One of the first questions everybody asks when they are considering buying kitchen cabinetry is “How much does it cost?”

There are a lot of variables that affect the price of your cabinets and countertops - whether or not there’s a sale going on, what door styles and finish options you choose, where the cabinets are made, the quality of the construction, and so on. I’m going to show you a very basic L-shaped kitchen in the popular white shaker style from a few different manufacturers to give you an idea.

Small 10’x10’ kitchen



This first kitchen is a basic L-shaped kitchen with each leg of the L being about ten feet long. This is shown in partial overlay white shaker cabinets. (Partial overlay means the doors are a little smaller than the face frames of the cabinets – so you can see about an inch of face frame around the doors.) This is our least expensive option (imported), but it still has soft close doors and drawers and plywood construction. (If it doesn’t have soft close doors and drawers and plywood construction, then don’t even consider buying it – you’ll regret it in a few years!) The price of these cabinets would be about $4000. The price for the countertops would range from $1800 for basic granite to $4000 for higher end quartz.

Here’s the same kitchen in cabinets from the same manufacturer but with a full overlay door style and better construction. (With full overlay cabinets the doors are just about as big as the face frames, so it looks like the doors come all the way to the edge of the cabinet face.) These cabinets come to about $4800.

Here is the same layout again from a good American manufacturer in their starting cabinetry line. This one is about $7000.

Here it is in their mid-level cabinetry line. This prices out at about $8200.

And here it is from the same manufacturer in their top line inset door style. (With inset doors, the door sits within the face frame of the cabinets as opposed to the door sitting on top of the face frame. The door and the face frame are flush.) This version would be about $9600.

Now, there are many ways to make this basic kitchen a little nicer. For example, adding end panels and a bottom molding would give the kitchen a more finished look. But it does add cost. Here is the same kitchen, in the mid-level cabinets from the American manufacturer. The price is now about $9300.

A larger 12’x15’ kitchen with an island

First showing in the least expensive, imported, basic cabinets. The price for the cabinetry in this kitchen is about $9000.

The countertops in this kitchen would be from $3800 for basic granite to about $7000 for quartz, although there are varying levels for quartz and granite also.

And here it is in the higher end inset cabinetry, with finished end panels, bottom moldings on the wall cabinets, glass doors around a beautiful shiplap hood, and the island finished with X-patterned end panels and shiplap back. The cabinetry in this kitchen comes to about $31000.

So, you can see, even in a basic door style, there is a large range of prices. Of course, every kitchen is different, so these basic layouts can only give you a rough idea of pricing. Also, the door style and finish that you choose can have a dramatic effect on pricing as well. These were all priced in a basic white shaker. If you choose a raised panel door with a fancy applied molding in a glazed finish with distressing, then the price could be twice as much (or more)!

Another thing that can affect pricing is whether the manufacturer produces a semi-custom or a full custom cabinet. Semi-custom means a couple basic things: 1) that their standard cabinets are produced in three inch increments – 24”, 27”, 30”, etc., although some manufacturers can modify these for additional charges; 2) They only have certain door styles and finishes, although the good manufacturers have lots of choices (40+ door styles, for example, available in several different woods, with a hundred or more finish options). Full custom manufacturers, on the other hand, will make you anything you want. You saw a door style in a movie, they can do that. You want an exotic wood, they can do that. Full custom tends to be much more expensive than semi-custom.

Having said all this, the best way to get an accurate idea of how much your kitchen is going to cost is to send me an e-mail with your dimensions and I’ll do a design just for you!