One of the most important steps you will take is choosing your home’s cabinetry.

You might be thinking of colours and furnishings, but first you will need to choose your cabinets—one of the first things to be installed in your new home. Some homebuyers fall in love with the cabinets in the show home, while others may want to pick from other choices available from the builder. And then there’s the option of completely customizing cabinets to create a totally unique look.

Choosing your cabinetry not only involves colour and style, but should also be a decision based on function and cost-efficiency. Keep in mind, your cabinets, especially in your kitchen, are one of the first things you notice when you enter your home, and one of the more difficult elements to change after the fact. A beautifully designed kitchen can not only be a wonderful focal point in your home, it can also make life a whole lot easier if your lifestyle is reflected in its design and layout.

Brian Lipsit, general manager with Superior Cabinets agrees. “Beauty and practicality go hand in hand when planning a kitchen, as this is the room that will most affect the way the homeowner lives,” he says. There are endless choices when it comes to creating functional yet attractive cabinets. “There are many door styles and colour options available, from sleek contemporary to old-world traditional,” says Lipsit. “There are also many interior options such as drawer type, and full extension glides are standard on all of Superior Cabinets’ drawer systems. There are also soft-close features available on our dovetail and stainless steel drawer options.” Lipsit adds that storage accessories such as cutlery inserts, tray dividers, knife blocks, spice trays and specialty features are also available to keep kitchens neat and organized.

He also stresses that bathrooms should not be overlooked when choosing cabinetry. “Gone are the days where a vanity is a place for the sink. Many homeowners want their vanities to represent a piece of furniture that will function as a storage and grooming station.”
When it comes to style of the cabinets, Lipsit says that many customers tend to want a more contemporary design while maintaining a hint of traditional style, citing maple as the most popular. “The colour range of the maple that is often chosen is the medium to dark browns. Maple is a hard wood which lends to its durability, and it also has a nice, tight grain pattern which some people prefer.” Alder cinnamon, which has a reddish colour, and cherry, either natural or stained a deep brown, are close seconds, and very rich-looking choices.

Of course these cabinet choices may not be the ones you see in the show homes, and often builders offer upgrades from the standard. “Most people do some kind of upgrade,” says Lipsit. “Typical upgrades would be colour, and darker colours command more money due to manufacturing costs. Built-in appliances are upgrades that add to cost due to the design and manufacturing aspects. Glass inserts and accessories are less expensive but also common upgrades.”

When it comes to the cost, upgrades can range from $500 to $5,500 on the typical builder's kitchen but it’s possible that amount can go much higher. “Some of our clientele have chosen upgrades whose value alone is more then one might assume a whole kitchen is worth,” says Lipsit. “The possibilities are almost endless as people turn their focus to the design aspects of cabinetry.”

With all these features and considerations to keep in mind when you are choosing your cabinetry, you can see that it is important to first dedicate some serious time and thought. Michael Burr, design consultant for Legacy Kitchen Design Group, says that if your builder has a showroom, you should browse through it before you meet with the designer so that you have an idea of what is available. “Another good idea is to look in publications to get an idea of trends, and to visit other show homes to see different combinations of cabinets so that you have an understanding of what can be achieved. Before you meet your designer it is also important to choose the appliances you want so the cabinetry can be designed to fit around them.”

Burr worked for the UK’s largest independent kitchen manufacturer for eight years before moving to Calgary in 2005 where he is a designer for the new home and remodelling markets with Legacy Kitchen Design Group.

Burr says sometimes there is even more to know about your cabinets that may influence your decision-making process. “The majority of cabinets supplied to new homes are made with melamine boxes and are constructed off site in a manufacturing plant,” says Burr.

“These pre-constructed cabinets are also available with plywood boxes, and for those looking for a ‘green’ environmental option, formaldehyde-free cabinets made from recycled wood products are also available.” He says however, that for a handcrafted kitchen, a cabinet maker will be your supplier of choice and will manufacture the cabinets usually in a small local workshop. This option is not always available or necessary as many builders have their own comprehensive design studios. But custom-built homes are a different story.

While what’s behind a cabinet door may not interest you, the door material may. “There is more to a cabinet door than you might initially think,” says Burr. “Doors are available in solid wood, solid wood frame with veneer panel, wood with a painted finish, medium density fiberboard (MDF) with a thermofoil vinyl covering, MDF with a painted finish or simple melamine material. It is important to know what material your cabinets are made from so you know how to maintain them for the future.” He says the most common woods currently supplied are maple, cherry, oak and alder, but adds that more exotic species are available from custom cabinetry suppliers. It is necessary to take Calgary’s dry climate into consideration and how it will affect your choice of wood.

Burr says the most frequent request he hears from today’s consumers is for easy maintenance. “We all have busy lives and who wants to spend time cleaning greasy dust residues from that intricate door detail,” says Burr. “The most popular door style that I supply right now is a shaker, but this is actually a very traditional door-style—with its roots from the early 1800s.”

Keep in mind cabinet styles can also appear dramatically different with different pulls and handles—of which there is also a plethora to choose from. It’s easy to see cabinet choice isn’t as simple to make as you might think, but as long as you utilize every resource at your disposal you can have a lot of fun creating the perfect ensemble for your new home. NL