You might consider IKEA cabinets. They are very inexpensive. Many people here have used them and have been extremely pleased with IKEA's overall quality and array of standard features that are usually upgrades on stock, semi-custom, & custom cabinets (like full-extension & soft-close drawers). They're also frameless so you get a bit more space than you do in face-frame cabinets (including partial & full overlay and inset).

The cabinet specs/info:

General/Cabinets:

• Adjustable shelf; adapt spacing to your own storage needs

• Sturdy construction- 3/4" (19mm) thick

• Hinges with snap-on function. Easy to fit on the door without screws, and make it easy to remove the door for cleaning

• The doors are covered with melamine, which provides a scratch-resistant, easy clean finish

General/Drawers:

• Fully-extending, for easy overview and access to the contents of the drawers

• Smooth-running drawers with stop

• Drawers are self-closing the last few inches

• Sturdy frame construction, 3/4" thick

• Can be used with RATIONELL interior fittings for efficient utilization of the space

• Front covered with melamine, which gives a scratch-resistant surface

Doors:
Main parts: Particleboard
Front side/ Back side: Melamine foil
Edge: ABS plastic

Drawer Fronts:
Main parts: Particleboard
Front side/ Back side: Melamine foil
Edge: ABS plastic

Base cabinet frame:
Frame: Particleboard, Melamine foil
Back: Fiberboard, Acrylic paint

Deep fully-extending drawers:
Drawer/Drawer back: Steel, Pigmented epoxy/polyester powder coating
Drawer bottom: Particleboard, Melamine foil, Laminate (melamine foil)
Runners: Galvanized steel
Drawer rail: Aluminum, Pigmented epoxy/polyester powder coating

Fully-extending drawers:
Drawer/Drawer back: Steel, Pigmented epoxy/polyester powder coating
Drawer bottom: Particleboard, Melamine foil, Laminate (melamine foil)
Runners: Galvanized steel

Thanks for the suggestion, but buying sight unseen, seems pretty risky to me, and I would think shipping would be quite expensive? I don't think they ship do they? Most of the cabinet manufacturers have displays at least. I think I would truly need to know a lot more than I do to get my cabinets that way. The cabinet guy might not be too bad - he probably shouldn't have told me that he got a call from a custom builder doing a spec house - the first in a while.

I was more thinking of making the shelving melamine. I don't think the doors or box of the cabinet would be subject to those critters.

IKEA was just a suggestion.

If you're just talking about shelves, then I think Melamine is fine...my pantry shelves are covered in Melamine and I'm fine with it.

However, I'd think the floors of the cabinets would be affected by mice...

My first question is did you get the mouse problem solved - if not, you really need to go around the house and fill all the holes as best as you can and get the house sealed up as tight as possible or your're going to have the same problem again.

While, I wouldn't prefer Ikea in my kitchen, we are DIY, saved the labor, so we put the money in cabinets, so it was a trade-off with the budget. We weren't doing a high-end fancy kitchen. But, for the basement, I will consider Ikea, as I worry about water, it is for a work shop and they are rated very well by consumer reports. Plus, many people are happy with them. And, Ikea sells a decent butcher block countertop, which my husband prefers for a work shop. The other bonus they offer are plastic and other legs which keeps the cabinets off the floor - when I looked at various cabinets, it seemed like a good option in case the basement floodes, which it did once slightly in that area so if they are on plastic legs, the plastic should be ok and hopefully replaceable. Other cabinets are particle board or wood, which will get ruined by water or urine.

Kraftmaid came out with a new line in Home Depot - http://www.ascentiacabinetry.com that looked nice but they didn't look as well made compared to the regular Kraftmaid but I didn't have time to study them well.

With the urine issue, melamine for your base cabinets is a really good suggestion and probably the only way to go. You can get a wood door, but I'd worry about the base cabinet in less you 100% know you solved the mouse problem.

Having had a mouse/rat problem in our garage, I know that CHEWING is an issue, too. So I'd work very hard on preventing the varmints from getting into the house in the first place before committing any money to a remodel.

