Get matched with top cabinet makers in Lakota, ND

While fixing drawer slides is an easy DIY, soft-close features can extend the lifespan of your drawers. They won’t slam or break no matter how hard you try, which means the drawer is less noisy. Plus, soft-close doors are safe for kids because it avoids finger pinches. As for common complaints, soft-close drawers are more difficult to open, which can affect those with arthritis or related conditions.

Cabinets come in diverse styles, including the simple, clean-lined shaker, flat or raised panel, and inset cabinets which sit flush with the cabinet frame. Additionally, cabinets can be framed or frameless.

So, what is a frameless cabinet versus a framed cabinet? The key difference is that framed cabinets have a 1½-inch face frame affixed to the cabinet box front, with doors installed onto this frame. In contrast, frameless cabinets lack a face frame. Instead, their doors are directly mounted onto the cabinet box.

You can use either handles or knobs on upper cabinets—go with what you like best. Pulls can sometimes make hard-to-reach upper cabinets easier to open, which is why it’s common to see kitchens that have handles on upper cabinets and knobs on drawers and base cabinets. But it’s also common to use knobs on doors and pulls on drawers. Let your aesthetics, budget, and practical considerations about how you use your cabinets dictate your decision. 

Yes, likely. Most kitchen cabinets are plywood or medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Plywood is an engineered wood made by layering, pressing, and bonding thin sheets of wood veneer together. MDF is an engineered wood made by combining wood fibers with resin and wax. Both are cheaper than solid wood, but advances in the durability of MDF make it a closer alternative to the real thing.