Kitchen Remodeling: The thing about cabinets

What is a cabinet, if not a carefully colored wooden box? It is many things, and there are many options.

For starters, cabinet boxes can be made from mdf or plywood. Plywood is considered the superior material, though it's debatable how much actual impact it really has. I think they hold up better when stressed and bent and twisted, though this isn't a primary scenario for cabinets.

The cabinet doors and drawer fronts can be either veneered or made from solid hardwood. Hardwood seems like the better option, however it's more susceptible to temperature- and humidity-based expansion, contraction and warping. A good quality veneer can look really nice, and may even be more uniform than a hardwood.

In terms of immediate functionality, framed vs unframed construction makes a big difference. An unframed cabinet is a box with one face missing. The door is then attached as the missing face (or drawers are inserted). Framed construction starts with an unframed cabinet, then adds what looks like a picture frame before mounting the door to it. The net effect is that you lose easy access to the outer inch of the cabinet: in door form it means that you have a harder time pulling things out from the edge of the cabinets, with drawers it means the available width is reduced.

Cabinet hardware also varies, from simple hinges and drawer rails to soft-close everything. These are a matter of personal preference.

A further consideration is buying big brand-name cabinets or having them custom-built. The former are usually cheaper (they are mass manufactured, after all), but selection is more limited. They are often only available in 3-inch width increments, so they may not be able to maximize available space in your kitchen. Custom cabinets can be made to any specification, so your imagination is the limit, including your choice of exact finish color. Furthermore, a local custom maker can respond to problems quickly. Our contractor makes their own cabinets right behind their showroom. When my mom's cabinets showed up too shallow to fit dinner plates, they had to wait 4 weeks to get new ones and a lot of the job stalled during that wait!

Custom is clearly better, but is likely a little more expensive. If you go with a big-brand source, make sure you're not missing out on details that you'd like to have.