There’s No Such Thing as Semi-Custom

Custom cabinets could have saved this kitchen.

Cabinets are either custom or stock.

Stock cabinets are provided in sizes pre-made to some kind of ‘standard’ measurements thought to be used in kitchens, bathrooms and closets. Where cabinet height can be standard for many kitchens and bathrooms, length and width are almost never standard. Kitchens, bathrooms, offices, closets, anywhere a series of cabinets might be used, are rarely open spaces that allow stock cabinets to be sized into place easily. Almost all stock cabinets will need some kind of adjustment for differing wall lengths, room dividers, wall corners, window placement, appliance sizes, doors, and floor patterns.  

The stock cabinets will need to be ‘modified’ with some kind of fill or tweaking to make them work. This is not semi-customized. This is jimmy-rigging cabinets where doors don’t open properly in a corner because they’re covered by other cabinets that have to die into them. This is jimmy-rigging spaces between cabinets because they’re anywhere from a few inches to a foot off of meeting along a wall. This is jimmy-rigging around appliances like stoves and refrigerators because the cabinets don’t snug to the appliance edge.  

We’ve seen families whose cabinets looked okay on the outside, but inside the drawers sat precariously on the edges of their drawer glides. The remodeler filled in two inches of empty space by cutting one of the cabinets and stretching the sides so the drawers no longer fit or locked into their glides. They were off by an inch on both sides and the drawers were constantly falling through the glides. 

Another homeowner was trying to live with lower cabinets where one door was completely blocked by the cabinet that formed an L shape with it in the corner. Then there was a filler strip of several inches that was not stained the same as the rest of the unit. They had paid tens of thousands of dollars for this kitchen that lacked important functionality and looked roughly put together. 

Custom means cabinets that are built by a master carpenter to fit perfectly in a very specific location. Even in a remodel, no one should ever guess that work has been added to modify a room. It should look and feel natural. Ordering stock cabinets makes it difficult to fit design to space. Custom opens up opportunities, allowing exciting options, new thoughts and a smooth design flow to make your cabinets useful, beautiful and a perfect fit for your environment.