What’s the Difference Between Custom Cabinets & Box Cabinets?

Many people are under the misconception that custom cabinets are too expensive and are only for high-end homes. We find that when the consumer takes the time to compare the two you often find that in the long run custom cabinets are a much better deal. Listed below are some of the key differences when you compare custom vs. box cabinets.

Where is the expertise?

Often the builder or contractor has very little experience with cabinets other than how to install them. This means that they do not what to look for in the manufacture of the cabinets. The “expertise” may have been squeezed out of the process as foreign companies are trying to create the best looking lowest cost product that they can. What expertise there was in the beginning of the process has now been standardized and streamlined. With a lot of “pre-fab” or “box” cabinets they are made with lowest cost materials possible but they still know to use the hot buzz-words like soft-closing and solid structure.

At Dixon Custom Cabinetry the expertise is in the shop. From helping you or your designer get the most out of your space to custom CAD drawings that take advantage of every possible space we know how to build what you want and need. Each cabinet is designed, cut, inspected, finished, inspected, built and inspected right in our shop before it goes anywhere. Then it is our crew that installs the cabinets at your location. The expertise starts here and shows up in the quality and function you experience every day.

Who are you paying?

Many contractors will take on your remodel or build out and have no cabinet experience or inventory. They order everything to fill out your space and, to make their profit, they mark up the cabinets. Often these cabinets are made overseas and the cost of shipping them to the states for warehousing and ultimately shipping them to your location is added in to the price you’ll pay. With custom cabinets from Dixon Custom Cabinetry, your cabinets are made right here in our shop in the Triad area of North Carolina. The shipping cost is on raw materials and negligible. It is almost like you’re “cutting out the middle man” which means you’re not paying for something that isn’t showing up in the finished product.

Do you have a specific finish in mind?

Many pre-fab or stock cabinets are only available in certain finishes and colors.  While the selection available, even in the stock cabinet market, has improved greatly, at Dixon Custom Cabinets we develop all of our colors and finishes in-house and to your specifications. We can achieve almost any color and we can even combine finishes or add hand applied touches to make your cabinets truly unique.

How are they made?

We have spent years finding the right species of wood and materials to produce the best cabinets for the dollar. This doesn’t mean you’re paying for some exotic tree on your cabinets but that we know our base materials will hold up to the day to day wear and tear. We know that it will take the paint and finishes and show them off to the best way possible. As mentioned before, many stock cabinet manufacturers have started to include better materials because they have learned that the consumer is demanding them. But, often, they have to save money in other areas so joints aren’t as strong or inspected, drawer slides are made from cheaper materials and finishes are applied as thinly and quickly as possible.

Is your space somewhat standard?

With prefabricated cabinets many times they will come in a selection of standard sizes. If your space is an odd shape or has unusual angles you may have difficulty in coming up with a plan that maximizes space and workflow with these standard sizes. At Dixon we can custom build the cabinets to fit and maximize the efficiency. Instead of buying two pieces in two different standard sizes to fill an odd spot we can design and build one piece and make sure that it fits. All in all a more efficient and cost-effective way to go about it.