It's 20 linear feet if you have both uppers and lowers (and if you have a high cabinet, it also counts double--top and bottom). Usually costs include doors and hinges/slides but not knobs, but that really depends on who gives you the estimate---it should list what's included and what assumptions they made. And if you give someone a plan and it has special features, the estimate will likely include all of those, whereas if you just ask for a rough linear foot cost, it will usually be for a bare bones cabinet. HTH!

Linear foot estimates are only good for comparing different cabinet brands/lines if the estimates are done by the same place. In practice your cabinets will cost a lot more than any linear estimate you get.

Hey artemis78 and weissman - thanks!

Weissman, what do you mean that the cabinets will cost a lot more?

I'm trying to understand what goes into building cabinets, b/c it just seems like a huge rip-off!

How can my gorgeous, solid wood, hand-carved bedroom furniture (dresser, nightstands, desk, headboard, footboard) that look so much more complex and are, as I just said above, solid wood, be so much less money than plywood or MDF cabinets with plain jane wood or veneer doors (which are just rectangles, no carving! no curves!)

Quality Forest Council Certified American milled and sourced lumber products produced by American factories or individuals to KCMA standards that pay American workers a living wage will be more costly than Chinese made cabinets with questionably harvested wood and $1 labor if lower production costs are your first criteria. Some are even not too questionable in fit and finish. It's similar in furniture manufacturing. There really isn't any American produced furniture today. Consumers rejected the pricing necessitated by quality American manufacturing. 99% of it is made overseas, even if some of the wood is shipped from here. That's how your carved solid wood furniture is able to be made affordable.

While I still can, I prefer to support more local manufactured choices that I can be certain meet standardized quality controls both to protect the workers and my investment in my home.

For a good value product, you might investigate American Woodmark/Shenendoah cabinets. They are American made, and offer decent quality at a lower price point. You will still be paying roughly between $200-$500 a linear foot for a very basic kitchen with some small upgrades.

I've done kitchens with $2000 worth of cabinets and $80,000 worth of cabinets, and frankly, the sizes of the kitchens aren't the biggest determiner of how much somone spends. Your personal taste and spending philosophy determine that. YOU are easily able to control your pricing in any kitchen renovation. YOu simply have to "just say no" to any bells or whistles. No upgrading to cherry. No glaze. No painted finish. No full extension drawer hardware. No full overlay or inset cabinets. No crown molding. No drawer stacks. No lazy susans. NO trash pullouts. No tall cabinets. No islands. Especially no to any glass doors or stacked cabinets. Those popular forum choices are all upgrades that cost money and are not part of a standard budget kitchen. If you forgo those, you can still manage to get some quality cabinets in your home without breaking your budget.

Reading this forum or looking at popular decorating magazines can give you an unconscious envy and unrealistic expectations for an "average" consumer. Most of my kitchen remodels that I design are under $20,000 which is 10K less than the national average. My customers get good value for their money spent, but they have to be a bit more creative in some things and bring some DIY skills to the table if they want that "100K look" on that 20K budget. If they can't bring any skill sets into the picture, then expectations have to either be revised, or the budget will have to be significantly revised.

It's a shock to many to find that they can't get what they want for what they expected to spend, and it sounds as though you are at that stage in your reno. So, maybe it's time to take that tile class, or go to a box store and buy some cheap crown molding to practice miter cuts or brush up on your painting skills. Or, maybe you're more like my sister who started her own in home business with all of the proceeds going to the "dream home" savings account. Or, there's my neighbor who just bought 3K worth of Chinese cabinets rather than spend the 6K that I quoted him for the same job. There is always something you can DO to get what you want. Even if that's changing your mind as to what you want, vs. what you need.

What I meant was that linear estimates are just that - estimates - they enable you to compare different brands but once you have a layout with particular cabinets and extras that you have chosen you will find that the actual quote will be higher than the linear foot estimate which is typically based on bare-bones choices.

Hi Live_Wire_Oak,

Thanks for the very interesting and informative post. My bedroom furniture is made in the USA - in North Carolina, actually! Like you, I also try to support local businesses whenever I can, and also try to buy American made items to support US industry.

I am willing to forgo the inside special racks for now and try to add them in a few years when we have more money. Don't need soft close - in fact, I kind of like the old fashioned closing style more. However, the full-extension slides I am willing to pay for.

The main issue for me is that the cabinets to be of good quality and nice looking and nice to touch. The feel of thermofoil is just not the same as wood.

It would be my preference to use a local cabinet maker, but I was scared to even ask since the initial quotes from places like home depot were coming in so high.
I will check into American Woodmark/Shenendoah cabinets - thanks for the tip!

There really isn't any American produced furniture today.
Is that so? I knew many manufacturers had moved offshore, but I wasn't aware that this was true of all. When I was a child, my (late) father and most of his brothers were all partners in a large furniture business many, many years ago. They took so much pride in the quality of the products they sold. Of course, everyone had to be a bit a bit neurotic about wood in our mus-, er, home, which I'm not sure that I ever quite overcame. This development saddens me.

beckyg75 - don't shy away from local, custom cabinet makers - many of us have found that often they will come in lower than manufactured brands and you'll have high quality cabinets tailored to your particular layout. Just make sure to check references and see examples of the work.