January 26, 2025

Why is it so Hard to Compare Kitchen Cabinet Brands?

Dining / Why is it so Hard to Compare Kitchen Cabinet Brands?

The simple answer is that it is intentional.

Kitchen design and cabinetry is complicated and customers are always looking to price compare the design work done by professionals. To protect the work done by kitchen designers the cabinet brands intentionally make it confusing to shop for cabinets.

One way this is done is that the same cabinet companies have different names at different locations. And even if the cabinet brand name is the same, the doors styles and finishes can have different names at different retailers.

Getting reliable cabinet reviews is hard because Consumer Reports and other review sites don’t ask professionals to rate cabinets. They ask consumers. Then the reviews are written by staff reporters that know nothing about cabinets. Often customers, not knowing any better, complain about the cabinet properties that they selected. Or about problems that their installer, dealer, or designer was responsible for. Here are the two most extreme examples of misleading and inaccurate cabinet brand reviews:

The IKEA cabinet brand is constantly reviewed favorably by almost everyone except professionals, here’s why:

IKEA cabinets are inexpensive, easy to purchase, and consumer expectations are low. Plus, the finishes that IKEA carries are simple and don’t vary much so “what you see is what you get”.
The instructions to assemble the cabinets are not frustrating. People are happy that they got a new kitchen that initially at least, looks pretty good.
Consumer Reports, JD Power, and online consumer reviews are all published or posted a short time after a kitchen is purchased.
Market Research has also shown that consumers feel more favorably towards a product they assembled themselves over one that was built for them. This delusion is known as the IKEA Effect. See link.

No one follows up 20 years later and sees the IKEA kitchen falling apart.

Even if they did, they would need to compare it to the same kitchen in a better made product to understand the profound difference in a cabinet brands longevity. As a professional, I see these IKEA kitchens 20, 10, and even 5 years later when I am called upon to replace them.

Kraftmaid (which Main Line Kitchen Design does not carry but is the best example of the other extreme) consistently gets bad or mediocre reviews from consumer publications and homeowners.

There are several reasons for this:

Customer expectations are much higher because they are purchasing a more expensive cabinet. Either at a home center or the showroom they are working with.
In more expensive cabinet lines wood characteristics and cabinet finishes can be inconsistent because they are supposed to be. This can confuse consumers and lead to buyer’s remorse.
Kitchens designed in a high end semi-custom line like Kraftmaid can be complex and this makes mistakes more likely. Particularly in home centers like Lowes and The Home Depot that carry Kraftmaid. This is because home center designers are paid less and so are less experienced. Add to that, that the environment in a home center is loud, confusing, and interruption filled. The result being that problems and misunderstandings are almost guaranteed.
Home center customers tend to be price driven. That’s why they are shopping for a kitchen at the home center in the first place. Due to price concerns they often don’t pay for needed cabinet and hardware upgrades. They may not even be told that they should be getting these important upgrades. But they could expect them to be standard in a more expensive cabinet line.

The Home Depot

The issues above create a recipe for consumer dissatisfaction.

modern green kitchen and bar table. Bishop cabinet brand.

The best example of this disparity between what is real and perceived was in 2005 when Consumer Reports gave IKEA a top cabinet brand rating, while Kraftmaid received a relatively low rating.

At that time Kraftmaid was on a 7-year winning streak for the best value in cabinetry as rated by cabinet professionals. Those same professionals would agree for the most part that IKEA was just junk. Kraftmaid may not be quite the same cabinet line it was then, but IKEA is, and IKEA continues to be rated near the top in Consumer Reports and in JD Power rankings.

Some consumers mistakenly focus on a cabinet brands’ warranty as a way to judge quality. However, many well-made cabinet lines have the industry standard 5-year warranty, while IKEA has a 15-year warranty. A lifetime Warranty doesn’t mean much either as all lifetime warrantees on cabinets are limited lifetime warranties and cover very little. Several terribly made cabinet lines offer a limited lifetime warranty.

For a consumer wanting a great kitchen, shopping for a kitchen designer and cabinet dealer is a better strategy than focusing on a cabinet line.

Kitchen designer

When looking for a kitchen designer to work with make sure that they have a minimum of 10 years’ experience. Kitchen design is such a complex profession that a bright well-educated person often makes a better designer than one with a design degree or certification. So some of the best kitchen designers I have met are on second careers or never studied design in college.

The best kitchen designers are all very bright people with great spatial relations skills and a willingness to learn and to teach. Educating customers about what to value and expect is the hallmark of a good designer. So learning a lot from a designer in a short time speaking with them is a good sign. If they give you a few ways you can save money without compromising on quality, that shows that they also are looking after your best interests.

The blogs below have more relevant information: