I got merillat masterpiece. I paid a very different price than chefkevs quote. But we got a lot of options/upgrades. Maple Cabinet Full overlay Door Style-Bentley All plywood box-UPCHARGE Vanilla Bean Glaze Finish-18% UPCHARGE Full Extension Guides and Blum Tandem with buffer(on all drawers and Roll out trays)-UPCHARGE Dovetail Drawers 36" uppers Crown moulding Light rail Toe Kick Scribe Moulding 5-Door Panels for finished ends Wall Cabs 3- 2 door 27" wide with NO center style 1- 1 Door 27" corner wall angle 1- 2 door 33" no center stile BASE 1-24" 4 drawer 1-36" corner easy reach with Super Susan 2-21" with 2 full width deluxe dovetail slide out trays 1-36" sink base angle 1-15" slide out slide out trash and recyle BIG CABINETS 1-36" X 90" TALL Pantry with 4 full width (no center stile) deluxe dovetail roll out trays. 2 doors with shelves on top 1-30" x 90" tall microwave cooking center. The top is 2 doors then built in MW then 2 drawers, one drawer has a pull out cutting board, then 2 doors on bottom. Refrigerator panel enclosure with a deep 24" cabinet on top The 2 big cabinets were the big money items ($3892 & $3368 before contractor discount, we paid half that amount) Before going with merillat we got a price on Kraftmaid from Lowes without the Microwave Center and the 24" deep fridge cabinet lowes was the about the same. So if you want to compare apples to apples, Lowes Kraftmaid would have been more money.

I just had Kitchen Cabinet Kings's cabinets installed. My thoughts: Pros- 1. they gave me a design that I like. 2. They arrived quick! Probably within 10 days (how far out is your custom guy? Maybe with your condo that's not as concerning) 3. All plywood, soft closes 4. Cost (big one for us, especially this isn't a forever house) Cons- 1. My installer is a retired cabinet builder and while he didn't say they were awful, he didn't say "wow! these are awesome!!" either. He did say quite often "these aren't square" and once "anywhere they could cut corners they did" 2. The crown molding was about 1.5 of an inch from the ceiling. Their design didn't have way to deal with that. That seemed like an obvious thing to me, make the crown molding go clear to the ceiling....Good thing I had a good installer. I contacted KCK and they weren't so friendly, but did send me some moldings to make a stacked molding so I was to the ceiling. 3. The base cabinet shelves they send are like 1/3 of a shelf. I can't tell if I hate this, or it will be handy for tall appliances. Overall, I think our cabinet guy made them look good. They were pretty good to work with too. Jessica always got right back to me.

The boxes aren't the cabinets. The doors are. Yes, the boxes hold your stuff, but pretty much any material boxes will do the same job. Yes, you can spend an extra 20% "upgrading" to plywood if you have money to burn, but you aren't buying anything useful or meaningful. The biggest differences are in the doors. The quality of wood used. The amount of heartwood vs. sapwood, vs. more knots and pinholes vs. less if you are doing something rustic. Then there is the sanding. And the finishing. Good quality cabinet doors have a depth and subtle sheen to them that poor quality ones never will. Look at the endgrain edges. Are they rough? Do they catch on fabric or a paper towel? Are they the same color? THAT is what you judge a cabinet line on, not the box material. Of your list, Medallion would probably rank highest for me, followed by Kraftmaid. But that is an in person judgement call for you to make. But, DON'T over-rate the boxes and under-rate the doors. That's a classic rookie mistake.

Look at the testing that cabinets undergo to acquire a KCMA certification seal. That is the only organized testing of durability that exists. Many custom shops can exceed thst quality. Many don’t even come close. Custom is not a regulated term. There are those who take flat pack import cabinets, modify them, and call it custom. There are those like a friend in MA who work for years on the same 20K square foot home, creating built in furniture that is artwork. And everything in between. Do due diligence in materials, construction practices, and especially finishing processes. https://www.kcma.org/certifications/ansi-kcma-standard Individual in home wear tests are going to be variable based on family habits. Some people hang on doors to reach inside a base cabinet to grab something. Some have big feet and kick the lower doors and toekick both. Some clean them inappropriately. Any good mid grade line and up will last for many years if cared for properly. 🙂