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mjandrew74

Need cabinet advice...

14 years ago

Hi, sorry if this is a duplicate (I posted a question 2 weeks ago but can't find it now). Anyway, we are considering putting in new cabinets in our kitchen(& potentially the 2 baths). We have a fairly large kitchen 15x20 so cabinets can run into quite a lot of money & we have a small budget. I say all this because we are considering RTA cabinets. One company in particular I have been looking at is Lily Ann Cabinets. I prefer to buy solid wood cabinets because I believe they will last longer & I can't afford to redo them in 10 years because I bought cruddy cabinets.

I'm looking for any advice out there for budget friendly options as well as the pros/cons of the various companies & options. I love to bake & can so I have quite a variety of kitchen "stuff" so would also be looking at some special cabinet upgrades for some things (like to store my giant pans & my stand mixer).

Thanks!

Mona

Comments (5)

  • 14 years ago

    Crappy Chinese formaldehyde laden "wood" cabinets are NOT better than American made decent quality furniture board cabinets. Their "comparison" example is bogus too. I wouldn't trust too much about them, actually, just based on that lie alone.

    If you are on a budget, check out Shenendoah(Lowes)/American Woodmark(Home Depot) cabinets. They are good quality and have a lot of promos available to save you a lot of money. Yes, you can upgrade to plywood boxes on anything if you want to, but I'd put that additional 20% charge into things that you will actually use like more drawers instead of doors. Ikea is also great for someone on a budget, even though their sizes and styles are much more limited. Many people buy their boxes and have custom doors made if you don't find a door that they offer that you like.

  • 14 years ago

    Look.
    At one point I thought I could afford a few cabinets I found online. After all, I was pretty much cannabalizing them to make other cabinets. I thought I might not have to with these. Hope springs eternal.

    I bought 2, 12" 3-drawer base cabinets and 2 spice thingies that are the drawers that usually hang under another cabinet. In a desk or something. Sometimes called Apothecary drawers.

    The people were great. Again, the people were great.
    The product is at best, iffy.
    They were definitely wood.
    Drawer glides are those old fashioned ones that make so much noise and you (or at least I) have to bang them with my hip to close them.
    They're put together with a cam system -- not so sturdy.

    Once again, I reaffirm you get what you're paying for.
    I again recommend my favorite, Brian at The Cabinet Joint .com. More $$, but with the RTA discount. An upper took me less than 15 minutes to put together recently.

    So there you go.

  • 14 years ago

    On second thought,

    I glued and screwed these together despite the cam system.
    If they'd come with decent drawer glides, I don't think I'd be complaining.

    If you put them together with their limited English instructions that might not apply to the cabinet you bought, I don't find them to be sturdy.

    Does that help?

  • 14 years ago

    BARKER CABINET - far superior, and USA made RTA, but still budget friendly. I recommend them all the time, and no, I don't work for them or have any financial interest. They are much better quality than Lowe's or Home Depot base lines. They are frameless, 3/4" plywood boxes, blum slides/hinges, dovetail drawers, choice of wood species, many door styles, customizable sizes in 1/4" increments in all dimensions, well made accessories. The only downside is that you'll have to paint them or have them painted if you want anything other than a conversion varnish finish.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Barker

  • 14 years ago

    I buy doors and drawers from Barker.
    Their instruction pages are where I always go when I have to figure something out.