Custom Design Vs. RTA Cabinets

Posted July 12, 2023 by in Home

The process of remodeling your home can be an exciting venture to carry out, but it can get really overwhelming. There are so many choices to make, ranging from what color of paint to choose to more expensive decisions, like what type of furniture to get. 

The kitchen is a room where the family spends a lot of time in, seeing that food is cooked and sometimes eaten there. It is therefore important that the kitchen is equipped with furniture that is both beautiful and highly functional. You have to make sure to not lose money along the way as you remodel your home though. 

The kitchen cabinet takes a large chunk of the money set aside for furnishing the kitchen, and it is an integral part of how the final look of the kitchen turns out. It is therefore important to make the right choice of kitchen cabinet design for your home. 

In this article, we hope to discuss the types of kitchen cabinets and give you information that will help you to decide which one is the better choice for your home. 

Ready To Assemble (RTA) Cabinets

Ready to assemble cabinets are a type of cabinet design with parts that have been manufactured in the factories already, but that you have to assemble yourself. These cabinets can be made with any number of materials ranging from plywood to steel,  and they have a lower price tag than custom kitchen cabinets.

Some of the unique benefits of ready to assemble cabinets are: 

They Are Cheaper 

There are a lot of factors that determine the remodeling choices that you make, and money is a very important, and sometimes limiting one. Ready to assemble cabinets have their pieces mass-produced in a factory, and this makes them cost less money than custom ones do.

Also, ready to assemble kitchen cabinets don’t come pre-assembled. That is, the manufacturers don’t have to assemble the parts for you. Because you don’t pay them for this, it lowers the amount of money you spend to get the cabinets for your kitchen. 

RTA Cabinets Are Easy to Assemble

Ready to assemble cabinets come packaged as pieces of cabinet parts flat-packed together in one box. This comes equipped with a complimentary instruction booklet on how to put the parts of your cabinet together. 

It doesn’t require a lot of expertise to assemble the parts of your cabinets, and you could watch a helpful YouTube video to guide you if you are having trouble following the instructions in your booklet. Usually, you can join the parts together with screws, glue, or any other material that would have been included in the package that you receive from the manufacturers.

RTA Kitchen Cabinets Have Lesser Shipping Fees Than Custom Cabinet Designs

RTA cabinets are shipped in the form of pieces that have not yet been made into the solid cabinet structure, and so they weigh less than a fully built cabinet would. Because it is shipped in pieces, you get to pay a lesser amount of money to get it delivered to you compared to how much you would have paid if you wanted to get an already assembled cabinet delivered to your place. 

This packaging also makes it easier to be moved around, and in general, it would cost less. Assembling the parts when it gets to your place is something you can easily do once you get your cabinets.  

While you’re shopping for RTA cabinets, however, it is important to look out for cabinets that:

  • Are constructed with plywood. This is because plywood cabinets are more durable than cabinets constructed from other available materials. 
  • Have assembly instructions that are easy to follow
  • Have drawers that were joined together with the dovetail joinery.

Custom Kitchen Cabinets

Custom Cabinets, just like the name implies, are cabinets that have been specially constructed to meet your specifications. They can be constructed in a factory like other types of cabinets, but most of the time they are usually constructed on-site. Some of the features of custom kitchen cabinets are:

There Is a Large Variety of Options for You to Choose From

When custom kitchen cabinets are to be made, you get to influence the decision-making right from scratch. This means that there is a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors available for you to choose from. Doing this will give you a chance to construct a really unique cabinet that can’t be found in any other kitchen in the whole world. 

Its Construction Is Specially Tailored For Your Kitchen

Custom kitchen cabinets are almost always built on-site, that is, in the kitchen where the cabinet will be installed in. They can also be constructed in a local workshop nearby, it is very rare to find factory-constructed custom cabinets.

Before the construction process begins, experts come to check out the layout and size of your kitchen, and then you get to discuss your preferences with them. The custom kitchen cabinets are then designed by you with the aid and direction of the professionals who hope to guide you to make the best choices that will suit your kitchen’s needs perfectly. 

One huge drawback of custom cabinets, however, is how expensive they are. Custom cabinets are constructed with utmost skill and craftsmanship so that they suit your specific needs, and it can cost a lot of thousands of dollars to get one made. This is therefore an option that you should only consider if you have the money to spare.

Semi-Custom Kitchen Cabinets: A Third Option

Semi-custom kitchen cabinets are a way to enjoy the best features of both custom and ready to assemble cabinets. They are already manufactured cabinets, but you get the option to select different parts that make up the cabinets by yourself before it is assembled. They are less expensive than custom cabinets, but they can cost more money than ready to assemble cabinets do.  


The type of cabinet design that you choose to buy will depend on your personal preferences and how much money you have to spend. 

Ready to assemble cabinets are a cheap option that is also easy to construct, but they have the drawback of not being uniquely made for your kitchen. Custom cabinets provide this benefit, but cost a huge amount of money. 

However, one thing that you should never forget when you’re shopping for cabinets is to choose high-quality ones, no matter how expensive they are. Buying a set of kitchen cabinets that are cheap but don’t stand the test of time will only incur more costs for you in the long run.

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