I am always trying to figure out a more cost effective way to acheive a certain result and that has my mind at work in regards to acquiring cabinets.
I came up with the possibility of buying the Mills Pride brand of white cabinet boxes from home depot. These are the kind that you have to assemble yourself out of a box. Because Mill's Pride doesn't have a door style that I like, I thought I could go to one of the online sites that sell cabinet doors (do a search on Google for "wood cabinet doors" or just "cabinet doors") and have them make doors that would exactly work with the Home Depot boxes. I'm looking for a wood door (non thermofoil) that would be painted or stained very close to white.
After all, it seems that 80% of what separates a cheap cabinet from an expensive one is the doors. I know, plywood boxes are better than the melamine covered particle board, but I'm not planning on soaking them in water. . . I've used the Mills Pride cabinets before (box and doors) and they are really not that bad. It's the doors (and drawers) that matter most. They just don't have the door look that my wife desires.
It seems like if I could get the door maker to cut in the holes for the fancy hidden hinges that Mills Pride uses so that they line up with the predrilled holes in the boxes, it would look all right in that respect too.
I honestly haven't really priced it out carefully to see if you are really saving that much money by trying this, but I suspect that it could save some. It would have to be pretty good savings to be worth the hassle.
What do you think? Good idea, bad idea, any other ideas? Is there any place on line that sells kitchen cabinets at significantly better prices (lower markups) than the local shops or Lowes or Home Depot?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
David