I'm planning to buy my cabinets here. They gave me a quote on Norcraft that was about half the Lowe's Kraftmaid quote. Drop them an email or call Larry and see what they say.

Here is a link that might be useful: Designer Cabinets Online

You didn't mention a location, but your zone is 4a so you are pretty far north.

I found a great deal on cabinets on Craigslist, they were installers who bought them direct from a local cabinet shop. This was in Houston, so you would need to check your local Craigslist for similar options.

Check in some unlikely places. Many tile stores also sell cabinets now. Floor and Decor is one regional tile store that sells cabinets. The granite shops around here also sell cabinets. There's a company called Cabinets to Go which is really getting popular here too.

I think american woodmark is home depot's least expensive brand and the lady who does spice up your kitchen tv show has done kitchens in them (see them on that website). also you can get off the shelf cabinets at home depot and lowes and other places.

When you talk budget cabinets, you're speaking my language.... I did a ton of shopping for cabinets before settling on the ones we bought, and I went from place to place (in a large metro area) with a sketch of my layout in hand and asked them to only show me what I could do for less than $5000. I ran into some very snooty sales people who I quickly realized that I would not be working with (guess they didn't like modest budgets) , but I was surprised that there were actually quite a few different makers that fell within that range (we were buying about 10 cabinets total).

I considered a lot of different lines, but in the end I came down to two brands Bertch (Marketplace) and Wellborn Forest, both through a local lumber company who employed a very talented designer. I went with Bertch and got dovetailed solid wood drawers and doors , and was able to use their Legacy line to get things like plywood panels for the ends of cabinets as well as the toekicks (I didn't care for the laminate match stuff for sides of cabinets that is standard on most lower priced lines). They also have very easily adjusting doors which will keep them hanging straight over time, though they haven't needed adjusting in the last year. To be fully honest I should add that with all the bells and whistles we added (light rail, and a crown molding, glass front doors, dividers for the over the fridge, and two pantries with 4 roll-out shelves on each, blumotion softclose, full-extension drawers, miscellaneous trim, plus the plywood ends for the pantry and refrigerator cabinet and toekicks, oh, and a 3" box that went between our dishwasher and stove.. probably more I'm not remembering right now) we ended up over budget, I think we came in at about $6500 (pre-island). We felt we got a great deal, and very nice cabinets, it's a year and no problems. The carpenter who installed them was looking carefully at them one day when we came in and saw him, and he said he'd just come from a home earlier that day where they'd spent $35,000 and he said they had all the same features, and felt ours were better overall. I can't say enough good things about Bertch. We also did maple cabinets.

I participated in the "slippery slope" post earlier, but am happy to say that I stood firm on what I would spend on the cabinets. It was a little difficult at the time, as I loved the white, inset cabinets with soapstone that so many have here -- and that is probably the biggest sacrifice I had to make in the renovation, was to give up the white paint (Wellborn Forest had affordable painted cabinets, though), it was not just a little more (I would have had to do white thermofoil in my budget, which didn't appeal to me), but a lot more and just possible with our remodeling priorities and limited funds. A year later I am very happy with what I ended up with, no regrets, and fully confident they'll serve us well for years to come both in terms of style and quality of the workmanship....

Schrock cabinets are very nice quality and very affordable. We just build a new house and used these cabinet and I would do it all over again because I think their quality and price is very good.

Here is a link that might be useful: Schrock Maple Door Styles

After a couple of months of research and comparison shopping, we ordered 26 cabinets from American Woodmark Del Ray (shaker style) at HD. AW at HD is almost the same as Shenondoah at Lowes (their specs are exactly the same). The prices are usually comparable when you compare apple to apple.

The base price from either line is not that low, but usually AW and Shen have on going promotions (bunch of stuff for free) and HD or Lowes have their own promotions. For example, our order would have been >$12K out of the door and end up being $8.5K out of the door due to the promos.

If we could afford it, we would support the local privately owned reputable cabinet centers, but after a couple of quotes, it became apparent that their quotes were way too high.

There are some local cabinet centers that do offer rock bottom quotes, but invariably, their cabs are from China. They usually offer all ply construction as standard and maybe even Cushion Close drawers too (both are upgrades to the above mentioned lines at HD and Lowes), and they may look nice in the showroom. But when we opened a corner cabinet and saw a bare ugly looking skinny shelf under lazy Susan, we knew that they cut corners the way we didn't like, so we walked out. (Granted, any budget line had to cut corners one way or another, but the nice thing about HD and Lowes is they have many kitchen setups and you can really look at a lot of details.) Over all, AW and Shen look like sturdy constructions to me.

If you have access to multiple HDs or Lowes where you live, you can find a KD your like (or love) to work with. Most KDs I met are all very very nice, but at small cabinet centers, they probably work on commission, and I tend to get guilty complex when I spend too much of their time. But the one KD I settled down with at HD, OMG, he is the best! He told me that it's my kitchen and I should make it the way I liked. I placed the order for 32 cabinets (including an entry way), and then changed my mind and trimmed it down to 26 (I'll do the entry way along with the rest of the living room with Ikea cabs), and he never even frowned. He told me not to feel guilty when I had to work with him to make changes and he wouldn't be hurt even if in the end I had to go else where. He said that they didn't work on commission, but I wasn't sure if he just said that to make me feel better. It's hard not to feel guilty when you are spending their time in a small place no matter how nice the KD is.

