These things depend so much on cabinet lines. You can't get inset from a lesser line. But within a line, the price difference may not be that great. Maybe the line quoted is relatively high on full overlay. 7% sounds a little low to me but not out of the ballpark.

Thank you @David. I guess I read online price difference could be 15-30% less. So seeing only $2500 was a let down. I was hoping at least $5-10,000 less. ESP when so expensive for the custom.

Cost difference between Omega inset and Ikea full overlay is likely to be more than 1000%. Between Omega inset and Omega full overlay, 15%, as a bare start. But the designs themselves will also need to be detailed differently, so the rough initial cost conversion is not all of it.

You can’t design inset like full overlay. The design has to be completely redone. That has its costs as well. And you need a different level of installer. One with a ton more skill, who can scribe a cabinet side back and extended stile. There are a ton of variables to do either correctly .

Comparing costs is not cut and dried. Ever.

@Juneknow. I believe the custom line this cabinet store has is Arbor Mills.

I have two quotes from Shiloh. The Inset quote was only $11 more than the Full Overlay. I was also hoping a Full Overlay would be much less in case our quote came in too high for Inset cabinetry. Which it did!

The other shoe hasn’t dropped. And I know they didn’t combine cabinets. Or do extended side backs for cabinet boxes that are visible sides. Much less any of the extra labor.

JuneKnow - Not sure who you are referring to with your reply. Trying to make sense of it.

Depends on manufacturer. Inlay is always more as it doesn't hide flaws. If the manufacturer or shop already has a high quality set up with a lot of detail, inlay may not be as much of an upgrade.

Full overlay can vary from low cost import to high end custom with details that make it worthwhile.

Compare apples to apples.

Specifying inset excludes many manufacturers, so cheap likely doesn't exist. Do I make sense?

@jeffery. You totally do. I care so much about quality. I’m making my dream kitchen, as well as life kitchen. That why I posted here before going back to question the cabinet place. Thank you. Your response makes me feel better.

IMO it depends on the look you are wanting. I like frameless full overlay for my style. IMO kitchen cabinets should always be easy to clean and in a style thay works with the rest of the house and if I want custom I go to a cabinet maker and get custom and that is decided by myself as a KD or for you an independant KD who has no affiliation with any cabinet company .IMO you never let a cabinet company sales person design a kitchen. Also do not beleive wood is the best material for cabinets it depends on the finish you want and if painted is your choice MDF is a much better material than wood.

"Inlay is always more as it doesn't hide flaws."

Don't understand that statement?

Cheap manufactured lines don’t offer inset. You have to move up to a higher level semi custom to full custom line. You need a higher level skilled a actual cabinet maker for quality inset cabinets. Your regular parts orderer and kreg jig box maker “local custom” guy can’t cheat his resume with inset. Inconsistent reveals and poor joinery is right there in your face, not hidden by the full overlay doors. Of course, a whole lot of buyers can’t tell the difference. Which is why the myth of the local guy being so much cheaper than manufactured got started. If a guy is so much cheaper, he isn’t producing the same results.

@juneKnow. I definitely agree inset must be custom. But was under the impression there was a noticAbke price difference between custom inset and custom full overlay. But to me 7% (2500) was not that much of a price difference. So I wanted to just make sure I wasn’t being duped and she go at the price. Or if was something I should truly question.

CNC machining in larger cabinet shops is reducing the premium for many cabinet details compared with those same details produced by hand.

"Inset" could mean flush inset or beaded inset. Flush inset doors and drawers are, well, flush with the face frame of the cabinet. With beaded inset cabinets, there is an additional detail on the face frame which can be achieved by machining the face frames to include the detail or adding an additional piece of trim at assembly. In either case, it's more detailed work and more expensive than simply flush inset. The cost premium will be different, too.

I recently ordered and installed inset cabinets from cabinetjoint.com. They have an explanation for the small price differential when ordering from them: insets are usually more expensive with a full service cabinet company because of the much more detailed and precise assembly and install process. If you're building/installing them yourself, the materials/labor costs are not that much different than any other type of cabinet.

To me, the higher "cost" of inset isn't the dollar amount exactly. It's the lost space as compared to frameless. Drawers lose at least 1-1/2 of interior space compared to frameless - it doesn't sound like a lot, but go look at your drawers and imagine all of them 1-1/2" narrower. And for upper cabinets, if you are going to do inset, a 15" depth is a must, rather than the standard 12" depth. That 15" depth will of course increase your cost, but there are many posts on this forum of homeowners dismayed that their dinner plates don't fit in their 12" deep inset uppers, which have only about 10-1/2" of actual shelf depth. Tdesanti - go measure your dinner plates. And your glassware diameters too, because 12" deep inset uppers will fit maybe two rows of glassware.

Also, if you don't get top quality inset cabinets, and your climate has large swings of humidity and heat and cold, you risk sticking drawers, as inset has less tolerance for changes in humidity.