This month’s newsletter is extremely practical for anyone considering new cabinetry. Learn the difference between truly custom cabinetry versus semi-custom or box cabinetry, and what you get with each. You’ll find the cost difference will surprise you.
We recently spoke at 2 community events about maximizing your space and style with custom cabinetry. One of the things we did was educate people on the difference between truly custom, semi-custom and box cabinetry.
The word “custom” is a highly used word. It’s used by truly custom cabinetry shops, as well as semi-custom and box cabinet shops. With true custom your space dictates their system. Semi-custom and box cabinetry force your space work within their system.
With truly custom cabinetry, the initial price will almost always look higher. We’ve had multiple contractors come back to us after their clients chose to go with semi-custom or box cabinetry and tell us that the cost difference between our cabinets and the ones they got were negligible once the installers and finishers billed for their time to monkey with the cabinets to get them to fit the space properly.
When all is said and done, what do you get with each?
| Custom | Semi-custom/box | |
| Wood | ¾” Thick plywood | Particle board or melamine |
| Hardware | High-quality to last | Low to mid quality, to cut cost |
| Drawers | Full-extension 21”-22” deep | Full-extension 18” deep to cut cost |
| Ease of installation | Easy; perfect fit | Requires hours of manipulation. |
| Measure | To nearest 1/16th inch | To nearest 3” |
| Space used | Maximized | Wasted space |
| Initial price | Usually higher | Usually lower |
| Net price | Usually negligible to semi-custom and box cabinetry | Usually negligible to custom, minus the features that come with custom |