Comparing Cabinetry Options From Big Box Stores

January 10, 2023

How I saved on our kitchen renovation by purchasing unassembled kitchen cabinets.

I'm breaking down the differences in quality and pricing among the four types of cabinets available from most big box hardware stores. 

I've used three of the four options for my DIY projects over the years and have come up with a favorite!

After much research on what type of cabinet to use for our basement kitchenette project, I decided to go with unassembled kitchen cabinets for the first time ever, and I'm so glad I did! I'll be sharing the benefits of these easy-to-assemble cabinets. 

I showed you the plan for our basement kitchen last fall, and have been hard at work since then. I have so much progress to share!

Because this is the first time I've started a kitchen space from scratch (see my big DIY kitchen renovation from our old house!), I did a lot of research before starting. 

One thing that shocked me was the price of quality assembled cabinets. It seemed they were increasing in price by the day! 😬

I didn't consider custom cabinets just because I can add so many of the fancy details myself.

I've always used in stock unfinished cabinets for my DIY builds, partly because I'm usually impatient and want to go get them when I want them, but mostly because the price is fantastic and they can easily be updated a number of ways. 

But I wanted a little higher quality for this space, so after looking at options for our new kitchen, I decided on unassembled cabinets: 
avondale 36 inch drawer base
This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
I may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links. 
See my policies and disclosure page for more information. 

We choose the Hampton Bay Avondale shaker cabinets from Home Depot. I found you get a lot of the bells and whistles of higher end cabinets, but they cost way less because you're doing most of the work. :) 

I set up my cabinet assembly on our long dining table in the basement with a big drop cloth and scrap cardboard from the cabinets on top. 

The only hard part of this cabinet building was getting them down the stairs. The boxes were HEAVY (these are made with plywood instead of the cheaper furniture board the less expensive versions are made of).

For the larger cabinets, we opened them up and took the parts down in trips.

Once down there though, the process was pleasantly easy and quick. I'm one of those weirdos who doesn't mind furniture assembly, so this was almost fun for me...like a puzzle. 

After a couple I had the process down by heart. I was thoroughly impressed with the quality -- the drawers have dovetail joints: 
dovetail drawers Home Depot

You don't need any fancy tools for this cabinet assembly. A mallet and drill or screwdriver is all you'll need. 

The sides slide together and then are easily joined with the provided corner braces and screws: 
corner brackets on base cabinets

And the cabinets come with everything you'll need -- including soft close drawer and door hardware: 
soft close drawer hardware

When I got going, the process went quick! I assembled nine cabinets in a couple days -- the smaller ones only took about 30 minutes each. The more complex drawer units took about 45 minutes to an hour. 

Let's look closer at the different cabinet options.


I'm breaking down the three types of cabinets I've used and their price, plus throwing in details of more custom options as well. 

(These are based on Home Depot's pricing just because that's where I've purchased from most often.)

1. First up, the unfinished cabinets.

These are what I use to make ALL of my DIY built in units
dark gray DIY entertainment center

They come unfinished and are very basic. No frills, no soft close, no paint. 

The units are typically made of particle board, which is not great, but I've found it holds up just fine for DIY projects like these built ins. 

They are inexpensive and very easy to update yourself!

I like using these for bookcases like this because I don't have to worry about priming and painting over a paint finish. I can finish them however I want.

2. The second option are assembled and painted in stock cabinets.

This option is what I used for our pantry -- I installed the Hampton Bay Courtland Laminate cabinets: 
tall pantry cabinets for food

These cost more than the unfinished versions, but come assembled and painted. And they come in a few more configurations (sizes and options) as well.

This option doesn't come with soft close drawers or anything like that, and are also made with cheaper materials. 

Overall I wasn't thrilled with the quality on these and wish I would have gone with the versions I used in the basement. The pantry cabinets are holding up just fine, but the basement kitchen ones have all the bells and whistles! 

3. Unassembled cabinets (what I used for our kitchenette). 

These are by far my favorite of the three I've used in our home, because of the quality and high end details that are included. 

It's the little things -- the drawers are FULLY extendable. This is a detail on our kitchen cabinets that I love! You can access everything in the drawer easily:

full extension kitchen drawer

They also come with soft close drawers and doors. No need to DIY the soft close yourself

The assembly wasn't hard at all -- a beginner DIYer could easily do it. It may take more time if you've never assembled furniture. 

Home Depot provides great instructions and how-to videos for these as well.

4. Special order custom cabinets.

I've never used custom cabinets in our homes, so I can't speak to them personally. But they can be made to fit your room specifications and the drawer and door design options are endless!

Custom cabinets can also be built with useful organizational additions like pull out shelves, spice racks, etc. 

As expected, these are usually the most expensive of the four options. 

Comparing the price of these cabinet options.

Let's talk pricing, as it varies quite a bit depending on what you pick! 

I gathered prices for two cabinets (a base cabinet with drawers and a 36" sink base) to compare the pricing for each. (Again, these are all Home Depot cabinets.)

Thirty-six inch wide sink base:
  • unfinished sink base/$189
  • assembled in stock sink base/$200
  • unassembled finished sink base/ $339
  • custom sink base option/$658
Thirty-six inch drawer base cabinet:
  • unfinished (largest size I could find is 24")/$215
  • assembled in stock drawer base/$462
  • unassembled finished drawer base/$360
  • custom drawer base/$1073
For the most part, the unassembled cabinetry goes waaaay further for the money. 

I highly recommend going with the unassembled cabinets if you're looking for a deal and don't mind the extra time and work they entail.

I made a helpful graph so you can see the pros and cons in one spot: 
comparing store bought cabinets

I should mention, IKEA is always a great option for cabinets, but I'm overwhelmed every time I look into them. There are so many options and parts, it freezes my brain. :)

Not to mention they usually end up costing more than the hardware store options I've used.

We had our cabinets installed by contractors and I'm so glad we did. I've installed many cabinets, but not with the number of corners and spacers we needed for this space. 

Here's a peek at how they came together: 
light gray Avondale Home Depot cabinets

We started with these cool brass pulls that are installed over the top of the drawer fronts, but they were a little modern for my taste, and they were so jiggly. 

I replaced them with these antique brass finish pulls and knobs and they work so much better!:

pull out trash can cabinet

shelves with baskets in base cabinets

My little built in shelves work so well for us! We had some awkward space available so I decided to use it for baskets. 

Instead of using the fridge enclosure parts available in this cabinet collection, we used plywood ripped down to size to frame it out: 
DIY fridge enclosure

I shared how to enclose an existing refrigerator years ago -- this is one DIY project that will go a long way to adding a custom look to your kitchen!

You can see a bit of the flooring in these pics. I finally got that installed over the holidays and I can't wait to show you.  

I've been eyeing this dusk cherry luxury vinyl flooring (LVP) for years! I'm SO happy with it: 
dusk cherry LVP flooring

So much to catch you up on! I'll be sharing more progress soon!    

Have you used any of these cabinet options in your home? I'd love to hear your experience. 



Never miss a post by signing up to get posts via email. 
Email subscription form header
Your email:*
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

Comments

  1. Hi, Sarah. Thank you for all the great cabinet info. I would like to partially redo my tiny kitchen with new wood cabinet doors and drawer fronts plus hardware. Is that a project you would recommend Home Depot for?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it looks like they offer custom drawer fronts! You can see them here but I'd also do a search online to compare pricing. :)

      Delete
  2. Ironically, I’m in the process of updating our front room using these exact cabinets—any advice on installing the drawers? I’m having a hard time getting the pull-out thingys (on the cabinets themselves) to “click” into place on both sides of the bottom of the drawers—so they don’t close seemlessly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I've had to do this a few times as I've been working on this space! There are little notches at the top/end of the drawer brackets -- pull them all the way out and lay the drawer on top. The little notches need to be pulled forward underneath until they click into the bottom of the drawer. Then push it back in. I hope that makes sense! :) Sometimes I have to do it a couple times before they click in right.

      Delete
  3. I bought the same gray cabinets from Home Depot, but the assembled version for our lunchroom remodel at our business. I'm so impressed with the quality. I am having a hard time finding out what brand and color the paint they used is. Do you know? Would be nice to have for touch ups. You're DIY know how is amazing, I always enjoy your posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't but you can take a cabinet door to the paint store to have it matched! :)

      Delete
  4. Thank you for this information. I really appreciate the comparison. I would love to do a built in desk in my sons room but am having difficulty finding reasonably priced base cabinets that are desk height. You aren’t kidding when you said they are expensive. I noticed you have done floating shelves. I’m curious to know if these are easy for a beginner DIY. Thank you so much for all your valuable info. You always have great ideas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They aren't bad if you have a little bit of tool knowledge/experience. Here's my floating shelf tutorial that may help!

      Delete
  5. Hi, your post is so timely. I just received a quote to do some built-ins in my living room and it’s big money for the guy to source the cabinets. I was going to ask him if he’s be willing to install something i sourced myself. My question to you, do you know if Home Depot has the unassembled cabinets as an unfinished option? I’d like to have the cabinets match the wall color, think feature wall. Thanks for your help. I’ll be saving this blog for future inspiring reads.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't believe they do, but I wish they did! You can always paint them, just make sure to use a good primer first.

      Delete

If you have a specific question I will do my best to answer you back here!

You can find our paint colors and links to items at the "Our Home" tab at the top of my site.

THANKS so much for reading!