I am attaching a link that provides a great 101 on cabinetry so you can evaluate the pros and cons of cabinetry and decide for yourself what your baseline will be. It is my opinion that the minimum specs required for a durable cabinet are sometimes over stated. I was just in Ikea and I'm pretty sure Ikea boxes are 5\8 melamine covered particle board - pretty standard construction and I would say as low as you should go for frameless cabinetry - their doors are 3\4 which is again a pretty standard minimum. Most metabox runners will have self closing on them but full extension is still an upgrade and whether you want it or not is your call - it may add a fair bit to your cost - I know people who love it as well as those who couldn't figure out why they bothered with it. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: intro to cabinetry

Average kitchen remodels in the US are now around $30K. That's with no structural changes and very little plumbing or electrical but new cabinets, countertops, appliances, possibly flooring and paint and accessories. About 50% of the budget generally goes for cabinets as they are the hardest thing to change out down the road. 15% is usually for appliances, 15% for countertops, 10% for flooring, and 10% for lighting, fixtures and paint. You may choose to put more emphasis on different aspects, such as higher end appliances, or perhaps flooring for the whole downstairs, etc. You may see yourself as above or below average, but a kitchen remodel will cost you about what it would if you bought a new car. Whether or not you're buying a budget Chevy or a E class Mercedes, only you can decide. BUt, don't go into the project with unrealistic expectations about buying a Mercedes on a Chevy budget. Every bit that you can DIY will increase your budget, but don't overestimate your skills and time spent in that department either, especially if you hold down a full time job.

But, I would not embark on ANY remodel project until you have had a professional exterminator eliminate your rodent problem. There is no point in putting in nice new anything only to have it chewed apart. A couple of trips around the house with a caulking gun is a big start to help in that department, but professional help should be consulted if your problem was bad enough to damage your cabinets permanantly as your describe.

Our cabinets are custom, and they have melamine interiors. The cabinet shop owner told us that about 90% of his jobs are that way. Wood on all exposed surfaces, but melamine lining the insides of the boxes and melamine shelves.

Anyway, I think that using melamine wouldn't hurt your quality at all; it's just as strong, we were told, as most woods, and easier to clean.

I actually think I prefer Melamine. No sacrifice in quality, IMO, while being bright inside and very easy to keep clean. We had Melamine boxes in our last house...Custom cabinets with natural cherry doors and drawer fronts, end panels, etc.

If money is an issue, I would not go with custom made cabinets. Places such as Lowes and Home Depot have good quality cabinets, will do a basic layout for you, etc. I would find someone else to install, however. And, yes, get rid of the mice first -- find out where they are coming in and seal it up. Borrow a friend's cat if needed!

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen planning advice

My sympathies! I live next to open space where critter management is an issue. My new cabinets are Showplace, which is a good quality line, and Showplace uses melamine interiors (bottom as well as shelves) for easy cleanup. If your worry is whether melamine automatically means low-quality cabinets, the answer is no.

Thanks for all the responses. I haven't found any evidence of chewing, and I think they are gone, but it always a new season. Parts of my city with wood frame construction, I believe, tend to have mouse problems. I think I didn't notice it so much for the first few years because I had a cat and I was working two jobs and not around much.

I had contacted a realtor who specializes in houses from my builder to see if switching the built in ovens and range top for a single range with about 2 more feet of counter space would hurt property value, and she said she had a mouse guy she could recommend, along with floor refinisher. I believe the cabinets and built in appliances are original 1960.

I have gone to Home Depot over the years looking at the cabinets, and they have never bothered me because I was just looking. Now that I go because I want to talk to someone, they are always too busy - I even went on Friday AM thinking - what better time. And even though I was the only customer in the department - still too busy. Not giving me a warm, fuzzy feeling if you know what I mean.

Lowes has been putting up some fabulous displays, but were still building them Friday AM - I had previously gone on Monday AM, so don't know if I will have the same problems, with them not talking to you without an appointment. It's just if I can't ask a question without an appointment, I don't know think anyone will talk to me at all if I have problem.

Money is an issue - I am a Toyota Corolla kind of gal - but think I might have to spend a bit more for the kitchen then I spent for my last new Toyota. The Custom guy who is working up the estimate - he was recommended by a friend who just loves her cabinets - she paid $8,300 total and that included installation - with pull out drawers and a lazy susan in the bottom corner. I might have just a tad more linear space than she but would be taking out the cabinet below the range top and the cabinet housing the built in oven - but I do want an upper with glass doors.... Of course he told me he was late for my estimate because a builder had called him about a spec house - so he might be desperate enough to give me a good price, or he might think building is opening up again and be more expensive??? My friend got her cabinets in the middle of the building boom. I can't remember what wood she got.

My concern was actually that melamine would mean lower quality.

I will never leave cereal or croutons in anything but a plastic container again though. I thought I would have the mouse pro inspect the whole kitchen once I had the tear out done.

He needs to check more than the kitchen. When we had mice, they got in through the dryer vent! They chewed a whole in the duct tape where there was a bend in the vent duct and dropped down from there. Resourceful little critters! Best defense against mice is a cat. Also, they are very easy to trap yourself with snap traps and peanut butter.

I agree with other posters that melamine interiors and shelves doesn't mean lower quality.