My Medallion cabinets are over 20 years old and still holding up. When I first joined this forum, most said the best boxes are plywood, but I have seen that change and many pros now say that a good MDF box is fine. Mine are not plywood - I think they are MDF - and not the best MDF, but still solid - I know because I tried to cut one apart to change it up. Painted cabinets, even high end cabinets, are often MDF or a combo of MDF and wood - usually maple because it paints well. Wood moves with changes in temp and humidity which can cause hairline cracks in the paint at joints. For this reason, most painted cabinets have MDF parts - it is more stable to changes in temp which helps prevent the paint cracks. A good stained cabinet will have solid wood doors and frames - not veneer. If you do not need to go custom, stock cabinets made in America can give a good quality at a reasonable price. The ability to factory mass produce makes stock less than custom. Be sure to be around if possible for the installation. Cabinets can get dinged up if installers aren't careful. Check te cabinets as they are unboxed and try to catch problems before install.

Where did you get 20-50% up-charge on orders from Fabuwood? Where are you shopping at??? We carry them and we received the official announcement yesterday of only 10% Dear valued partner, Due to the current state of affairs in the international trade arena, we are one among several industries to be significantly impacted by escalating manufacturing costs. As a result of this unfortunate situation, a Regulatory Surcharge (RS) of 10% will be applied to all Fabuwood cabinetry orders, effective on all orders placed on or after June 1st, 2019. The RS will appear as a line item on your order. Orders placed prior to June 1st that are not shipped and invoiced by June 17th, 2019 will also be subject to the RS. Depending on the progress of events in the international marketplace, this surcharge may be modified or revoked in the future. We will be sure to keep you updated on any change in this regard. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. Most have raised their prices 10% some 25%.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I have to agree with the others. I've done 2 major full-scale kitchen renovations in 2 different houses (in the middle of the 2nd one now). The first house was a house we thought we'd live in forever. At that point, the cabinets were 12 years old, builder grade and made of particle board. They were literally falling apart. My husband purchased right angle brackets to hold the drawer fronts in place until we could afford to tear out and renovate. We lived in that kitchen (that was literally falling apart) for 6 years with our small kids. Literally 2 weeks after all the tile work was finished we found out my husband would be relocated. We built the house we are in now and the kitchen that the builder offered was crap. Not really customizeable and not at all what we wanted. We picked a standard kitchen with standard countertops and lived in that for 3 years until we could afford to put in the kitchen we wanted. My point in all of this is to live in it. Yes, it is not at all what you want. But neither are the crap cabinets from Cliq, which are quite expensive for what they are, imo. I agree with Lulu about Cliq, I've seen nothing but bad reviews on here about them. Live in your space. Take time to figure out what is working and what isn't. Take time to decide what you want in your new space. How your new space will flow, what style you like, etc. Take that $6k that you're willing to sink into crap cabinets and use that to start up your savings. I assure you that when you start tearing down walls and discover what's behind them you'll be thankful that you have that extra $6k.

I have sold all 3 of these. To start with - when discussing Wolf - they have 3 levels of cabinetry so you have to be careful with their reviews ( there is classic, designer and signature ) . They all price out differently and have different door styles and finishes. Wolf Classic is their entry level - I used it mostly for house flips and apartments. Tru - was a newer company when I started selling them. They had lots of nice options but their construction was mediocre at best. They may have improved since then. Fabuwood is a decent line although limited on their selection ( as is Wolf Classic ) . Their cabinet box is pretty decent and they use good quality hinges and glides. You will always find bad reviews for products - rarely do you see good reviews posted! Your designer should be helping you through this process and be honest about their dealings with them - were they quick to respond to damages, are they getting calls . Currently, the place i am at has Fabuwood; I don't deal with the other companies at all. So I don't know how they are doing post pandemic. Fabuwood has been pretty good for us.