Deciding If Custom Cabinets are Right for You

Custom kitchen cabinets can be a large financial investment, which in today's housing market may not always get you the return on your investment that you would expect.  While most home renovations will add value to your house, spending too much money or making your house too personal can actually prevent you from getting your investment back out of your house.

1. Property Value- A kitchen remodel is normally a good financial investment, but your property value and property values around you can have an affect on whether or not custom cabinets are right for you. Your investment should be proportional to the value of your house. Investing over $50,000 into a kitchen or a house that is worth $600,000 make a lot more sense, but putting the same amount into a house that is worth $200,000 may not make a lot of sense. 

If your house is in an older community or an area that hasn't started to be redeveloped, a high end kitchen can put your house out of the price range of comparable houses in your area, which means you may not get your investment back. In a situation where your property value is lower than others in your area, custom cabinets may be what you need to increase the value of your house. .

2. Budget- Custom cabinets alone can cost anywhere from $25,000 to as much as $100,000 for a kitchen full of cabinets. With that in mind, you have to consider whether you really need custom cabinets to achieve the kitchen of your dreams, or can you use semi-custom or stock cabinets to achieve a similar look for less.  The biggest difference between custom cabinets and stock cabinets is that you can have cabinets built to any size or shape you might need.  In most situations, stock cabinets, which traditionally come in 3" increments, can easily fit just about any application. 

3. Kitchen Use- Simply put, how often will your kitchen actually get used? In most dual income homes, fewer meals are actually being cooked, and more take and delivered meals are being consumed.  With your families lifestyle in mind, a high-end kitchen may not fit your families needs or lifestyle. If you don't plan on actually using your kitchen, do you really have to invest in custom cabinets?

There are plenty of other factors that could affect your decision as to what type of cabinets to buy, but these three should be the biggest factors.   In addition, you should consider the time line of your project (since most custom cabinet manufacturers require several months to build the cabinets). If not, there are plenty of other options on the market that can give you the same look, quality, and durability as custom cabinets at a much lower cost.