Check out the kitchens forum. There is a TON of info on cabinet brands. I have read many threads of people buying Kraftmade cabinets.

I built a house 6 yrs ago and got quotes from both Lowes and HD. I then got quotes from several local companies that build cabinets. The local companies came in over 10 grand less and had more options included. If ya buy a brand name, you're paying ALLOT for the name alone!

We purchased from the Shenandoah line at Lowes. Haven't moved in yet but they look beautiful and our builder is very impressed with the quality.

We have Shenandoah cabinets in our current home. They're hickory and were installed in 04. Overall, they are a very good quality product and a nice looking cabinet. We have four young children and we've been living here for 8 years. We homeschool and so we are at home all day, every day. I cook 2-3 meals a day, and we practically live in the kitchen. I think it's safe to say that if anyone could wear out cabinets, it would be us.

The hinges on the most often used doors have given out several times. I called the company a few years ago (keep your receipts/paperwork!) and they sent me an enormous bag of hinges free of charge. Every time a hinge dies (on the cup cabinet - 4x in 7 years- other cabinets 2-3 times each in 7 years) I just unscrew it and screw in a new one. This seems to be the weakest part of this particular cabinet.

The drawer glides still work perfectly, and the shelf holders haven't broken anywhere despite being plastic.

The cabinet boxes are not sagging or showing signs of wear other than things we've done to them (water spots, scratching). The doors look great.

I don't know if they've made changes to their product in the last 9 years, but I'd definitely recommend what we have.

We have Kraftmaid in our master bath that we installed 10 years ago. They still look wonderful and function well. We also have KM in our kitchen. They are 4 years old and I still love them. We are going with a custom company in our new build and I'm hoping they hold up as well!

The cabinets at any box store are no different than the ones sold in cabinet showrooms if they are the same brand. The big variable is who you get to assist you. Some "designers" there were working in the paint department last week and took a few online "training" courses in order to be transferred to Kitchen and Bath. Some have been there 20 years and are nationally certified. Consequently, most of the box stores margins are higher than those in traditional cabinet shops due to needing to absorb the mistakes that all of the relatively untrained box sales people make.

I just put american wood mark in a house I am working on and I was really impressed with them. More so than the ikea cabinets I have installed in the past. I was also really impressed with the kitchen designer there, and the ability to stay within my budget while still getting me what I wanted. They also have lots of free extras usually which is nice.

I went with Woodmark Charlottesville from HD and I absolutely love them! Very good quality. A couple of them were damaged in shipping and Woodmark cust serv was excellent in replacing them very quickly and following up with my purchase experience and satisfaction. My husband did the installation himself and had no probs. Soft close comes standard and I received free hardware, cutlery divider, and few others. Price was the best I found! Highly recommend.

We bought Shenandoah cabinets from Lowe's to replace the one destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. They arrived ahead of schedule in perfect condition and adjustment no missing parts plenty of extra knobs and handles. Couldn't be happier with them ! AAA+++ My daughter got her Kraft Maid from Home Depot and it was a nightmare of missing doors, etc.

We were going to go with Schuler from Lowes. The designer there was very kind, but not very creative. We were left with no good place to put the MW - if it didn't go over the range (which is considered poor design), it had to be put on the counter, like an afterthought. Our design options were limited because they couldn't do special design without costing outrageous fees.

I kept hearing about custom cabinets, so eventually I went with a cabinet maker in Monroe, WA. They are completely custom - made to our precise measurements. The MW now has a terrific, semi built in place - and it will cost less than Lowes did - and we have a military discount at Lowes besides their sales.

I agree with what Robin said (above) - at the "box" stores you are paying for the brand name as well as for the show room space and for a lot of other things. If you go directly to the cabinet maker you don't have those costs *and* you get quality and precisely what you want.

By the way - we looked at Lowes and HD for bathroom cabinets. Even their "good" display pieces were off kilter. I don't have an eye for detail, but I could still see the uneven doors, the drawers that wouldn't close, the staple points sticking out. How could the store allow pieces like that to go on display? I was embarrassed for their staff. I know those were "bathroom" pieces, but it was still stuff I saw in those stores.

Our experience has been that you can save 30 percent but going with a local cabinet maker