I have new Shiloh cabinets and like them very much. Be sure you like the place you're ordering them. Shiloh does not deal directly with customers.

i would avoid big box stores.

Where did you purchase them? I definitely need a reliable cabinet place to go to, that will be honest and responsive. Also, if you don't mind, how much do they run per linear foot. The custom guy quoted us $1,200 a linear foot which seemed a lot.

What is your budget or where were you planning to be per linear foot?

We installed Kraftmaid cabinets in our previous kitchen in 2003 and we absolutely loved them. We had virtually all drawers for base cabinets, including some pots and pans drawers, as well as several special type cabinets like a dishwasher cabinet. When we sold the house last year the cabinets looked just as good as when they were knew, and had no functional problems at all. The pictures of our kitchen were dominant in our listing and we had 35 people show up for the open house and had multiple offers the first day. I think a lot of it was because of how great our kitchen looked. We're doing a huge addition(s) and renovation project now in our new house and I intend to get Kraftmaid again. Some things that were extra before are now included in the base price.

Honestly, I'm not sure what to budget, since Home Depot is 180 a linear foot, but custom is 1200. I guess somewhere in between. What shpuld i expect to spend for good cabinets?

We're your Kraftmaid from home Depot, busy bee?

I know I want solid wood, as the kitchen now is not real wood & is peeling all over. And since I have 6 kids, it will get seriously used.

Also, if anyone has a personal recommendation for an honest kitchen place (where they don't try to up sell you every second) in or near North Jersey , please lmk.

Rikki. I am thinking about starting a renovation and trying to figure out a cabinet budget (and budget in general - see the thread I started) . I noticed the range in prices is ridiculous so was trying to figure out a decent number to use.

yeah, me too

I will second the KraftMaid vote. I did not use a big box store, but a local kitchen designer. We have been extremely happy with function and quality, and they still look brand new 2 years later. I chose them over my other top choices- Shiloh and custom.

As for finding a place to use, I would just make calls and visit shops until you find a KD you can work well with.

Conestoga: The Cabinet Joint.com. Brian.
Exactly what you ask for.

Our semi-custom cabinets are from Royal Cabinets (in Hillsborough, NJ). For the most part, we are very happy with them. They were responsive and helpful with some corrections (re-do's) that needed to be addressed during the installation process, they stained/finished our island and message center switchplates to match our cabinets (at no cost, I think), things like that. There are some other things, that had we been aware prior to the cabinet build, we might have avoided. But, as I said, overall, we think they are good quality.

I think our KD (who might be local to you as well--message me if you'd like his contact info) uses different cabinet lines now, but I'm not sure.

Another way of going about it is to hire a KD to draw up plans, and then shop those around so you are comparing apples to apples. You can go to a lumberyard which often have better prices than big box, a custom guy, a big box. Also, depending where you are in NJ you might be able to get an Amish type of cabinet maker from Pennslyvannia to make them.

A friend of mine just built a nice home and put in cabinets from Home Depot - they look great and were built in Arthur IL.

What does a kitchen cost is like asking what a car costs. Are you talking about a Smart car or a Maybach? Or somewhere in between. Are you moving walls/plumbing/fixtures/windows? Do you have existing ceiling/under counter lighting that is updated? Are you reusing appliances or getting all new? What level of appliances do you want? Reg refrig/counterdepth/built in/integrated? Where do you live? It does make a difference! You see where I'm going.

I paid about $14,000-15,000 for my Shiloh cabinets,. My kitchen is 11x15. I have 36" upper cabinets trimmed to ceiling including crown molding. I have 2 36" uppers with painted Shaker doors, 2 24" uppers with glass doors and a 36" upper with glass. There is another custom sized odd size upper cabinet. There is a frame around the refrig with a cabinet above. Lowers are 1 24" cabinet with drawer/door with another drawer inside and dividers for trays, 1 7" Rev-a-Shelf utinsel pull-out (unit not in price), a 3 stack or 30" drawers, a 3 stack of 28" drawers, a 3 stack of 36" drawers (one has a drawer-in-a-drawer in it, - 4 stack of 8" drawers, and a 24" base with drawer and shelf(being used as dog den without door or shelf), a 10" 3 drawer stack, a 36" sink vase cabinet and a frame for dishwasher. It also includes frame/trim for above Vent-a-Hood.

That price does not include demo or installation. My uppers are full inset (no upcharge with Shiloh) and bottoms are frameless European (again no upcharge. At no time was I quoted dollar per linear ft - that is Big Box reel you in talk.

Wow, that's a lot to take in. We do need to take down /put up walls, and get new appliances. But I'm first trying to get an idea of cabinetry cost. To me, 1200 per linear foot of cabinets is a lot of money. But , you're right that home depot is only for the basics. The rep there told us to multiply the base x 6 for an idea, plus installation. Came to about 30,000 which seems a lot for home depot quality.

I know other places might be a similar cost, but they will hopefully be better quality and more worthwhile.

Right now, I'm still looking for a dealer in North Jersey.

Thanks for all the helpful insight!

Kitchens are a big investment.. I know it's not fun, but start googling local cabinet makers/kitchen places and making the calls. I would get 3-5 bids before making any decisions.

I'd have to research the individual cabinet companies before making any assumptions about quality. Some may assume Home Depot is "cheap" because it's big box, but going to a little local store may or may not have better quality. I'm sure you know this but, you can find bad reviews on just about anything, including kitchen cabinet brands..