Oh, if you want to keep the cost down, you can look into getting veneer center panel (Del Ray at HD) instead of solid wood (Townsend at HD). We actually preferred veneer center after seeing how the solid wood can present an uneven look in the panel due to the striped nature of the solid wood panels.

Another thing a KD educated us about is, these days engineered wood (particle board) shelving is much better quality than before, and they tend to hold up better than plywood for shelves because the latter is invariably layered. So, if engineered wood is the standard with your choosing, you can consider plywood box or side construction upgrade. With AM, we chose only plywood side upgrade for all the cabinets that have an exposed side. It's better to do it this way because the exposed side now have the same veneer of your style (instead of the light colored engineered wood).

That's all I can think of for now. Best of luck with your quest!

We also got a great deal on Thomasville semi-custom at HD, and worked with a great KD. We wound up getting 1600 dollars off our 5500 dollar cabinet order (so about 3800), which outfitted our 13X11 kitchen with maple cabinets (plywood ends) with a Pearl painted finish (upgrade from stain I'm told), a good sized island,glass uppers, free sink base with tilt out, and soft close everything. We're doing a full DIY kitchen with about 6500-7K. Cabinets are coming thursday...can't wait!
Good luck!

Bertch Marketplace is currently offering 50% off the dovetail drawer/softclose upgrade. I think until the end of March.

You might want plywood on exposed ends. Have you got a layout posted anywhere?

Kabinart is another "budget" sort of brand. All plywood, but thin.

Regarding the Chinese cabinets (imports), my sister got a kitchen done, about 5 years ago, and had to replace a drawer & pantry door. She isn't happy with how they have held up at all. I also know quite a few neighbors that had nightmare experiences too. Granted this was quite a few years ago so hopefully there has been some improvements?

While I was shopping for cabinets a few months back I stopped in at a few companies that sell Chinese made cabinets in the SouthBay - KZ Kitchens and Ivy - and the quality was horrid!

I also looked into Allwood, sold at Costco, and from my research discovered they are basically the same as "Cabinet Liquidators" and they are made in China too correct? I ordered a few wood samples but got scared off after reading some terrible reviews.

I'm intrigued what others on here say about RTA's made in China.

What cabinets are made in China? Are the things sold at Lowes and Home Depot China made?

We priced cabs at 4 different sites, same bald design, to see how prices would work out. Then, we tried to add in frou frou after deciding to use a local shop. Wrong tack.

He doesn't do frou frou well. We couldn't move up the fancy design avenue. His strength is durable, plain or gently decorated stuff in any wood you want, lady. And any plan you want. You're in the driver's seat when it comes to custom with him, or so he thought until meeting me. Anyway, I don't regret the choice because he could accommodate some layout oddities, but as always, communication could have been better, probably on both sides. Because he's an hour away and because I hate the telephone and he doesn't use email very much, we didn't speak enough. We got a boatload of very strong cabs for about $4000 to $5000 less than other bids.

The Chinese imports are a game you have to investigate to understand what you are looking at. Cabinet Liquidators has changed the name of the cabinets so it is difficult for you to compare other companies that sell the same product as you do not know the name of the cabinet to search for it.

To me that is shady. Most online sites hide their identity and the identity of the cabinet maker.

Allwood has a decent reputation for their cabinets. They give a lifetime warranty, 6 square does the same. Allwood does not ship complete in 10 days if they are out of something. They wait for resupply from China. 6 square makes anything they are out of before they ship out. I like that better but I work with both companies for greater choice of door style.

Imported cabinets are fairly consistent if you use the companies that are larger importers. If the company is small they do not have much muscle to have the factory stand behind their products to fix things for future shipments.

I only offer about half the companies I know of. Some I do not want to offer, some I can not get signed up with becase other dealers in my area go to them first, others I just do not like the quality of the cabinet and the service of the importer.

Agree with Dave on the Debut line. They are priced VERY well. The United Series by Debut is very inexpensive.

Here's a picture of a kitchen I did a few months ago. It's Debut Cabinetry w/ Princeton Maple Doorstyle with a mix of Bisque and Espresso. The kitchen is not complete in the photo. There's another section of cabinetry on an adjacent wall. A refrigerator cabinet w/ end panel and a run of base/wall cabinets...so about 5 more feet of cabinets (16 cabinets plus parts and moldings). Has full extension with soft close drawers.

Here is a cost breakdown:
Perimeter Cabinets (painted off white): $4000
Espresso Dark Maple Island: $574
Laminate Tops: $850
Hardware: $100
$5524 plus tax
Installation was by others.

But like with everything else, you get what you pay for. The finish on these cabinets are not as good as KraftMaid or Medallion. The glazing is heavier than most semi-custom brands. But if you are looking for a decent, inexpensive cabinet, this is it.

bump

I have a question I found out today I have legacy cabinets, I can't find a dealer in M.D. yet, the company has very little info, I just read through this thread and I'm not sure if I am right but I think I read it right, is the debut line from legacy? Does anyone know any dealers close to or in Maryland? Thanks

Did you ever find an answer? O'Hanlon kitchens carries the Legacy line of cabinets and yes, Debut is a line from Legacy.

Ikea. ;)