He's testing you to see if you freak out.

I'm having painted inset cabinets made by a custom cabinet maker (it's in the works now) and that's the way I expected them to be and the way he offered.

Little lines in the paint at the joins shows it's real. It's not giant peeling cracks (unless he's done a bad job). It's painted wood. Just like any other painted wood. Like a door or a piece of furniture.

As for hinges, my mom has had inset cabinets for almost 20 years in an environment where humidity varies wildly and has never adjusted them.

There are valid reasons for making cabinets out of mdf. And you should hear all the arguments.

But don't let this guy make you feel like you're asking for a "show kitchen". Maybe he just doesn't really like doing inset. Fine. But that's him, not you.

Good luck!

My inset cabinets are 80 years old and have never be adjusted in the 30 years I've been here. They're pretty good as far as fit -- just beat up. (They are stained however, not painted).

I'm not sure what's a working kitchen and what's a show kitchen but is he suggesting that all the Christopher Peacock kitchens are only for show?

What I found in my research of this issue was that the frames of the doors should be made of wood and the panel out of MDF. The MDF will stay straighter and is great for the middle panel but is very easy to ding up if you use it for the door frames. My kitchen has 2 different types of hinges on the inset doors. The very uppers that have glass have the classic external finial hinges as does a hutch that is meant to be a furniture piece. The rest have regular European hinges because my husband at some point mentioned that he didn't like hinges that showed. BAD decision. The cabinet people never pointed out I was giving up a ton of space by putting regular hinges on inset doors. They only said, sure we can do it. I think once the finial hinges are set you are good for a long time. Our old house was built in 1936, had inset and we never adjusted a thing.

Not to be contrary but with mortise and tenon construction I was told to expect hairline cracking not just at the inset panel but at the frame joins with a lacquer finish. Many good lines like Cabico and Luxor are using 3\4 (minimum) routered solid MDF for the doors because it is more dimensionally stable than 5 part mortise and tenon wood doors. If you want an opaque finish you would probably reduce the risk of problems with sticking etc by having the doors constructed out of MDF.

Many folks don't distinguish between furniture\flake\particle (you pick) board and MDF. MDF is a quality material (paint grade wood is significantly less expensive than MDF for instance). With some cheap buiders lines the doors are melamine or thermofoil over low grade particle board which is like saw dust if the surface is punctured. Screws won't hold in it over time and use - this is not MDF - even particle board comes in grades - those with Medium to High grades from ANSI are what most stock and semi-custom cabs are made of these days though no decent line uses it for the substrate for their melamine and thermofoil doors. 3\4 inch MDF doors will hold screws and can be sanded down and refinished when you want a new look. MDF accepts opaque paint finishes better than wood - with wood you are trying to conceal the properties of the material (the grain) while MDF is an ideal smooth surface to apply paint to.

Fabricating inset is much more expensive, candidly I have seen a lot of very nice period stye kitchens in magazines that are using traditional door styles like Shaker with frameless cabinetry. It is taste but the extra money for inset appearance just isn't justified but that's probably just me. Good luck with your kitchen.

My cabinet guy said it also had to do with humidity. It was the cost that made me forgo them, though. I wouldn't have let that convince me.

Crown Point quoted me an upcharge of about $3700 for $64K worth of cabinets, roughly 5%. It's definitely worth it to me to get the vintage look that I love.

I think it was magnified on mine because it's such a tiny kitchen. It was about 20% and would have taken me way out of budget.

At the CP price point I'm not surprised they can do inset for such a small additional mark up but I think 20% or more is pretty common. Key number is 64 grand for kitchen cabinets, if your home can support that outlay on cabinetry alone using the 10%-15% of your property's value as your total kitchen reno budget (as advised by the NKBA) then you should go for it. If not, given market conditions, I would consider some sort of compromise. Then again I'm from Canada where frameless cabinetry dominates the marketplace.

As discussed recently in another thread, I think you'll find that there are many people who are not following the 10% to 15% guideline for many different reasons. If this house were going to be my "forever home," I'd build my dream kitchen and spare no expense, including the Crown Point cabinets that I love. But since we'll most likely sell this house one day, I'm leaning toward the less expensive Cabico cabinets, also inset but not as beautiful as the Crown Point.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cost of new kitchen?

I've read them and you'll never convince me that it's justifiable - but that's a reflection of my sensibilities and experience someone else with a different set of experiences will see it another way - I'm comfortable with a respectful difference of opinion. I realy love Cabico's (a Canadian company) product and wish we could have afforded them. Check out the Fall issue of Kitchen Makeovers they have a beautiful vintage kitchen (pg89) done with Cabico inset cabinets. It has a nice mix of high-low with sheet vinyl floor, butcher block countertops and white drop-in sink. The couple in the feature bought their cabinets unfinished from Cabico and had them painted.

caryscott, thanks for the tip, I'll definitely look for that magazine.

caryscott, Is Kitchen Makeovers a Canadian magazine? I know Barnes and Noble carries both GB and Canadian magazines.

Erika, what are the differences that you can see between the Cabico and the Crown Point cabinets? Since you have actually looked at them both and compared the two I would love to hear about that.

I have a few tiny samples of wood finishes from Crown Point and I went to see the display of the Plain & Fancy cabinets. The P&F did not have as matte a finished but the KD said it could be specified to be more matte.

I am wondering how to do a real comparison of the detailing and the finish among the different brands. Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has done this.

sayde, I think the biggest difference I've noticed is the finish. Crown Point's paint finish, both their classic and milk paint, is gorgeous. I prefer a very matte finish and even with the 10% sheen, the Cabico cabinets seem a little glossier. CP's finishing is done by hand and is very elaborate.

Another thing is the detailing. Crown Point's product looks more like furniture to me. For example, the toekicks aren't added on, they're all one piece with the frame. And look at this corbel:

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As far as quality of construction, for an upcharge I can upgrade to all plywood boxes with Cabico. As far as I can tell Cabico's drawer construction and undermount hardware are of similar quality to CP's.

Aside from quality and detail, the other big factor that had me leaning toward Crown Point was that the CP designer is much more in tune with my style. Her kitchens are in my inspiration file, while the other KD's kitchens appear very run-of-the-mill, cookie-cutter to me.

Good luck with your continuing research!