Check out the Kitchen Forum and the Baths Forum. Lots of great specific info over there.

After a long search, we were unable to find a brand of cabinetry that had the right combination of quality and price. We had looked at Shiloh, KraftMaid, Thomasville, Signature, Haas, WoodMode, Medallion, & Wellborn. We received price quotes and designs from Shiloh, Thomasville, Signature, & Medallion. In the end, for us, the best quality + price was by going the custom route. If we had gone with one of the brands above, I think that it would have been Signature or Shiloh (love the red painted cabs!). They were mid-priced, but had well-made cabinetry.

After getting estimates that were WAY out of our budget from Lowes and a local hardware store, we ended up going
CUSTOM. We got what is easily a $50K kitchen for $11,200!!!! And I'm talking all the bells and whistles, all lower cabs are deep drawers or have roll-outs, full extension drawers, blum glides and doors, decorative range hood, valance over sink, lazy susan with wooden turntable, pantry cabinet, "buffet"' with plate rack, bookcase, gorgeous details like heavy crown, bump-outs with "table legs," all solid maple, painted cream and stained espresso. (I told this guy that when word gets out about him, I won't be able to afford him again!) Anyway, I can't emphasize enough how worth it it is to look into going custom. It was SO much fun designing my own kitchen. I just gave him pictures of what I wanted. They are in the basement of our house awaiting installation.

For 2 bathrooms, I ended up ordering vanities from Home Decorators Collection, despite some negative reviews here. Since I was aware from warnings of folk here that they tend to have shipping delays, I ordered much sooner than I need them. The first one arrived on time in perfect condition and is just gorgeous--much prettier than on their website. I am still waiting on the 2nd one, which is supposed to ship in a couple weeks, still at least a month ahead of when we need it. The ones I got have antique cherry finish with black granite tops. I am using a Lowes vanity for the kids' bath upstairs.
good luck to you!

We used Starmark and Hertco Cabinetry . We have been in our for several months now and I just love all the cabinets.
They are great quality and wipe down easily and we have not had a single problem with any of them. They are one of my favorite things that we did RIGHT in our home! Here are some pics!

While you could have a much better experience, we would NEVER use KraftMaid again. We are nearly complete with what is almost a $1 million build and the kitchen experience is easily the worst experience of the entire project.

YMMV

After getting a few different bids we ended up going with custom cabinets. Saved us a lot more money and we were able to get them in the bathrooms and laundry also. Something we could not do with KraftMaid or Thomasville!

Good luck in your search!

Ikea.

I've always had custom cabinets built to my specs (3 houses). I tend to design a lot of the features, especially the kitchen island. Custom was much less than what it would have cost with 'brands'.

We are using Medallion. They are suprisingly affordable for a nice looking cabinet. We are ordering through a Kitchen store, not Lowes or HD where I was quoted Thomasville and another that were several thousand higher. If I was considering painted cabinets I might have gone with a custom or site built cabinets as I would have saved money, but I feel that you cannot replicate a smooth baked on finish that you get at the larger factories in a smaller, lesser controlled environment. From what I have seen many times, the finish is not smooth or even a bit streaky. But that is just what I have seen in the area.

Our kitchen cabinets are from Great Northern. Very happy with them, but a lot of our kitchen's beauty was created by the installer, who added his own paneling and corbels, etc.

There's so much hype over kitchen cabinets. All you really need are good, sturdy BOXES with the style doors you prefer. We obsess over each part of home-building but forget about so much of it as we move on -- and move in!

A lot of the costs of some things are due to advertising, fancy showrooms, a line of a thousand possible selections. Try to chill. You'll know 'cheap' when you see it; same for 'good enough'.

Haas, which is a semi-custom line made in Indiana. We're thrilled with them. The quality is great and the price was lower than many box cabinets. We put them in our kitchen, butler's pantry, all four of our bathrooms and laundry room for $20K.

We're using Kitchencraft. We checked out Omega, Schuyler and Brookwood and ended up buying them on buycabinets.com. I have some acquaintances who bought their cabinets there and were very happy. I was happy with the quality, price and no shipping or sales tax. They're arriving in a couple of weeks and I am a little nervous, but I've bought plenty of other things on the internet and I'm sure they'll be fine too! I'll keep you all posted.

We were on a tight, tight, tight budget. We had 6500.00 for all kitchen and bath cabinets and countertops. We came in at about 6900.00 because of a couple upgrades in the kitchen and powder room.

In the kitchen we used Armstrong cabinets and laminate counter tops.

charliedawg,

HOw many linear feet for $6500? Was that an INSTALLED price?

Thanks :)

We are very happy with our choice of Medallion cabinets.

Like Charliedawg, we used Armstrong cabinets also. We're very happy with them!

Thanks to this thread I learned that I could get my kitchen custom and save a lot of money, $4,000 to be exact. I'm ecstatic and thank you very much for the "heads up" about custom versus store bought. Doesn't make sense, but am glad I'm getting a much better cabinet for a lot less money.

Wow, amazing to think custom made cabinets are cheaper than the others. Hoping we'll find a custom builder in our area. Our GC has spoke to the Amish, and he said they seem quite high. Anyone have custom cabinets made in the Nashville TN area? If so, please share their name.
Thanks!!

Custom, made to fit, but I don't like them. They are (most often) frame-less, particle board boxes, and to me personally just don't look or feel as nice as some of the semi custom cabinets (like Medallion, Brookhaven, etc.) Our last house we bought Medallion, and purchased with Lowes. The cabinets were beautiful, but the ordeal we went through with Lowes is another story!

This time around, we are again choosing Medallian, but working with a local kitchen cabinet maker who is also a Medallian distributor. Price-wise - he said either way they would cost us about the same.

My custom cabinets will be solid wood, front sides, and backs. If I bought the Kraft Maid I picked out, they would be mostly compressed wood with a little maple thrown in!!

When you say frameless, what does that mean? How can you have a cabinet with no frame? How do you hang the doors?

Like everything I guess the custom vs store bought could be a regional thing also. I'm just glad I figured out the most economical way for our kitchen.

We will be using Haas Cabinetry. They're built in the midwest. Great bang for the buck....many custom features and outstanding craftsmanship/finish work. See kygirl99's entry above.

Purchasing through a wholesale company in Ohio. Our pastor at church will help us hang them.

http://www.alshomesolutions.com/Site/Templates/kitchen_cabinets.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: Haas Cabinet

We have Omega. DH is very happy with the construction of the cabinets.

We just signed on the dotted line with Mouser cabinetry in the kitchen, butler's pantry and powder room, and Decora in the secondary rooms. We looked forever and fell in love with the finish, workmanship and choices of colors... we'll let you know when they arrive.

In my area (central north carolina) the custom folks have been very expensive.So far I've gotten 2 quotes from custom cabinet maker who charged me about $724-850/linear ft for maple cabinets! A semi custom from Marsh Furniture cabinet makers averaged about $410/linear foot. I've just started working with a Medallion rep and should meet Omega/Dynasty, Shiloh next week. At Lowes, Kraft Maid Venicia line Maple was around $300/linear foot but I'm not sure about the quality of Kraftmaid though. Any other suggestions as my price point is around the $300/ft range?