I used Scherr's cabinets in my DIY kitchen remodel, and I was really happy with the quality of the construction, and with how easy they were to assemble (by the end it was taking about 10 minutes to assemble a wall cabinet) Additionally given the adjustable leg-levelers that come with the cabinets, the process of installing the base cabinets so that they were perfectly flat and level was relatively easy for a complete cabinet installation novice to do.

Also I cannot speak more highly of the customer service at Scherr's, before the sale in the planning stages, during the cabinet build process as I emailed in some last minute changes and tweaks, and after the the cabinets were finished and shipped. During installation (which was about two months after the cabinets were shipped to me, due to other parts of the remodel taking longer than I planned) I discovered two problems caused by one of my last minute changes, (changing from one brand of drawer slide to another) they changed the drawer slides they included but didn't change the program controlling where the holes were drilled. When I contacted Scherr's about the problem they responded the same day and shipped a fix for the problem to me within about three days.

I was also very happy with the final price from Scherr's (about $17000) I ended up with completely custom, shaker style, quarter-sawn red oak cabinets in a custom-colored finish that are both beautiful and functional, for only about twice what it would have cost for the nearest comparable kitchen cabinet setup from Ikea.

I cannot compare the cabinets to Conestoga's RTA cabinets, since Conestoga was a complete non-starter for me, given that I was only interested in frameless-style cabinets, whereas Conestoga only seems to offer face-frame style cabinets.

Ditto on the Scherrs. They were easy to assemble and very sturdy.

I'm new to the forum and not really up to speed on cabinet terminology and options. I know I want a painted shaker style door with a full overlay. Since I want to save money, I'm looking at paint grade wood.

I don't know the difference between frameless and face-frame style cabinets. Something tells me I'm going to learn all about cabinets through this process. ;-)

I was hoping you would see more action as I was curious about the comparison. I'm in Ontario Canada and Conestoga is available to us through a retailer in Woodtsock, ON. We didn't go that way on my Mom's kitchen but there have been a number of positive posts about Conestoga's RTA cabinets during the time I have been here. Conestoga offers only face frame cabinetry (the attached link should explain the differenes and quite a few other things that might come up) but you have the option of partial or full overlay (full overlay looks like frameless but still has a face frame behind the full overlay door). Conestoga offers Paint Grade wood doors and does Colortone paint finishes but you will pay a premium for the painted finish. No idea on the cabinet cost but the Pioneer line is their least expensive product and they do offer a better deal on certain door styles. Not sure where you are odering from but some retailers like Cabinetmaker's Choice sell jigs to help assemble the cabs.

If you can make it work Ikea sell its frameless RTA cabinet boxes separately and then you can order your doors from any number of companies unfinished for even more savings. Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: good guide to cabinetry

caryscott -- Thank you! I'm hoping to get more input because I really want a fantastic kitchen!

I was looking around for a great explanation of framed vs frameless that was linked to from here some time ago, but can't find it. The gist of it was: Given the Garden Web kitchen forum consensus that for lower cabinets drawers == good, cabinets with doors and shelves == bad, framless cabinets can give you more storage in the same space, since for same-sized cabinets the drawers in frameless cabinets are larger than those in face-framed cabinets.

To visualize the space lost in drawers for face framed cabinets, assume you have an 18" wide cabinet, assume that the frameless cabinet has 3/4" thick sides and the face frame is made from 2" wide stock. Assume both cabinets have drawer boxes that are 1/2" thick, and that they both use side-mounted drawer slides that are about 1/2" thick. So given this these assumptions the inside width of a drawer would be 18" - 2 * 3/4" - 4 * 1/2" = 14.5" for frameless vs. 18 - 2 * 2" - 4 * 1/2" = 12" for framed cabinets.

For me the equation is simple: If you love the look of inset cabinets (and are willing to live with the somewhat less usable storage space that choice entails) get face framed cabinets with inset doors, and love them. Otherwise get frameless cabinets.

For CaryScott - If you're still here since I realize this is a very old posting ... Who is the Conestoga Retailer in Woodstock, Ontario you mentioned? Are they still in business?