An Introduction to Cabinetry

5 Components of a Cabinet

Well, what is a cabinet? The Meriam-Webster Dictionary defines a cabinet as a case or cupboard usually having doors and shelves. What separates that from a consul table or bookcase? In my mind, the biggest difference with a cabinet is that they are attached to the structure while furniture is free standing. Most cabinets consist of 5 basic components that make up the cabinet box: two sides, a back, a bottom, and a top. Pretty basic. Where it gets complicated is in material selection and joinery. Beyond the box, cabinets fall into two main groups, frameless and face frame cabinets.

Sheet good’s are composite materials, like plywood and particle board. They generally come in 4ft by 8ft sheets. There is a wide variety of cores and top layers called veneer. Because eighty percent of a cabinet is made from sheet goods, the quality and cost can have a large impact on the cost of your cabinets.

Face frame construction consists of adding solid wood molding to the front of your cabinet box. They cover the edge of the cabinet box which is usually made from sheet goods and add rigidity to the cabinet box. Frameless cabinets skip the face frames and instead use another layer of veneer called edge banding to hide the sheet good core. Frameless cabinets can offer a slimmer, more modern look. While you save on labor cost with frameless cabinets, you lose strength and durability.

Finally, when you’re shopping for cabinets, you’ll hear a lot about how the doors and drawer faces sit. There are three main categories: full overlay, partial overlay, and in-set. With full overlay, the door sit in front of the cabinet and overhang the inside by about ¾” covering most of the face frame and leading to minimal gaps between doors. Inset style places door fronts flush with the front of the cabinet. Fronts sit inside the cabinet opening. Partial overlay splits the difference, with the door sitting in front of the cabinet, but overhanging the opening less; often time between 3/8” and ½”. All three allow for soft close and push to open systems. While I find inset doors to be ideal for furniture and full overlay best for frameless cabinets, it really comes down to personal preference.

Soft close and push to open hardware use a combination of springs, catches, and gas cylinders to eliminate slammed doors.

Cabinet pricing is usually calculated based on a linear foot price. Say you have an L kitchen that has a 15 ft wall and a 10 ft wall. That would be 25 linear feet of cabinets. Generally, there will be a base price for a cabinet. Imagine a basic cabinet with two doors and a shelf. Things like drawers, adjustable shelving, soft close hardware, and anything else, will be added to that base cost. Every shop is different, but these are good things to have in mind when you start shopping for cabinets.

On the quality and pricing front, cabinets fall into three groups: prefab, semi-custom, and custom. You definitely get a better cabinet when you pay more, but not every application demands premium cabinets. Your most basic prefabricated cabinet will likely be from a big box store, like Home Depot, Lowes, or IKEA. They will most likely cost around $200/Linear foot and come flat packed. Installation and assembly will likely run you another $2000-$4000. These are bottom of the barrel cabinets made from cheap particle board and held together with dowels and plastic screws. The next step up is semi-custom. Companies may offer hundreds of designs and sizes that allow for some customization, but at the end of the day, if it’s not in their catalog, they aren’t making it. These cabinets will run you in the neighborhood of $350-$400/LF before install. They generally feature some nice components like soft close drawers and solid wood face frames, but the boxes are still made from cheap particleboard and companies cut every corner they can get away with. Custom cabinets start around $450/LF and go up to about $1200/LF. Most shops include installation and fully custom sizes, which is especially important in old houses.

What’s the difference between a $450 and $1200 custom cabinet?

Paint vs. Clear or Stained finishes. Stain grade wood is more expensive, and clear finishes require more labor. Cabinet box material, drawers, corner cabinets, under cabinet lighting, display cabinets, push to open hardware, cabinet height, extra depth, and odd sizes all increase cost.

Why My Cabinets Are Special

I offer custom design and rendering services directly with me. You won’t end up speaking to ten different people and have things lost in communication and you’ll be able to see your kitchen before I build it.

Scribing is the process of transferring an irregular shape to another piece to make them fit snuggly together.

A screen molding is a small, flexible piece of wood used to cover gaps between woodwork and walls.

In addition, I have designed my cabinets in specific ways to eliminate exposed fasteners. Most cabinets will use exposed screws to secure the cabinets to the wall and to each other. While they are hardly ever seen, it’s the small details that set my product apart. In addition, I make single pieces face frames to eliminate unsightly seams between cabinets, I scribe end panels to eliminate screen molding and shadow lines. I use high quality materials throughout my cabinets and pay extreme attention to details when it comes to finishing. My warranty and customer service is top notch. If you have any problem with my work, I want to take care of it and I’ll actually show up in a timely manner to do so.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found this article useful!