But like you said in another post, some people just walk into a home and see that first glimpse of the kitchen and they are sold (forget about checking for dovetail drawers, cabinet brands, etc). People on Houzz/Gardenweb have eagle eyes when it comes to the fine details.. The average person does not lol.. So I wouldn't stress too much. As taboo as it sounds, especially on the kitchen forum, there are some people out there who truly don't care what the kitchen looks like.

I just pulled out my old invoice for my kitchen, to give you some idea of price. I used the local Home Depot, and bought Innermost cabinets in white and green for a two toned effect. I also bought some master bath cabinets, painted saffron yellow. The style is called Kingston, it's a flat panel Shaker, frameless. Innermost is a middle of the road brand, not the cheapest. The invoice is dated 10/27/12.

The cabinets were ordered without a toe kick (I hate toe kicks), and with two sink cabinets for the kitchen, one of which I ended up not using (long story). I got the plywood upgrade, although a lot of Gardenwebbers don't see value in that.

The kitchen uppers are 30" without crown moldings. There are six uppers, four with glass and two plain. I have one super susan. The base cabinets are all drawers, except the sink cabinets and one 1'0" base pull-out. The two sink bases are apron sink ready, 36" wide each. There are no inserts, special features, or any ornamentation. These cabinets almost completely fill a 10' x 13' space.

The master bath cabinets consisted of two 30" sink bases, an 18" wide three drawer base, and two medicine cabinets with mirror glass, each 18" wide.

The grand total for all this stuff, cabinets only, not including handles or installation, came to $10324.32. If I subtract out the bathroom cabinets, the subtotal for the kitchen cabinets is $8170.97. If I take out the sink base I didn't end up using, that probably comes to somewhere around $7500 - $7800. This is in New Hampshire, so no sales tax. Innermost threw in both sink bases for free, so I'm guesstimating that number. IIRC, there are complicated discounting systems applied here, but don't ask me to explain, it's some sort of secret handshake thing...

If I had to do it over again, I would skip the glass, and maybe get a warmer white color overall. I've become somewhat "meh" about the IKEA Domsjo apron sink, I can take it or leave it. OTOH, the drawers are absolutely fantastic and worth the money. I haven't missed the little inserts and things you see in the catalogs, I figured I could always buy this stuff after the fact, and I never bothered.

My designer never tried to upsell me. I told her my ballpark budget, and she was happy to work with it. I think the key thing in saving money is to keep the order as simple and free of "extras" as you can.

In fact, I'm pretty pleased with the whole experience, even though there were a lot of life pitfalls along the way, that had nothing to do with the cabinets. My kitchen designer at Home Depot was/is really good and very easy to work with. The cabinets themselves were packed very carefully, and were absolutely flawless, which is unusual, apparently.

OP, I know this is a lot of info, but I'm thinking the specificity will help you in your process. Good luck. :)

I'm a KD (signed in with to avoid "branding") About half my work is upper end, the other half mainstream. Just took a look at 10 "semi" or slightly better kitchens, 160 to 20 sq ft, nicely detailed, fully functional. Cabinets were between 12 and 24k. No reason you can't do a fine kitchen in that range- all the ones over 20 were in a slightly "better brand" but 3 in that brand were under 20. North Jersey will be 10-25% higher from what I've seen.

Making a kitchen completely functional adds between 7 and 10% usually. Since you can pay more than that for plywood, a glaze, paint, cherry, a door style...I see no reason not to make functional kitchens. Just do it carefully.

Semi-custom is just a price point. In framed cabinets it means pocket hole frames- (frameless is harder to explain). You can still get custom sizes, reasonable modifications and good details at the price-if you look around. Finish, wood grading and customer service are the things that vary the most. Price spread is roughly 10% but can be as much as 20 and as little as 0 (for the same two brands). THERE IS NO BEST.

Take a rough plan and have it priced as is at a few places. One you make up that has everything you think you want and a correct amount of cabinets. That can give you a rough idea for budget. Details will be missing so allow 10% more. While you're at it pay attention to who you are dealing with. That should be a bigger factor than what brand. IF you run across someone who indicates that they want to add some details tell them to price that as an option. (but put them on you're short list to go back to).

any recent updates on quality semi custom kitchen cabinets?

Nearly 2 years later, I still love my Shiloh cabinets!!!! They are semi-custom but in fact, offer many fully custom options. It's not just the brand of cabinets; it's the KD and the people who sell them to you and will be doing the tear-down and installation. They will make or break your experience. I was lucky - my KD company were outstanding!

Hey, I live in North Jersey as well and we're going to be building a new home next year. We had Schrock cabinets in our current home. Going on 18 years, I've been fairly pleased with them for the value. We'd like to upgrade a little, but don't want to incur the cost of custom cabinetry. Can I ask what you ended up going with and if you're happy with your decision? Thanks so much!

no final decision yet; researching urban effects cabinents

An industry rule of thumb for budgeting is to plan on 5-15% of the current market value of your home. the following link from Houzz can also be helpful.

http://www.houzz.com/remodeling-costs

I use J&K cabinets a lot. They have dealers in NJ, too.

I like Crystal cabinets. I used a combination of their “Affordable Custom” and
“Premium Custom”. The difference is mainly in the door styles and available finishes.

Where in New Jersey do you recommend to purchase Crystal cabinets?

we went with KraftMaid in 2013 and were 100% happy. Well made and still going strong 10 yrs later.