Having custom cabinets made for the kitchen, garage or anywhere else in the home can provide you with all the storage you need for everything you want to keep tucked away. A cabinetmaker can also work around unique spaces in the home, such as in a hobby room where you want cabinets installed around a window or that fit perfectly over a workbench. Whatever your needs for custom cabinets, note a few important details to discuss with the cabinetmaker, so you get cabinets you love and know how to maintain them in upcoming years.
Solid wood versus veneer
A good way to save money on cabinetry is to use a veneer, which is a layer of real wood that is applied over something cheap, such as plywood. This gives you the look of the wood you want without the cost of a solid piece of timber. However, this also means that you can only sand down the front of those cabinets so many times when you want to repaint or re-stain them. If your kitchen cabinets will suffer lots of wear and tear, such as from children and pets constantly touching the lower cabinets, or from oil splatter from your cooking, you may want solid hardwood. This will allow you to sand down those cabinets more often, freshening up their look with new paint or stain before they need outright replacement.
Cleaning and care
Don't assume that all cabinet materials need the same cleaning and care. Plain water might be used to clean laminates, whereas water might leave spots on wood surfaces. Some wood species might benefit from an oil rub, whereas some species might not absorb that oil, leaving you with streaks on the cabinet surfaces.
Note, too, the care of the hinges and hardware. Certain metal cleaners may scratch a soft bronze but may be needed for stainless steel. Knowing the cleaning and care of your cabinets will ensure they look good and prevent damage.
Replacement
Be sure you know where and how to get replacement hardware for your cabinets; if a knob or hinge should break, you don't want to replace it with something that doesn't match the other hardware pieces! Your custom cabinetmaker may use hardware that is only available from a certain wholesaler and which isn't readily available at your hardware store. Be sure you have a manufacturer name and model number for those items so you can easily find them if one should ever need replacing.
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