Custom or Manufactured Cabinets...What's the difference?

As you begin your remodeling project, you will need to decide how your cabinets are made. Isn’t a cabinet just a box? Yes, but there are a lot of differences that will affect how your cabinets appear and endure over time.

There are essentially three styles of cabinet production:

  1. Modular Cabinets

    These are what you might find in a lot of kitchen and bath showrooms or big-box stores. Sizes are limited to 3-inch increments in width, so there will be some awkward fillers to make them fit your space. Gaps between doors will be larger. Materials are typically particleboard or thin plywood. Least expensive option.

  2. Semi-Custom Cabinets

    Cafe Cabinets offers a high-quality line of semi-custom cabinets, manufactured in the USA. They are made-to-order and can be ordered in any width, height and depth within a certain range. Door gaps are tighter, and in the case of our inset cabinets, are 3/32” on every door and drawer. All materials are solid wood or plywood and feature solid birch dovetailed drawer boxes and Blum hardware. Ultra-durable conversion varnish finish is standard in a wide array of colors and stains.

  3. Fully Custom Cabinets

    Sometimes you just can’t get the look you want in a manufactured cabinet. Cafe Cabinets has the unique ability to build cabinets to the exact style and dimensions that you need. Often we use semi-custom cabinets to keep the cost affordable, and add in custom cabinets or components to achieve our customer’s design goals.