Looking for advice on less expensive kitchen cabinets

sarah2000

last month

Helping a friend with an unexpected kitchen remodel/restoration due to a leak in building entering the unit. Insurance pays out based on restoration company estimate of new basic cheap stock cabinets (pressed wood, thermofoil, etc). Terrible reviews for these products. Willing to pay to upgrade to something better quality with more durability and function but price still a consideration. Since restoration contractors are hired to bring kitchen “back to pre-existing conditions,” it’s a bit tricky making changes to the project, but we are looking to find decent cabinets they are willing to order and install. Have looked at the quicker ship lines at HD and Lowe’s that promise to be less expensive than their custom lines. Wondering what people’s experiences have been with either “Thomasville” Quick Ship at HD or Diamond Express at Lowe’s. I know many here would not consider big box stores. We started there to check out basic cabinets contractor suggested and see upgraded cabinet options. Open to suggestions of budget but decent cabinet ideas. Also open to ideas about working with restoration contractor/project. Thank you.

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PRO

The Kitchen Place

28 days ago

last modified: 28 days ago

This is a great quality, entry level cabinet. Can order RTA or fully assembled. You can get RTA in a week or two. Fully assembled in 2-3 weeks.

https://jandkcabinetry.com/

Also check out this video showing how they held up after a hurricane with flooding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvmIjEMwywA

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Comments (6)

AnnKH
last month
Our first house was a brand new spec house. The bones are good, but the builder took shortcuts on finishes - flooring, light fixtures, cabinets. After 13, we remodeled the kitchen. The cabinets were still in good shape - we repurposed them in our basement, garage, and the neighbor's basement - but we made significant improvements to the layout.

If your friend cannot make layout changes to improve the function of the kitchen, I would advise them to not worry too much about the quality of the cabinetry - I imagine most lines will get them through several years.

How long do they plan to live in the house?

If any tweaks can be made, I would recommend taking upper cabinets to the ceiling, and using all drawers for bases.
sarah2000
Original Author
29 days ago
AnnKH, thanks for ideas. It is an apartment so there is not a large number of cabinets. The layout in general is Ok but due to the tight space on one wall, some cabinets are quite skinny and not very useful. Good idea about cabinets going to ceiling. It’s possible on one of the two cabinet runs. The other has a soffit with HVAC vent. No plans to move, so we want something that is solidly built enough to be functional for many years. From the reviews, I’m guessing the current stock cabinets at these stores are below “builder grade” or stock cabinets from 10, 20, 30 years ago. This is a one shot kitchen reno with new counters as well, so we want it to hold up.
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dani_m08
29 days ago
Many people on Houzz have posted kitchens that used IKEA cabinets (some just used the boxes with doors/drawer fronts from third parties - some used the doors/drawer fronts from IKEA). My understanding (based upon the many comments/posts here on Houzz) is that IKEA makes a pretty good cabinet + has a good warranty (which they actually stand behind).

An active pro on here used IKEA cabinets in her kitchen that was used for catering - the cabinets still looked good + functioned well when she sold that house (I think the cabinets were around 20 years old!)
lindacottonwood
28 days ago
I'm very happy with my Ikea cabinets. We built our home 7 years ago and had several friends that used Ikea.
sarah2000
Original Author
21 days ago
Thanks to all for the suggestions. We’ll be exploring these ideas more. I’ll try to remember to report back.