Kitchen and bath cabinetry has improved allot in the last 25 years.
There was a time when you mentioned factory built cabinets you would hear, do you mean like what they put in trailers.
Or I bought some of that stuff from k-mart and it fell apart on me.
That's not for me.
Living on the gulf coast we have seen our share of storms which has ruined many a kitchen, I haven't sold a particleboard cabinet in 5 years.
Luckily enough most manufacturers produce and all wood cabinet.
But the one question I get all the time is there is just too much to choose from.
I believe the more available lets you have the ability to get exactly what you want.
How do I go about doing that? If you are someone who is completely lost maybe I can shed some light and make this an enjoyable adventure for you, because it is supposed to be fun.
There are several ways to go about this, (1) is to hire a designer, if that is in your budget I recommend it, someone with experience really can help you coordinate your project, help you choose colors and style.
(2) if a designer is out of the question than buy a bunch of magazines and maybe a couple of books, pick colors and styles that appeal to you and mesh them together.
Some kitchen designers can help you with this.
One of the things I tell my customers is decide on a theme for your home, what kind of a person are you, contemporary, traditional, country, Tuscan etc...
Another thing you must remember is that this may not be your last home so be creative, just don't make it un sell-able.
You can always accessorize with color.
Remember have fun!!! Here is the order of choices I usually go with.
Choose your style than kitchen cabinets and counter tops they have allot of styles and designs, they should be first because you can work the rest in.
Flooring than paint and appliances, lighting and plumbing fixtures.
I deal mostly with kitchen and bath cabinets, there are two main types out there, face frame cabinets and full access cabinetry or European.
Face frame cabinets have three styles, standard overlay, full overlay and inset.
Standard overlay means that the doors are 1" larger than the opening top and bottom, you will see more of the frame, these are usually the least expensive.
Full overlay is where the cabinet doors overlay the face frame 1 1/4" all the way around, you will see less face frame and inset is where the door actually fits inside the face frame making it have a flush appearance, these are usually the most expensive.
Full access or european cabinetry do not have a face frame, constructed mostly of particleboard and the doors are either wood or a thermofoil.
The european community introduced them due to a wood shortage.
The euro cabinets have 1/8" gaps between the doors.
Face frame and european cabinets all have the same colors, glazes etc they just look a little different.
There are several types of drawers and drawer glides.
The most common are just a plain mdf vinyl wrapped drawer with a 1/4" bottom and side mount epoxy coated slides.
Some places will upgrade to a birch dovetail with 3/4 extension under-mount epoxy coated slides.
And the best will be either a birch or maple dovetail drawer with full extension soft close drawer glides under-mounted.
Now you may be asking how do I choose a cabinet for me? Most of the time cabinets are chosen based upon budget.
Once you have established your budget you can choose a cabinet that you like that best fits that budget.
You may not get to do all the upgrades to get the better drawers.
You have to decide that.
I have found that the rta cabinets will give you the most bang for your buck.
All the upgrades without the extra expense.
Today most ready to assemble cabinets are plywood and hardwoods with stains, paints and glazes that are 50% less than the big box stores.
They do require a little more work than pre-assemble kitchen cabinets.
But worth it.