5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Buy Cheap Kitchen Cabinets
Cheap kitchen cabinets look like a quick win. They fill the space, look new, cost less, and feel like an easy way to update your home. But when you look at how a kitchen functions and how it affects your home’s value, the low price rarely holds up.
Here are five clear reasons to think twice.
1. Kitchens offer one of the highest returns on investment.
Kitchens sit in the top 5 best renovations for resale value. According to the Appraisal Institute of Canada a kitchen renovation that uses quality materials and solid workmanship delivers a strong return. Cheap cabinets age fast, show wear early, and quickly make the whole kitchen look tired. You lose the return you could have gained with a better cabinet system.
2. Quality and longevity matter more, think about cost per use.
Cabinets are heavily used in a kitchen. Drawers open dozens of times a day. Doors get pulled, bumped, and leaned on. Cheap kitchen cabinets often use thinner materials, weaker construction, and hardware that loosens early. A higher quality cabinet lasts for years, holds its shape, and keeps working the way it should.
When you divide the price by the years of use, quality cabinets end up costing less than you may think in the long run because they stay solid, keep their shape, and support your kitchen without constant fixes.
3. The design work falls on you with cheap cabinets.
When you buy cheap kitchen cabinets, you are usually the designer. You plan the layout. You account for plumbing, electrical, clearances, and workflow. You decide how everything fits. You are the designer, contractor, and sometimes installer!
Without professional support, it is easy to miss details that affect how your kitchen functions. A poor layout is frustrating and hard to fix once everything is installed.
4. Your home deserves a custom fit, not cheap kitchen cabinets.
Most inexpensive cabinets rely on fixed sizes. They fill space, but not always do they fit well. This leads to awkward gaps, small fillers, or sections that do not use the room’s full potential. Custom or semi-custom cabinets adjust to your home instead of forcing your home to adjust to them. A proper fit looks cleaner and supports better storage.
5. They come with weak or limited warranty coverage.
Cheap cabinets often come with short or unclear warranties. Many only cover parts for a limited period or exclude common issues like warping, peeling, or hardware failure. Sometimes they are only have warranty until they are installed! When something breaks, you are on your own.
Higher quality cabinets usually include stronger coverage because the manufacturer trusts the construction. A solid warranty protects your investment and gives you support long after the kitchen is installed. Decor Cabinets have a limited lifetime warranty.
The Telltale signs of cheap kitchen cabinets
Cheap cabinets usually reveal themselves once you look past the finish. The materials feel light, the hardware feels tacky, and the construction lacks structure. You can see small gaps, mismatched parts, and surfaces that don’t hold up to daily use. When drawers stick or shelves bow before the kitchen is even finished, it is a sign the cabinets were built to meet a price, not to serve your home long term.
Here are some telltale signs of cheap kitchen cabinets:
- Thin cabinet boxes that flex when you press on the sides
- Drawer boxes made from stapled particleboard
- Doors that wobble or feel loose when you open them
- Hinges and slides without soft-close
- Interior surfaces that chip or bubble when wiped
- Shelves that bow under normal weight
- Face frames or edges that don’t line up
- Short or vague warranties
Custom Cabinets are the Best Choice for Your Home
Our ultimate FAQ guide to beautiful custom kitchen cabinets answers the questions homeowners ask most when planning a kitchen renovation. If you’ve been wondering what custom really means, what to expect, or how to choose the best options for your home, this guide is for you.
