Kitchen Cabinets- Who do I call?

[purplepenguin7]

we are loosely (very loosely) thinking about replacing our kitchen cabinets. Where do I even begin getting quotes?  My H thinks we can just buy from Home Depot or something but I feel like we might need a little more help than that.  The thing is our budget is small because this was not part of plan when we bought the house. I am worried a third party of sort like designer or contractor would have an extra fee built in....but is that the way to go? With our non-existent budget we wouldn't be looking to change the structure or layout of the kitchen at this time. 

[definitelyO]

In my first home I hired a contractor and then I went to home depot with my kitchen measurements and they did the layout work with me and I ordered cabinets from them. The contractor installed.

This time the cabinets were custom - so worked with a designer, cabinet manufacturer, etc... not as economical. Our designer charged hourly and helped us with layout, style, color, etc... if you're not changing the footprint, then I don't think a designer is necessary outside of what you get re: Layout at a big box store.

Places like Home Depot and Lowe's have 3rd party contractors they can recommend - like anyone I'd verify their work, references, projects, etc... But you can just buy from THD.

[simpsongal]

I think one of the easiest approaches would be to search for local cabinet places. We have a lot around here (I used cabinet discounters for office and mudroom). They should be able to quote prices for varying quality levels, and should also have a little of contractors that they work with. Add on counters and that should give you a rough estimate.

[lolalolalola]

Our ikea cabinets were fantastic and less expensive than anywhere else we checked. We had a contractor assemble and install them. They do have an installation service though.

I would contact a few places for quotes and go from there.

[dr.girlfriend]

I would get at least a few quotes in addition to Home Depot if you're thinking of going that route. I got a quote from HD just for cabinet refacing and it was like ... ludicrous. More than I ended up spending on the whole kitchen renovation. They quoted me $20k to reface like ... seven cabinets.

[stemmie]

When I did our kitchen over and needed a lot of cabinets, our contractor suggested a place. Their design person did a couple layouts for me for free-- we did a to-the-studs remodel. I'm pretty sure the contractor got a small kickback, but he also got a good-sized professional discount so it was still a bit cheaper than HD for better quality.

One friend did an IKEA kitchen in her MCM house on a strict $10K budget that included floors, countertops, cabinets, sink and faucet. It was amazing when done and really worked in the space.

Another friend whose DH is super handy, bought a kitchen display from fancy kitchen and bath center when they remodeled their showroom. It had all kinds of roll-out shelves and a stand mixer cabinet. He got it really cheap including countertops and sink/faucet-- I think they paid around $2000 for a standard 8x10" kitchen. The style was still available, so they did order a pantry piece which was $$$, but it still came in under budget.