Making a choice
There are many reasons people choose to install custom kitchen cabinets. Maybe their kitchen is an odd shape, or they want to do something about optimising kitchen space. The kitchen is the centre of the home for many families. If that’s the case, then you have already been trying to fit all your things and those of the family into the existing cabinets that came installed with the home. It’s a hassle, for sure.
The extra cost
There is no doubt that custom cabinets either made or fitted by a cabinet maker are going to cost a lot more than stock kitchen cabinets. That’s because there is an additional cost that pays for the hours that go into building them. Plus, of course, the cost of the materials used. A cabinet maker does not work for free. There is an installation cost as well if you just had the cabinets made without having them fitted. The cabinet maker is the person that should be fitting the cabinets because it’s a job that’s usually trickier than installing stock cabinetry.
What are the ways you can offset the costs of having custom kitchen cabinets designed for you?
- Limit the number of custom made pieces to just one or two.
Most people can manage if a cabinet maker can build them some kitchen storage that will hold all the funny shaped items, or a pantry style storage area. By doing that, it clears up a lot of storage space for many other items. Obviously, one or two custom build cabinets will cost a lot less than a full set built and installed from scratch.
- Do some of the labour yourself.
If you are a DIY enthusiast and have enough experience, you can build your own custom cabinets. All you have to do is pay for the materials. It goes without saying that the saving on labour alone makes this a worthwhile alternative, albeit one that requires skills better than average handyman level.
- Hire a student carpenter or cabinet maker.
If you can find a student studying to be a carpenter, designer, contractor or cabinet maker, they would jump at the chance of getting some experience by helping you put together and install custom kitchen cabinets. The charge would be a fraction of that charged by a professional. The experience they get as students will look good on their resumes as well. You might be able to act as a reference for them if they do a good job.
- Ask for discount trade services.
Sometimes a cabinet maker will trade their services for other services or goods. As an example, let’s say you had a website. You might offer to run a little advertising for the cabinet maker in exchange for a discount. Another example is if you have your own business, you can trade your services in exchange for a lower price to do the job by the cabinet maker. You can get a bit creative if you like to ‘wheeler deal’ a bit.
Conclusion
Yes, it costs more to get custom built kitchen cabinets, but there is also a marked difference in looks and quality when you compare them to the stock cabinet option. It’s about having something that fits perfectly into your kitchen and lifestyle.