Cabinets are fundamental to a cooking area. In essence, a kitchen cannot function without cupboards.
Kitchen closets are multifunctional pieces of furniture with multiple benefits to homeowners. Apart from storing essential kitchen items, cabinets also:
- Make kitchenware accessible thanks to their strategic placement,
- Improve interior design through their stylish appeal & color, and
- Reduce kitchen clutter by storing away the items you do not need.
So what features/factors should you inspect when choosing the best kitchen cabinets?
For homeowners, the target is to select a unit that fits their kitchen space and interior design. Other factors like storage and material are also crucial considerations.
Furthermore, cabinets are priced differently. Often, brands use criteria like type of wood, cabinet size, design/style, etc., to determine prices.
Before you start shopping for kitchen cabinets, discuss the project with an expert to help define your needs. Always be specific about factors like color, size, material, and style.
Choosing the Best Kitchen Cabinets: 5 Crucial Considerations
Most homeowners change their cabinets when updating the entire kitchen, while others execute it as a separate project. Whichever the case, it’s important to understand that no one size fits all.
That being said, follow these guidelines to make informed choices when shopping for new cabinets.
Budget
Determining how much money you need is the best place to start, and an excellent way to avoid overstretching your limits.
A cabinet makeover is part of an entire kitchen renovation project. According to industry estimates, it’s safer to allocate 50% of your kitchen renovation budget to cabinets. In other words, cabinets are the most expensive part of a kitchen renovation project.
To get a rough estimate, get the approximate budget for your kitchen project and divide the amount by 2. Nevertheless, nothing is written in stone. You can spend less or more than this depending on your needs and pocket.
Once you’ve determined how much you wish to spend on cabinets, you can make more informed buying decisions from the many options in a showroom.
As hinted earlier, cabinets have different prices. Often, brands use criteria like type of wood, cabinet size, design/style, etc., to determine prices.
Kitchen design/theme
Walk into any kitchen and a cabinet is one of the things you’ll notice at a glance. Therefore, when shopping for cabinets, check if the style matches your kitchen design. More particularly, inspect the styling of the closet doors.
Homeowners have a wide range of cabinet door styles to consider. One can choose from old school to transitional, or contemporary versions.
Lastly, when choosing the best kitchen cabinets, remember to consider factors like color and whether you wish to change to a different style or maintain your current theme.
Door style
The market stocks more than a dozen cabinet styles, but settling for a specific door type helps you zero in on what you need.
You have three styles to choose from; traditional, transitional, and modern cabinet designs.
Based on your home’s architectural design and personal preferences, you can consider flat panel, raised panel, beaded, or shaker door styles.
You can also research more about door styles like the mission, glass inset, and arched cabinets.
Wood Type
Carpenters use different wood types in kitchen cabinets. The best kitchen cabinets are made of hardwoods (which are considered top-quality in carpentry). However, these may be more expensive than other versions.
If you’re conversant with the different wood types or have specific requirements, mention it to your seller. For instance, if you have a wooden floor that you wish to match with cabinets, be specific about the type of wood you need.
If you don’t know much about wood, ask the vendor to guide you through the different types of wood and consider an option that harmonizes with your design.
Functionality
Functionality should have come at the top of the list because looks alone won’t cut it. But since we are visual beings, we tend to consider whatever attracts the eye leaving functionality as an afterthought.
You understand your kitchen and household best. To determine a cupboard’s usability, ask yourself; does this cupboard design fit my cooking, baking, and cleaning needs?
Final Words on Choosing the Best Kitchen Cabinets
Understanding your needs is the first step to choosing a kitchen closet that fits your uses and design.
Write a checklist of all the qualities you need in a cabinet before visiting a shop or doing an online search.
If you encounter problems when listing your needs, discuss the project with a home designer to enjoy professional insights.
Lastly, remember to compare kitchen cabinet prices before purchasing a unit. That way, you save lots of money and still carry home a functional and aesthetic piece.
