We chose to go high-end custom on the cabinets, to last a lifetime, and only medium-high on the appliances (splurged for a Wolf range, but used a GE counter-depth Monogram refrigerator instead of a Sub Zero; downgraded from a Wolf range hood to an identical Broan SS hood; used a panel-ready Bosch dishwasher, but without too many bells and whistles).

Unless you are a chef and you require the top of the line appliances, I would recommend you scale back and invest in your cabinets. I'm not saying that the carcasses have to be plywood--they could be MDF to save money, but I would design the kitchen with lots of drawers and pull-outs and features that will make your life easier. No one should have to get down on their knees and dive into the back of a cupboard to get their big pots out. Lighting has huge impact in a kitchen too. Not only does it add to the beauty of a kitchen, but it adds to its function. Have different lights on different switches and add dimmers. Then you can light your kitchen like a theatrical production for different uses and times of the day.

Feeny's advice is what we would tell a client. Appliances can be upgraded later if desired/needed, unless you require them to have matching cabinetry panels. Changing out cabinets later is difficult unless you are willing to start over and ditch the countertops, backsplash, etc.

I agree with most of the comments. Don't skimp on cabinets to get top of the line appliances. Great cabinets can last decades....sometimes even longer in a well built home. Even the best appliances are only designed to last 10 years. That said, If appliances are very important to you, and you have a quality cabinet, then you don't have to sacrifice a feature that matter to you personally for super upgraded cabinets. Are you planning on staying in the home for a long time?

I love appliances, but I agree with everyone above, I advice my clients to allocate more of their resources to the cabinetry.

I'm in partial agreement with the above advice but my position on the cabinetry extras is not mainstream. I would prefer to upgrade the cabinet frames to plywood on the lower cabinets before getting into the special features. Some of the extras like a built in wine rack might be pretty, but those eat up budget in a hurry and add very little usability to the kitchen. Instead find a wall mounted rack which makes a decorative statement and can be taken with you if you happen to sell. I don't care for corner base cabinet lazy susans as the actual storage space on the shelves is less than having just a wall cabinet of the same size. I would prefer the somewhat cheaper option of a double hinged easy access door and shelves.

First and foremost...be sure to allocate sufficient resources to the design and planning stage

I completely agree, Linda. We went for plywood frames and lots of big drawers rather than too many special features on the cabinets (though I do think that full extension, soft close drawers are very useful, and we ordered those). But we decided against a Lazy Suzan for exactly the reasons you described. More space in that corner without it, and space is at a premium in our small kitchen.

I've taken out too many water damaged sink base cabinets to ever accept anything other than real wood/plywood in a sink base. When I used to take out kitchens regularly for donating cabinet sets, we often found that the sink cabinet was totally destroyed when we got it out. Sometimes we were able to keep the face and the doors, other times even those were too water damaged to be reusable.

I'm curious, does anyone know how long MDF has been around? Is it proven for the long term?

@olld Bobbi

We use 1piece mdf for our painted (lacquered) kitchens as they do not have any joints to crack due to dryness/humidity issues. The hold up very well and are cheaper than wood doors.

The same paint finish on a 5 piece mdf door would not hold up as well unless you get into mitred doors where the construction is different.

Thank you!

I will chime in with my experience. We moved into a 1964 house in 2004. The house was totally high end when built. The kitchen cabinets are still in great shape. My friendly painter matched the small nicks in the finish and applied something to even out the shine. That made them almost good as new. The ensuing 50 years have seen at least three refrigerators, and two stoves, dishwashers, dual ovens, and countertops. I appreciate all the built-in features including a cupboard to store baking sheets and breadboards, a pull-out breadboard, pull-out shelves for pots and pans, and a special cupboard for storing a mixer (now used for bread-maker) in which the shelf pulls out and raises to almost counter level.

On the other hand, my GE refrigerator purchased in 2004 is claimed by the repair person to be ready for replacement as they last only 10 years these days.

yvonne, I love to hear homeowners personal experiences. There's just nothing like it! Ours was a high-end home when it was built, too. Every pantry shelf slides out, or at least they did until the idiot flipper painted them shut!

I totally agree with Cynthia. The cabinets are important if you want high end quality. The new appliances that are on the market that are less costly than the wolf and sub zero lines are really good.The pro series or chef lines from the name brands are very good. Unless you are a very serious chef.

Very interesting thread. I would love your opinions on what cabinets you think are the best. Sooner, rather than later, will move again, probably for the last time. This house, which we built 5 years ago, turned out quite nicely. We did our research, we thought, and decided to go with the best we could afford to get the most we could get for the house when the time came to sell.

Bad, bad choice for the cabinets. Color is great and that is all I can say about that. And they were not cheap, by any means.

So, what is your experience and what would you or did you choose? Thanks.

Get references for a good custom cabinet maker. My vanity ended up costing less than if I had bought semi-custom cabinets and I got exactly what I wanted (quarter-sawn oak, horizontal grain.)

That was EXACTLY our experience too, Rio. We first got a bid on high end semi-custom cabinets for the kitchen and then got a bid from a local family woodworking firm on the exact same specs for a fully custom kitchen (thick plywood boxes, solid wood shaker full-overlay doors, solid wood dovetailed full extension drawers, etc.) that came out less than the semi-custom ones constructed and shipped from out of state.

Can you post the name(s)/location(s) of your local custom cabinet makers?

Click my green name icon, and I've posted a Houzz review on my profile page.

We used to be able to get custom for less than high end semi-custom, but not since the downturn in the economy. Custom pricing has gone up over the last 3 - 4 years. Some of the small, but really good shops (and reasonably priced) are no longer around here. Hopefully that is not the case everywhere.

Unless you live in the Austin area it won't help you much. But he comes and does the installation too which saves you even more $$.

We have almost the exact same experience as Yvonne. Our cabinet are original (1965) to the house but they were very high quality when they were built. They still look great and when we refinish them they will be like new. We have the mixer shelf that Yvonne describes as well a a bread drawer and separators for baking pans, etc. we have an updated Bosch cooktop and dishwasher. We also put a new solid surface counter in. We have a subzero with matching panels to the cabinetry. People cannot believe our kitchen is original to the home. If you buy good cabinets, they can last a lifetime.

Great advice to good with quality cabinets. If you watch any of the quickie renovation shows, they are almost always cheap cabinets with pretty appliances. With any case goods, be it kitchen cabinets or a dresser, that you use every day, quality counts.

Ditto again, Rio. Installation included in the price of the cabinets with the custom woodworking firm. That, in fact, was where a lot of the savings came from.