Quality kitchen cabinets are a major investment, but choose the right high-end kitchen cabinet brand, and you’ll enjoy efficient storage space that remains beautiful and functional for the life of your home.
Finding Your Brand
Hundreds of manufacturers and small workshops produce premium cabinets, so before you start shopping around, get clear on exactly what you want. Are you looking for semi-custom or custom options? Some high-end kitchen cabinet brands offer both, while others build exclusively custom models based on a range of style options. Custom cabinets not only lend your kitchen a more distinctive look, but they also tend to function better because they’re designed to work with your kitchen’s shape and your individual needs.
As much as possible, define the style you want. High-quality options are available for every interior design style, but most high-end kitchen cabinet brands specialize in a limited range in order to master the intricacies of that style. A brand that focuses on innovative modern minimalist cabinets might not do detailed French country-style cabinets as well. Likewise, pay attention to limitations on the size and configurations of cabinets the brand produces, particularly if your kitchen is an unusual size or shape.
High-End Kitchen Cabinet Brands to Watch
Starmark Cabinetry
Known for their consistent quality in construction and finish, Starmark produces only custom cabinets. Every cabinet is crafted by hand in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, using quality hardwoods for the doors, cabinet boxes, and drawers. Styles range from modest traditional and transitional to more ornate designs with intricate hand-applied molding.
If you want cabinets with an inviting, time-worn look, Startmark can make them. In addition to common stains, glazes, and specialty finishes, they offer several artisan effects such as rounded corners and a long list of distressing techniques for a vintage look. The company takes particular pride in their ability to create custom colors to match nearly any item.
Kemper Cabinets
Owned by MasterBrand Cabinets, Inc., which manufactures in Arthur, Illinois, the Kemper brand offers semi-custom cabinets. The selection focuses primarily on traditional and transitional styles, but also includes several streamlined contemporary designs and timeless rustic designs. The Emerge product line offers the widest selection of customization options and the greatest attention to detail, while the Choice and Echo lines are somewhat more limited. The selection of decorative cabinet feet and legs, such as Acanthus and Craftsman, helps you add personality to your kitchen.
Hampshire Cabinetry
Hampshire’s custom hardwood cabinets, produced in their factory in Piqua, Ohio, are loved for their intricate detailing and durability. Their primary product line is built around traditional styles and rounded out with several sleek contemporary styles. If you’re looking for something more eye-catching, you’ll find it in their range of specialty cabinets. Choose from 12 different hardwoods, including mahogany. A respectable selection of colors and glazes, as well as application processes and techniques, lets you get exactly the look you want.
Prevo Cabinetry
Ephrata, Pennsylvania custom hardwood cabinetry manufacturer Prevo specializes in combining traditional woodworking techniques with contemporary technology. The result is cabinetry made with careful attention to detail and exceptional durability, as well as modern comforts such as soft-close door hinges.
Although their range of designs doesn’t stray far from traditional and transitional styles, they’re flexible in helping their customers get their ideal cabinetry look. The broad selection of paints, glazes, and stains, and their willingness to match any color, supports that goal.
Da-Vinci Designs Cabinetry
Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, custom cabinetry maker Da-Vinci is dedicated to helping homeowners bring their interior design dreams to life. While they offer cabinets in popular traditional and contemporary styles, their true talent lies in their skills with distinctive Old World designs that evoke the ambiance of another place and time. If you envision cooking in a kitchen with the atmosphere of a Medieval Castle or a French Chateau, Da-Vinci can make that a reality.
Wellborn Cabinet
If you know you want quality custom cabinets, but you haven’t settled on a style, Ashland, Alabama’s Wellborn is a good place to start. Their luxury Estate Collection and Premier Series offer more than 30,000 different cabinet door styles. The Select Series offers more limited semi-custom options. Shaker and contemporary styles are their main focus, but you’ll also find decorative glass, wood, and metal cabinet doors.
Know exactly what you want, but can’t find it? Try Wellborn’s You Draw It program for special sizes and other modifications that go beyond the standard customization options in the Estate Collection and Premier Series.
Wood-Mode
Wood-Mode produces solid wood custom cabinets in more than 200 styles, all made in America. The Wood-Mode line uses furniture-grade plywood, while the Brookhaven line uses particle board. In both lines, styles tend toward American and European traditional, although you’ll also find plenty of modern slab-style options. Their selection of beadboard cabinets is particularly broad.
If you’re looking to add a distinctive touch to your kitchen, check the selection of specialty doors in glass, rattan, and exotic woods such as olive ash burl and bird’s eye maple. Their custom color matching process lets you get exactly the color you want from any sample material.
Snaidero
Snaidero USA brings modern luxury kitchen cabinets to the American market from their Italian parent company. The company offers custom cabinets primarily in sleek minimalist styles, many from the portfolios of award-winning Italian designers. Both gloss and matte finishes are available, as well as the company’s exclusive mica-based lacquers, which produce a subtle shimmer without the glare of high-gloss lacquers.
The high-end Elegante Bespoke Collection, available only in the U.S., offers a nearly unlimited choice of design elements and finishes. The semi-custom Signature Collection lets you choose from 13 design elements to create a look tailored to your ideals.
Porcelanosa
This Spanish manufacturer’s custom kitchen cabinetry lines focus on contemporary slab-style models in sophisticated, on-trend colors and finishes. For cabinets in the luxury Emotions series, options include smooth or textured laminate and veneer, and high-gloss or high-pressure laminate (HPL). This series’ rustic wood-look veneer option lets you combine minimalist design with the homey character of wood. The Residence line offers a choice of laminate or HPL.
While large high-end kitchen cabinet brands typically offer the broadest selection of popular cabinet doors styles and colors, smaller brands are often a better source of distinctive specialty styles. Take the time to look into a range of brands, and you’ll find one that can build the perfect cabinets for your needs.