Custom kitchen cabinet ideas
If you are on a tight budget and planning to do a kitchen remodeling, a good idea might be to have some open shelves. This will help you to reduce the number or custom kitchen cabinets you would need to buy and install.
Shelves and other storage
There are very many different options. You can just buy some shelves in chain stores and install them randomly in the kitchen instead of wall kitchen cabinets. Or you could make some shelves from butcher's block – it looks amazing. The shelves might weight a lot so you would need extra support like L-brackets. Make sure that you require it to the studs and with long crews – like 2.5-3 inches. 2 screws per bracket should be enough. I would recommend using an L-bracket every 2 feet for the butcher's block shelves.
The only drawback that you have to bear in mind is that those shelves are going to collect dust over time and you would have to clean it.
If your kitchen cabinets don't have any water damage you should definitely consider having them refaced (change the doors, hinges and handles). Instead of quartz countertop, you could buy butcher's block and finish it your self. It is also possible to buy some used kitchen cupboards - looks online and I'm sure you will find something for free. For instance, when we do complete kitchen remodeling, instead of throwing our old kitchen cabinets, we put an ad in local classified and try to give it for free for people who might need them (if they are not damaged). Some layout ideas here.
For the base custom kitchen cabinets, you should minimize the number of kitchen cupboards. Let's say you have 90 inches for the base cupboards. Instead of ordering 5 22.5 inch cabinets, you could buy 3 30 inches or even 2 45 inch custom cupboards.
Modern Flat (slab) doors
For the doors, you might consider using flat laminate doors. They are durable and cost less than lacquered high-gloss or matte doors. Laminate kitchen cabinet doors are scratch resistant and are easy to clean. There are a lot of colors available, from plain colors to wood textures, so I'm sure you will find some that you would like.
Hardware for custom kitchen cabinets
Make sure that you have bought soft-closing hinges for your kitchen cabinets – the price difference is not that big and they work much nicer – you notice the difference right away. I really don`t understand why some companies are still installing regular hinges for custom kitchen cabinets. The price difference is minor and soft-closing hinges make a huge difference – reducing the noise and protecting kitchen cabinet fronts by closing softly instead of hitting the cabinet edge with a full strength.
You should also minimize the number of drawers you buy – because the cabinets with drawers are 2-3 times more expansive than regular cabinets. A good quality soft-closing drawer is a very sophisticated device that should be able to have 50,000-100,000 opening-closing cycles with an 80 pounds weight inside. Alternatively, you can find some regular drawers in chain stores but they are not as good as soft-closing ones.
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