selecting cabinets

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Choosing Cabinet Hardware

Thursday, July 17th, 2003

Want to liven up your kitchen or bathroom but can’t afford to remodel or purchase new cabinets? One cost effective way to get that fresh new look is to install new hardware on your cabinets and drawers. You have two main designs to choose from; Pulls or Knobs. From these two designs there are near unlimited options in materials, prices and specific styles to choose from. A pull is of course a handle type design utilizing the whole hand, where as a knob requires only a finger or two and is a smaller and most often rounded piece.

Pulls and knobs range in sizes, shapes, colors and materials. Some of the more common materials that cabinet hardware is made of are; brass, bronze, nickel, pewter, glass, plastic, stainless steel and of course wood. You can also get them brushed, polished or even semi-transparent depending on what you are looking for.

Knobs come in various shapes such as a barrel or oval shape, acorn, round and several others. You want to determine the size of the knob and material it’s made from based on aesthetic appeal and utility. For instance if it’s a drawer with heavy items in it, a larger size and perhaps a brass knob would be in order as opposed to a soft wood or glass. For long drawers two knobs may be in order.

Pulls have the advantage of being sturdier, as they are attached at two points, there are fewer materials to choose from but the designs tend to be more ornate. Pulls come in several varieties. They can be rounded, square or have ornate curvature to them. Also, they can be directly attached to a cabinet or drawer or hanging from a back plate.

Ultimately, whether you decide upon a pull or a knob the choice is yours. Once you weigh the choices in material, sizes, designs and price, you still have found a very cost effective way of perpetuating the beauty in your home.

How to Judge Cabinet Quality

Wednesday, May 28th, 2003

People say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The same can be said for quality cabinets, be they custom, stock, kitchen or bathroom cabinets. How do you know the difference between what looks good and what is good? Fortunately, there are some guideline standards to follow when discerning the quality of cabinetry products you plan on having installed in your home. Criteria such as construction techniques, materials used and craftsmanship are the major factors here.

There is an organization called Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association or KCMA for short. This organization has strict guidelines in order to receive their seal of approval. This is a good place to start when looking for quality cabinets to purchase, or even to compare to a product you’re currently viewing. Cabinets with the KCMA seal are guaranteed to be durable, quality specimens of their product type. On the other hand the KCMA is not a compulsory industry standard, meaning that manufacturers are not required to have or seek this certification. Cabinets without the KCMA seal are not always an indication of lower quality or cheaper materials.

Another good way to tell the quality of a good cabinet is by the method in which it is constructed. One thing to look for is dovetail joints holding a drawer together, as opposed to a simple staple or glue. Another would be the slide mechanism. Does the drawer move on ball bearings or cheaply made plastic runners? For the kitchen cabinets check the interior. Is the cabinet suspended by a sturdy hanging rail and is the box reinforced by I-beam or corner bracers? Also be sure to check the thickness of all the panels as thicker is usually better.

Materials used during production are extremely important to the quality of a good cabinet. Materials typically used are particle board, medium density fiberboard and plywood. Most manufacturers recognize plywood, especially with a veneer cover, as the best quality. This is not to say the other two are bad, but they are more prone to water damage and don’t have as much strength as plywood. Also, when looking at adjustable shelving, check the shelf brackets. A metal shelf bracket is typically better than a plastic or wooden one.

Once you have weighed in all the options available here you can finally look at a product for its mere beauty. Are there no air bubbles in the finish, dents, splits or scratches in the wood? Do the pieces join together nicely with no gap or separation? If so, then you have yourself a fine quality cabinet.