Custom Kitchen Cabinets in Los Angeles, CA

When do custom kitchen cabinets in Los Angeles homes pay off?

Custom work costs more than modifying a standard box, so it earns its keep when the room itself is the problem. These are the situations where made to measure cabinets tend to beat stock sizes:

• Walls that are out of plumb or out of square. Older plaster walls in Valley and Eastside homes can wander enough that a run of standard boxes ends with a tapering gap.
• Ceilings that are not 8 or 9 feet. Dropped soffits, beams and vaulted ranch ceilings call for wall cabinets with heights that a catalog does not list.
• Every inch counts. In a narrow condo kitchen, building a 17-inch base where a standard line jumps from 15 to 18 inches can recover usable storage.
• Unusual appliances. Integrated refrigerators, 48-inch ranges and drawer dishwashers need openings sized exactly.
• Matching the house. Period trim, inset doors or a paint color that ties to the rest of the home are easier to get when the cabinets are built for the job.

If the room is square and the walls are standard, a semi-custom line with modified depths may get you 90 percent of the way at a lower cost. The guide to custom vs. semi-custom vs. stock cabinets walks through the middle ground.

Made to measure cabinets compared with standard lines

For a frameless, flat-front look, compare custom work with the imported cabinets on display, which already come in modern finishes. For a classic recessed-panel door, the Shaker cabinets page shows how that style works in custom and standard sizes alike.

Planning custom cabinetry in North Hollywood, step by step

The showroom is where the design decisions get made, because door samples, slab counters and floor planks are all within reach. A custom cabinet maker in Los Angeles is only as good as the measurements and drawings handed to it, so most of the work happens before anything is cut.

1. 1

   Start with photos and a rough plan

   Bring wall-by-wall photos, ceiling height at several points, window and door positions and the appliances you plan to use, with model numbers if you have them.

2. 2

   Pick the face of the kitchen

   Choose a door profile, wood or painted finish and hardware from the samples on the floor, holding each door against your countertop and backsplash choices.

3. 3

   Work out the layout

   Drawer stacks, sink base, tall storage, corner solutions and appliance panels are placed on the plan, and odd conditions such as beams or a bowed wall are noted.

4. 4

   Measure the real room

   Final dimensions are taken from the walls themselves, including how far each wall is out of plumb, before drawings are finalized.

5. 5

   Approve drawings and order

   Review the drawings box by box and ask for the expected build and delivery window in writing when you sign off.

6. 6

   Install on request

   Have the cabinets set through cabinet installation, or hand them to your own contractor.

Built in cabinets beyond the kitchen

Made-to-measure boxes are not only for kitchens. The same approach works for pieces that have to fit an alcove or a wall exactly:

• Floor-to-ceiling custom pantry cabinets in a hallway or beside the refrigerator
• A coffee or wet bar in a dining room with matching doors
• Bathroom vanities sized for a tight alcove; see bathroom vanities
• Laundry room uppers above a stacked washer and dryer
• Built-in desks, media walls and window seats that line up with the kitchen finish

Keeping these pieces in the same door style and finish as the kitchen makes an open floor plan read as one room.

What sets custom kitchen cabinet cost?

Because every job is drawn from scratch, price follows the design. These choices have the largest effect:

• Box material: furniture-grade plywood costs more than MDF or particleboard and holds screws and moisture better at the sink.
• Door construction: inset doors and applied moldings take more labor than full-overlay slab or Shaker doors.
• Wood and finish: paint-grade maple, stained cherry or rift-sawn oak each price differently, and multi-step glazes add time.
• Height and count: stacked uppers to a 10-foot ceiling and tall pantry towers add material and labor quickly.
• Interior fittings: pull-out trash, spice pull-outs, drawer dividers and lift-up doors add hardware cost.
• Site conditions: scribing to bowed walls and building around beams takes more installation time.

Why plan custom cabinets at Adcom

• A builder relationship, not just a catalog. A Google reviewer mentions a cabinet builder working with the showroom, which is how made-to-measure cabinetry is offered.
• Every surface in view. Door samples sit beside granite, marble and quartz slabs, prefab tops, backsplash tile and floor samples, so the whole kitchen is chosen together.
• Room to compare. Local framed cabinets and imported frameless lines are on display, so you can decide whether custom is actually needed.
• Help finding material. Google reviewers describe the team tracking down products that were not on the floor and matching other quotes within reason.

Custom cabinetry in older LA homes: walls, trades and permits

A custom kitchen often goes hand in hand with bigger changes. If a wall comes down to open the kitchen, a window moves or the sink shifts to a new island, that work needs a building permit and licensed trades. LADBS issues permits for City of Los Angeles addresses; other cities and unincorporated LA County use their own building offices. Adcom supplies and installs the cabinetry, not structural, plumbing or electrical work, so coordinate drawings with your builder early and check any contractor’s license on the CSLB website before signing. For the cabinet installer, the CSLB classification to look for is C-6, Cabinet, Millwork and Finish Carpentry; a builder handling walls and windows usually holds a B general building license.

Custom work suits the older housing stock found across the region, from Pasadena Craftsman homes and South Pasadena bungalows to hillside houses in La Cañada Flintridge and the City of Los Angeles.