do you use? We provide air sprayed finishes with high quality Oil based paints that now come in special mixes for ultra durability. Our number one paint option is a Laquer sprayed finish, that is our go to because the finish coating is unbeatable very protective final layer with chip proof technology.
Custom Paints for Hand Made cabinets
- All Colors ,All Shades, & All Sheens
- Any shade of white (from the brightest white to the creamy finish in any color variation)
- Any shade of Stain ( We can mix and match stains and create the perfect mixture you desire or are trying to replicate)
- Any Dark or Solid colors (Just how you find color codes when going to your local paint store to decided what shade, sheen, and blend of color you want your house walls to be, it is the same situation for the custom cabinets we provide. We match any color)