<p>Has anyone purchased Kraftmaid or Decora cabinets? We had originally looked at Decora and then went to another kitchen showroom which featured Kraftmaid at a slightly better price. We were set to go with Kraftmaid, but I just saw some ugly reviews online. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>We are probably going to buy cabinets by JSI. They are reasonable and well made, but not by any means top of the line. Not sure about the brands you mentioned.</p>
<p>Very very happy with Kraftmaid. Real value for the price. Have had ours for 7 years now… installed as part of a major remodel. Still look new! And we are real cooks, heavy users. Even have had tenants in our space part of the time.</p>
<p>BTW, although it’s been a while, my memory is that the transaction was also very smooth. We ordered through Home Depot but dealt directly with Kraftmaid re scheduling of delivery etc. Cordial and cooperative re coordinating with other aspects of our remodel re delivery. On time, delivered in excellent condition.</p>
<p>Ours are Woodmode, I think. They are fine too.</p>
<p>Our home has Merillat cabinets and we couldn’t be happier. Ours are from the Classic collection. They have amazing custom options. I would sell my house in a minute, leave it all behind…as long as I can carve out my kitchen and take it with me!!</p>
<p>[Kitchen</a> Cabinets and Bathroom Cabinets - Merillat](<a href=“http://www.merillat.com%5DKitchen”>http://www.merillat.com)</p>
<p>Ours are Kraftmaid, installed in 1995! They are a light maple. They still look great!</p>
<p>Ours (in honey maple) came from KitchenCraft. They will be eleven years old soon and still look brand new.
[Kitchen</a> Craft](<a href=“http://www.kitchencraft.com/]Kitchen”>http://www.kitchencraft.com/)</p>
<p>We installed Kraftmaid cabinets in 1999. Our kitchen is small and gets hard use. The cabinets (light maple) are lovely and remain so. There were various points at which the installer offered us upgrades (for a price, of course). For instance, we specified real veneer rather the plastic laminated wood print for the sides of the cabinets. My sister has the plastic and although it looks better than it sounds, I don’t think it’s as durable. I think we may have paid extra for other upgrades as well, but I don’t remember what the rest of them were. If I were to do it over, I would pay for better-quality drawer slides, as we throw a ton of heavy stuff in our drawers. At the time, never having given a thought to drawer slides, I imagined that spending extra money on them was ridiculous.</p>
<p>This was not for a kitchen, but I bought quite a few kitchen cabinets for a mudroom and bathroom renovation last year - base cabinets with doors and drawers, pantry cabinet with pull-out drawers, upper cabinets with shelves. I bought painted wood from Cabico. I also looked at Kraftmaid at Home Depot, but they were not as nice as the Cabico, and they were just as expensive. Cabico is semi-custom, meaning that all dimensions can be chosen to the nearest half-inch without additional charge. I had to do a few adjustments because our spaces were very tight, and Kraftmaid charges for any changes.</p>
<p>I’ve been very happy with the Cabico, and if (when?) we re-do our very ugly kitchen, I will use them.</p>
<p>We used Signature Custom Cabinet from Penn. [url=<a href=“http://www.signaturecab.com/]signature[/url”>http://www.signaturecab.com/]signature[/url</a>]</p>
<p>We did the upgraded drawerr slides, which was worth it. Poorly functioning drawers are a real pain… and are easily noticed at re-sale time as well.</p>
<p>Look for slides on the bottom, not the sides. Much better and well worth the money. jmmom is correct, it will be noticed at resale.</p>
<p>We used Brookhaven (made by Woodmode) for our kitchen renovation 5 years ago.
They are lovely and sturdy and functional. Brookhaven is the ‘lesser’ line made by Woodmode but they still were not inexpensive (to us).
Basically, the Bookhaven line had fewer options for door panels, stains, etc but still the same construction quality.
Of course, they replaced 35 years old previous owner made and installed cabinets…so anything would have been an improvement!</p>
<p>Yes, drawer slides at the bottom are wonderful.
We also chose quite a few big, deep drawers instead of cabinets and are very pleased.</p>
<p>KraftMaid are beyond our current budget; does anyone have any opinion about AristoKraft? I think it’s the same company as KraftMaid, but their lower line.</p>
<p>We have Ward Cabinetry in Honey Maple. They look as beautiful today as they did when we bought our home in 2002.</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to Ward’s Cabinetry (AL) - High Quality Frameless Cabinetry, Door Styles, Finishes, Wood Species, Kitchens, Bathrooms.](<a href=“wardscabinetry.com”>http://www.wardscabinetry.com/)</p>
<p>Thanks for the input thus far. I need to correct my original post - the cabinets I originally looked at were Medallion, not Decora.</p>
<p>A brand I haven’t seen mentioned is Plato
[Plato</a> Woodworking: About](<a href=“http://www.platowoodwork.com/about.html]Plato”>http://www.platowoodwork.com/about.html)
I know this is not among those mentioned by the OP, but I’ll throw it out there for general consumption. We remodeled our kitchen with these cabinets in 2000, and and wanted inset doors (not overlay). Most people thought I was crazy (not the first or last time!), but Plato had this option and I continue to be very pleased with the quality of the construction and the beauty of the wood.</p>
<p>twinmom and Chevda,</p>
<p>This thread has a gold mine of information if you are willing to sift through it all! There are comments about Medallion and Kraftmaid throughout. You can also do a specific search on the site for many conversations about these brands specifically. </p>
<p>My recollection is that Woodmode, Signature and Plato are at much higher price point than Kraftmaid. </p>
<p>[Relative</a> cabinetry prices: brand vs. brand - Kitchens Forum - GardenWeb](<a href=“Relative cabinetry prices: brand vs. brand”>Relative cabinetry prices: brand vs. brand)</p>
<p>Thanks so much, Roshke.</p>
<p>Any more opinions?</p>
<p>I have cherry Woodmode cabinets that are about 12 years old, and I have to say that the finish, especially around the doorknobs, is becoming dull and almost “sticky.” It seems that the clear coat is breaking down. I actually have two finishes - one is a painted white bead board on cherry, and the other is a more natural, slightly darker stained cherry, and the problem is with both. I’ve only used a soapy cloth to clean them, no solvents or harsh products, so I doubt it’s “user error.” Any ideas about what would cause this problem?</p>
<p>I doubt anyone other than the person cleaning them can notice it yet, but they’ll need to be replaced in a couple of years. I’m disappointed in the product and won’t use it again.</p>