I am going custom. I was surprised at the quote I got. I had always assumed that custom cabinets were out of my price range. It is a lot more flexible. For instance, I am considering floating an eighteen foot span of cabinets. He can do that. Or he can recess the toe kick very far back. Custom is a lot of fun, although for someone like me, too many options can make decisions harder.

A lot of custom shops are hungry now, with the recession and all.
Diamond has made their 5% upcharge for all plywood permanent. They are a Masterbrand division though, and I think the cabinets come out of the same factory as Schrock.

The only other nice line I'm familiar with is Bertch

Absolutely get custom cabinet quotes from local cabinet makers. The quote we got for medallion/candelight cabinets was well over $20,000 more than the one we got from the custom cabinet maker we are going w/ and the custom cabinet maker is doing a whole lot more!

I would say check out custom. But seeing that your in NY that may not work. Here in AR we are going custom. My kitchen is 19x15 with a 6' center island. Also have counter height bar. Large laundry plus 2 baths upstairs with 48" vanities upstairs with 18" linen cabinets. Master bath with dual 5'7" vanities and linen tower in between. Doing glazed maple-quote:$23,000.00 and yes this a great cabinet maker(not the most expensive-he pissed my best friend off and my GC suggested not using him) but I have veiwed his work (did another one of my friend's)and looks great. He worked with me for a truly custom kitchen that meets my needs and he offered great ideas. Can't post pics-only drywall right now.

I had a quote from Home Depot for $24K just for the kitchen. We had custom cabinets done for 3 bathrooms, a laundry room, the kitchen, and mudroom cubbies for just under $30K and they look amazing! Check around with your local custom woodworkers---they offer better quality and better prices!!
Here's my kitchen:

Mudroom:

Master bath:

Girls' bath:

I live on Long island and the quotes I got for cabinets were(35 feet or about 14 cabinets)

HD Kraftmaid maple not Plywood $8000
Consumers all plywood maple $6000
Custom $12000

They all include moldings, fillers, etc

The same thing happened to me when I received my Kraftmaid quote. I was shocked at the price, so decided to look into custom cabinet lines just to see. Some of the prices came in much cheaper. The Cabico quote I received was about $8000 less than Kraftmaid, and they are fully custom. There were a few other lines that were less too.

I ended up ordering Plain and Fancy because I liked the quality and finish. They were more than Kraftmaid, but the point is shop around and don't rule out the custom lines, like I originally did! My design is so much better with custom cabinets.

I forgot to mention that the cabinets I ordered are inset, when my original design was for full overlay.

Hi, thank you all for responding...

Rockybird, Cabinfo an beaglesdoitbetter, I think I will get a custom quote from a local guy -- but in here Long Island, NY, the cost of living is high, and finish carpenters/cabinet makers charge a premium (especially on the north shore where we live). By the way, we have three custom built-ins in our house and paid through the nose.

SWhite10-- your kitchen, bathrooms and mudroom are beautiful, congrats on finishing up your job! Wow, I just love the color combos, esp, in the Kitchen (and good for you for finding someone to do it at a reasonable price).

Janet 425 , Thanks, I think I will head over to HD and check out their prices (and I may have to say bye-bye to the range hood cover and roll outs I wanted). Thanks also about the granite advice, I know there is a risk that it might break and if it does, we will have to get new -- but I would like to try and save on the cost and salvage it if it can be done.

Hanna7636, I wish I got your cabinet sales person -- maybe I looked like an easy mark :). The quote I got was for about 53 ft, 26 cabs in all. Style was the Lincoln (simple applied molding about 150 a ft). Huntington square maple (shaker) came in at $17,000. Finally, to give you an idea of the out of control costs her in NY, got a candlelight quote for 750 a liner foot -- $39,000 installed, excluding the rip out. All I can say is, gee whiz, seems a little excessive to me. You all have a great day.

kitchenkrazed09, Hi, love the plain and fancy and I absolutely love the look of inset, I wish no one had shown them to me so I could live in blissful ignorence ; ) Thanks for the advice about not ruling brands out, I would not have guessed that you could get cabico for less than Kraftmaid...

Hanna7636, Would you mind telling me who you got your custom quote from? Thanks.

Check with Designer Cabinets Online. Get a quote for Kraftmaid and Norcraft.

You might want to contact this place. They are Amish and it's a father and two sons. They make beautiful cabinets -- I found them at a home design show. They deliver to NY.

I'm in Manhattan and got insane quotes for a very small kitchen. We painted the old cabinets instead. But if I'd replaced I would have gotten a quote from Graber, Plain and Fancy and at least 3 others. Cost for the same kitchen in any cabinet brand can vary a lot depending on the cabinet shop markup. Ditto the granite & marble. It's obnoxious.

Here is a link that might be useful: Graber

I agree with sumnerfan. We saved almost $7000 at Designer Cabinets on our Kraftmaid cabinets. . The Big box stores ware in the range of $17,000 and we paid $10,400 at Designer Cabinets. They arrived on time as promised. Very easy to deal and order with...

Yes, absolutely, check with custom. And make sure you check with your local Amish folks, if you have any. Mullet Cabinet in Ohio is Amish cabinet central but there are many such places across the country. I saw one as far west as Colorado (and they served surrounding states).

Here is a link that might be useful: Mullet Cabinet (Amish)

I am on Long Island too and got quotes from Consumers, HD and Lowes and they all came out within pennies of each other for basically the same thing (white slab front cabs, no installation). All were in the $17k range.

We ended up going with IKEA and for cabs, counters AND installation of both, and our total was approx $10k (which includes the master closet organizers). We are getting more drawers than before and do not feel like we are compromising. Since our kitchen is moved and extended we were working with a blank slate and could work with their sizes easily.

