I had a local cabinet maker build mine. My kitchen isn't huge, but I did a wall of pantry cabinets, drawers wherever possible, enclosed fridge, 42" uppers with extra shelves, exactly the sizes I wanted to maximize efficiency (down to the 1/16"), and the quote included soft-close hinges, Blum soft-close drawer glides, crown molding, and installation. The installers were incredible. There were a couple of mistakes along the way, and they were fixed quickly and cheerfully. For example, the installer didn't like the way one of the drawer fronts looked (I didn't see it, so I don't know what the problem was), so he called the shop and had them build a new one. It was installed the next day. I'm in the Midwest, and I paid less than $20K. My u-shaped kitchen is 10' x 11', plus a 5' wall of floor-to-ceiling cabinets. I designed my own kitchen, so I don't know how it would have worked out if I had wanted design help. But you can get plenty of design help here!

I used thermafoil cabinets in the laundry room and powder room in my last house. Before putting the house on the market, we went around and glued down all the edges that were loose. They had started coming up after only 4 years -- and this on cupboards that weren't opened daily as those in a kitchen would be! My daughter and son-in-law are about to put their house on the market and have been doing all those "touch up" things. Their house is probably 10 years old, and the thermofoil kitchen cabinets were all peeling. They ended up peeling all doors and painting the whole kitchen -- looked 100% better! Most of the thermofoil peeled off in complete sheets! At least it was easy to get off! I wouldn't use the material again.

When asking such a question many things depend on the answer. Not all Amish cabinets are build and made the same. Just like every carpender does not do the same quality of work. If you are just looking at the price factor that is going to be easy. Go for the cheaper price. But if your looking at the entire picture ask yourself these questions: Can I get a replacement part and or will they still be around in a year if I have a problem? Is the entire cabinet construction the same. What are the sides, backs, drawer boxes, shelves, and glides made of? Finish.....THIS IS HUGE usually a factory baked on finish will surpass any local shop as they have perfected the process and have years doing so. But that isnot to say a local guy cant do a great job. But in time you want to make sure the finish will remain as nice as they day you had it installed. This is a huge issue I have seen in the past. Custom sizes, most companies (in the lower end) use 3" sizes. Custom cabinet makers can help so fillers may not be needed as often. Ask to look at jobs they have done 6 months ago to a longer and see how the cabinets are holding up. I also have to add the point that KraftMaid is not your only option in this price point. Home centers offer that line and consumers feel they are getting a great value bc its a big box center. Only to be let down they have forgotten items and have a HUGE damage rate. If its about price I have to be honest when a client asks me to match the home centers I love it. I make more money. The home centers have won your hearts and deceived your minds in thinking big box discounts are only to be found there. Most small business can offer you a good quality cabinet for the same price and maybe even less. Educate yourself on another line and before you buy be sure your getting all the items you need and things will not be an add on later. Another line you should consider is Waypoint. I found they are a better value than KraftMaid and drop ship to your house. I never lost a job on price when quoting this line. I hope this helped and consider all your options :)

I never had glides before! So nice they are 'standard' now. I fretted but I don't regret it. That was a lot of money for a 12k cabinet budget kitchen. I dropped the island corbels to compensate - and used the counterbalance plates for support instead. It wasn't a wash but it was close enough. I would have never even thought about it until I was looking at the display and opening drawers. The one on the right didn't shut fully one time in the probably dozen times I opened it. The one on the left shut every time with the same pressure. Likely I'd have gotten used to pushing harder? I just didn't know if weight added would make it worse not better. Those were empty drawers. Waypoint in a very limited nutshell. My Waypoint are in an office so the 'cabinets' are different, I have never looked through their catalog to see what they offer as far as dimension flexibility so I can't speak to that. In fact, I didn't really look at them at all. We were moved in and there was stuff everywhere, I just wanted it done (read can this build process JUST.BE.OVER???????). It's a desk that primarily I use so I wasn't too worried about any of it. I took a couple little finish samples home and chose one. I didn't look at them as a brand in detail when I was kitchen shopping so I don't know the particulars on construction or paint/stain at all. DH installed them so he said they were 'decent' but he could tell a difference in them, not as heavy perhaps? I'd have to ask. I think finish and hardware for heavy use. So the finish is aesthetic but the hardware no. The cabinet boxes may be just fine. The kitchen cabinets get used far more by everyone than any of our other cabinets in the house. There is a knee/pencil drawer, a stack on the left with one drawer and a door and a 2 drawer on the right for hanging files that comprises the 'desk'. That's it. I didn't even look at a catalog or brochure. The glides are nice. They are smoothy and do shut the first time. Not sure on the brand, I can check. They are stained, the finish isn't completely consistent. The knee drawer noticeably 'off' a bit from the rest. So from the get go I guess I'd say finish isn't as nice. Does that make them less durable as far as construction? Probably not but I didn't investigate them. Less durable in finish? Perhaps but I don't know, I have never seen a full painted sample display. Go look at some side to side and you can see the difference in finish. I know I'm not really explaining it well but you can just see it. Kitchen specific: for reference, I can put a box of baggies in my top drawers of my Shiloh - no way in the Waypoint I have but it's not a 3 or 4 drawer stack so I'm not positive it wouldn't be different. Really no way in the Homecrest, even more shallow yet. In the kitchen, I wanted as much flexibility as possible and didn't want the top drawer height to completely dictate what went in there? So that was important to me. My kraftmaid cabinets had a really shallow top drawer too. We had them in a kitchenette in our old house. Shiloh paint - at one time I did know but too many details and too long ago. I read and read and read........ I think their website explains it. I think FACTORY applied paint holds up better. That is what I remember from all my reading. I went with a brand level and then looked further to what each in that 'class' for lack of a better word offered. For example, Shiloh doesn't charge near as much as others to finish the inside of a cabinet. I have an open cab with the MW in it and wanted one cab with glass. They were affordable for that, others were not. Miles apart. It's crazy how different they all can be for seemingly the same thing. I hope that was helpful.