Kitchen cabinets are a vital consideration for any contemporary kitchen, whether you are constructing a totally new kitchen or just redecorating it. It is not always as straightforward to install cabinets as it appears. Sometimes you need to bring in a professional to help you with the best choices. A qualified carpenter can also be necessary to redesign your kitchen to get the most from the space you have and to visualize how many cabinets you will need to store your crockery and kitchen utensils. Bringing in a professional can also mean you get a better deal on premium materials.
You can often find experts who will help you redesign your kitchen or bathroom at retailers, wholesalers and building contractors. Kitchens advisers can also be found at home centers and some of these will be qualified architects. Getting an expert on-board a project means that you will benefit from their understanding of how kitchens are used, how to locate important kitchen fixtures in the most appropriate place and can recommend particular brands to suit your requirements.
What you can expect from your cabinets varies. There are manufacturers who offer a tailored product where the customer can choose from a range of possibilities. But this degree of pick-and-choose freedom is not likely if you buy wholesale or from a home center - these outlets will have a stock which you can choose from instead. The typically you will be offered a choice of cabinet doors. For example, many suppliers offer at least maple, cherry or simple blond wood stain. This kind of choice is easy for the builder to offer and would even be available in new building projects where the kitchen fittings have already been ordered in bulk and the choice is relatively limited.
If you do have the freedom to choose your own cabinets, you can select from a wide range of materials either for the entire cabinet or just the cabinet doors. Below is a sample list of some choices:
- Alder
- Ash
- Birch
- Cherry
- Hickory
- Maple
- Oak
- Pine
- Poplar
- Walnut
- Decorative laminate
- Metal
When you pick out kitchen cabinets on your own or even with an expert, ask if the kitchen cabinet brands are approved by the KCMA (Kitchen Cabinets Manufacturing Association), and have the KCMA seal on the inside of the cabinet. Only kitchen cabinet manufacturers from the United States and Canada that have passed rigorous testing on each and every brand that is manufactured by an approved company can display this seal. You can tell the manufacturer by the code on the seal. Below are kitchen cabinet manufacturers and their codes currently approved by KCMA:
- American Woodmark Corporation, Code X.
- MasterBrand Cabinets, Code MBCI.
- Continental Cabinets, Inc., Code CC.
- De Pere Cabinets, Inc., Code PJB.
- MasterBrand/HomeCrest Cabinetry, Code HA.
- Kitchen Kompact, Inc., Code I.
- Republic/Legacy Cabinets Inc., Code LE.
- Prestige Acquisition Corp., Code PI.
- Republic Industries, Inc., Code RI.
- Rosebud Manufacturing Co., Code RK.
- Armstrong Cabinet Products, Code H.
- Eurocraft, Code EUC.
- Texwood Industries, LP, Code QJ.
- KraftMaid Cabinetry, Inc., Code GA.
You can get plenty more kitchen cabinet ideas in the big kitchen sections of your local department stores. But why not save time by starting at http://www.anekitchencabinets.com/
