Lowering the cost of cabinets means more money to spend on flooring, appliances, countertops, and wall treatments. An important way to do this is by foregoing custom-built cabinets in favor of factory-made cabinets. Both ready-to-assemble (RTA) cabinets, as well as preassembled factory cabinets, are available. Both types of cabinets are substantially more affordable than custom-built cabinetry.
Basic Kitchen Cabinet Prices
On the low end, expect to pay between $1,600 and $4,500 on a basic 10-by-10-foot kitchen for RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets or preassembled cabinets, shipped and delivered to your door or to the nearest shipping and receiving facility. The lower end of this price range is for unassembled cabinets. The pre-assembled option significantly adds to the cost in two ways: the cost of the company assembling the cabinets for you plus the higher shipping costs. Flat-packed RTA kitchen cabinets take up less space than assembled cabinets, so they are less expensive to ship. Actual cost estimates from some well-known kitchen cabinet manufacturers may surprise you with the wide range. In addition, remember that many factors can further influence cost, such as the style of the cabinet, whether they are assembled or not, and whether they are being shipped to the home or are being picked up by the customer.
1 base cabinet, 15" 1 blind base corner cabinet, 36/42" 1 sink base, 36"; 1 base cabinet, 33" 1 wall cabinet, 36 2 wall cabinets, 15" 1 wall cabinet, 30" 1 wall cabinet, 33" 1 corner wall cabinet, 24" 1 wall cabinet, 27"
Assembling the cabinets for you adds about $300 to $500 to the order. One cabinet style, Regency Pomegranate, costs $2,041 unassembled. When assembled, the same cabinets cost $2,369. Like many other RTA cabinets, these assemble with cam locks—a special type of fastener ensures that no screw heads are visible. Cam locks are the standard fastening mechanism for RTA cabinets. RTA Cabinet Store is typical of many RTA retailers by offering a wide range of Shaker cabinets. With this retailer, most of its 40 Shaker cabinets are some degree of white or gray. But they also do offer blue-painted Shaker cabinets and even two in natural hickory. Costco has maintained this relationship with AWC for many years, and its products consistently receive high marks for customer satisfaction. The price includes shipping for an assortment that includes:
1/2-inch plywood cabinet boxes3/4-inch plywood shelvesMany door styles in solid wood, veneer, and MDFSoft-close hingesSoft-close doorsEuro-style hingesRolling traysWarranty
Costco’s cheapest 10-foot by 10-foot kitchen is its oak Langston Cinnamon. Prices range upward to the dark-wood Springfield Mocha, at nearly $17,000. Installation costs are not included in our examples. As a rule of thumb, you can expect to add another 50 to 75 percent of the total cabinet cost for high-quality installation from cabinet pros. To save some money, a small contractor firm or handyman can do a decent installation job for far less. Shipping is expensive because the cabinets are large and heavy. Many companies offer “free” shipping if your order reaches a price minimum, typically about $1,500. You can scale costs upward or downward by choosing different modes of delivery, from self-pick-up at the nearest port all the way up to white-glove delivery directly into your home. Also, be aware that many online kitchen cabinet companies do not include sales taxes in their prices.