I think you may want to take a trip out to Hicksville and see for yourself.

National average expenditures on cabinets in a kitchen remodel are around 15K. You're not that much over that, and it seems you have a lot of upgrades like a wooden hood and pullouts. If you want to lower your price, the first thing to examine is those upgrades. The wood hood alone is at least 2K, maybe more. Paint is an upgrade. Tall cabinets are upgrades. Glass is a BIG upgrade. Pick apart your design first and decide the details that are must haves vs. like to haves. Sometimes, you just have to up your budget if you're trying to get a certain style. And sometimes you can downgrade some items and still get 90% of the look. Dissect your design as well as get other quotes. But, be sure you really are comparing similar quality features that are really comparable. Just because something has a "custom" lable doesn't automatically make it a higher quality product. Some of the worst (and some of the best) quality cabinets that I have ever seen were "custom".

Try http://www.dynamickitchenfurniture.com/

The price she gave me was for maple cabinets no glaze and I think it starts at $225 foot but everything is included.

I went to the HD in East Northport. I will look for my quote and post it.

Checked my prices

14 cabinets at Consumers in commack, Kraftmaid partial overlay Hanely maple in Cinnamon Plywood construction for $4788.36. Includes sink, cushion close doors, 2 base cabinet roll outs, handles and ultimate drawer system. This type was $78 a foot if I change to Atwater Maple it will be $115 a linear foot, so about $1000 more.

HD was $7688 plus tax for Maple Parkdale for about the same number cabinets at Consumer but not plywood.

I heard that when you order at Consumers you need to make sure they add toe kick, fillers etc because they try to give you a low price without adding these.

Let me know if you find any budget friendly cabinets shops.

Harbor Design Group in Northport carries Cabico...Richard is an amazing KD...very creative.

Graber is a good name - well known in the area for quality - and beauty. that's my 'home' area.

wonder if there's any Amish around Phx...

Don't forget to look at the lumber yards (not sure which ones are in your area). I was surprised to see the brands they carried. Most of them were comparable prices to HD, but looked like better quality.

Glad to hear that delivery went well billp1. Haven't ordered my cabinets yet, but I think we are really close. The anticipation is absolutely killing me.

not to chime in with a negitive opinion, but you have 53 feet of cabinets. That is a LOT of cabinets. you also have a lot of upgrades.

I had 40 linear feet and was priced at around 21K at Consumers for Kraftmaid with no hood, but with the molding.

I went to Armstrong cabinets and was priced around $11K

I'm finally revised a bit and am going custom for a bit more than Kraftmaid.

I'm not critcizing, I have a big kitchen too and was in for a shock when I started looking at cabinets, but its not the store, its the design.

you can get it cheaper, for a cheaper brand cabinet you still like, a cheaper doorstyle, cheaper construction, or you can cut some features or all of the above.

try HD or lowes, they will be able to give you more detailed quotes which will tell you where you're spending your money and whether you're comfortable with that.

You also need to consider the warranty and the company that stands behind it. If you save a few bucks but the company that made the cabinets is out of business in three years, you're on your own.

Friends of ours did their kitchen about six years ago and went with a custom cabinet maker. They were thrilled to get custom for less than stock sizes. Now they are having problems but are out of warranty so they're looking at remodeling all over.

Interesting discussion revolving around the idea of custom cabinets...Showplace does not call themselves custom for two reasons; you must use a specie they offer (and they have plenty), and you must use a door style they offer.

Once you get passed those two points, most sane people would say they are custom. Every cabinet is built just for you and you can specify exacting sizes or custom configurations.

People get hung-up because many small local shops define themselves as custom and many are extremely nice cabinets; but others calling themselves custom merely build-to-order using techniques and/or materials that are frankly no better (often not as good as) brands like Showplace who call themselves semi-custom.

My definition of custom: any size, configuration, style, wood specie, or finish you want ... if you can dream it a custom builder should be able to give it to you. If they can't, they are semi-custom.

As my name suggests, I'm very in-tune with Showplace and am biased accordingly; but always suggest checking out other brands AND Showplace ... if you don't test them against other brands and local builders you can't make an informed decision. So, do that :)

They even have a new Facebook page (you can get to from their website) where it appears some of their dealers lurk; bet you could get some unvarnished opinions there. Even though they may have slight bias too, most sell other brands as well.

Kompy and Daveinorlando are good examples of dealers who sell multiple brands yet are able to offer valuable opinion based on need.

Here is a link that might be useful: Showplace Cabinetry

I live on Long Island and got a few cabinets quotes-Wellborn, Kraftmaid and Decora. The Kraftmaid from Consumers was the cheapest. For $22,000 I am getting $30,000 worth of cabinets with plywood construction, a painted finished, full overlay, raised panel, mitered door style. It also includes roll out trays and soft close drawers and doors. I will be ordering, 28 cabinets(4 with glass doors and 3 with added depth), crown molding, light rail, fillers, toe kicks and legs for island. Consumers has a "Factory Rebate" promotion that gives you $$$ off depending on how much you spend --$30,000 gets you $8,000 off(that's the max). Oh, and if we have my contractor purchase the cabinets, he gets an additional discount, so we would be at around $22,000 with tax and delivery included.

I went to Lowe’s and got a price of $24,000 for a basic 10x10 u shape. It was 5,000 for the glass inserts. This was ridiculous, so I just made an appointment with Home Depot. Oh by the way this was for cabinets only and we are installing.

yeah-we went through sticker shock also--$25,000 quoted by HD for Kraftmaid (for a modest kitchen)..and we are also installing ourselves.... we got the price down at Lowes -but it is still hard to spend 14K on cabinets that aren't that exciting (white shaker flat panel).....