Built-in cabinetry is fantastic! It’s customized to your needs, sturdy enough to last generations, and (assuming you are working with a talented finish carpenter) beautifully finished. But, generally speaking, built-ins are also a lot more costly than off-the-shelf, ready-made, manufactured options.

Are custom built-ins worth it? And how *much* more do they cost, really?

Obviously, every project is unique, but to give you a sense of the differences I teamed up with my colleague Aaron at The Creative Carpenter to put together a little cost and value comparison between this ready-made Ballard Designs kitchen banquette seating set and a comparable custom built-in:

The Ballard Designs banquette set cost about $2500 (plus tax and shipping). Some ready-made items require you to assemble them, but these happen to come fully assembled (yea!).

If you were to have something comparable built by a finish carpenter in the Seattle area, it would cost you … give or take… about $6800. That’s about two and a three-quarter times more than the off-the-shelf option. Now, bear in mind I’m not comparing apples to apples: the custom option we are comparing to has *drawer storage* instead of top-load storage as featured in the Ballard Designs Banquette. Drawers are more expensive than top-load storage, but they are also more functional – I’ll tell you why below. I figured if we were going to price a custom option, we should price it for a custom solution, too.

So, $2500 vs over $6000. Is it worth it?

Maybe.
Let’s look at what you’ll get for your money:

THE WOOD

The custom-made banquette (or other built-in) will be made of solid wood (like oak or maple) or a combination of solid wood and high-grade plywood. (Sometimes plywood is needed for structural reasons.) The Ballard Designs banquette is listed as “Made of poplar wood & engineered hardwood with poplar banding & birch veneer.” Poplar is *technically* a hardwood, so you aren’t getting MDF furniture like you might with Ikea, but it’s a soft hardwood, like pine or cedar. You also don’t know the source of your wood, so if you are ecologically-minded, going custom can help ensure that your wood is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified.

(WHY YOU MIGHT CARE)

People get anxious about MDF because it doesn’t tend to stand up to a lot of moving from place to place. That’s why an Ikea kitchen could last you a decade or more, but an Ikea bookshelf tends to fall apart just moving from one apartment to another. In this case, though, the Ballard Designs Banquette is wood, so that’s good, right? That depends on your expectations. Softer wood is easier to dent and ding, so it might show wear more quickly than a harder wood. A few years of your kids kicking the banquette with their feet and the vacuum bumping into it, you may notice a difference in durability.

STORAGE & CUSTOM OPTIONS

The benches on the Ballard Designs banquette have deep open storage that you access from the top (opening like a piano) on slow-close hinges. The custom-made banquette is (obviously) custom, so you can have the same piano-hinge storage, or you can opt for open cubbies or {my favorite} a long pullout drawer. Remember above where I said I wasn’t pricing apples to apples with the $2500 vs $6800 number? That’s because if I am going to go custom and spend the extra money, I am going to make sure it is extra-functional. And drawers are better because….

(WHY YOU MIGHT CARE)

Once you put a table in front of your banquette seating and a cushion on your bench, it’s going to be tough to access that deep bench storage! If accessible storage is a priority for you, that is where a custom build will really sing! Seriously, check out the two long drawers that pull out of this banquette built by Paul Johnson Carpentry. Uh-ma-zing! And did you notice the nice slope to the backrest for comfort, and the ledge/window-sill combination – a purr-fect cat perch! – not to mention the built-in toe-kick register to route the heating out to keep toes toasty? That’s custom at it’s best!

HARDWARE

The Ballard Designs banquette uses slow-close hinges on its storage tops. That’s great, because not only does that save you from the noise of a lid slamming down, it also prevents tiny fingers from getting slammed in a quickly-closed (or dropped) lid. That said, hardware quality is related as much to the wood as to the quality of the actual hinge. Since a screw is only as good as the strength of the wood it’s screwed into. (Not to mention the skill of the woodworker screwing in the screw – ever stripped a screw? It doesn’t grip anymore!)

A custom woodworker is likely to take extra care in selecting their hardware and their wood species, since they don’t want to put dozens (or hundreds) of hours into a project only to have the hinge or glide fail. You’ll notice that Paul Johnson specifically mentioned that he used 300 lb glides on those giant pullout drawers. (Note, that means they can handle 300 pounds of load, *not* that they weigh 300 pounds. In case you were wondering.)

(WHY YOU MIGHT CARE)

Let’s assume that the Ballard Designs banquette uses high-quality hinges – great! Still, top-load storage can’t hold a candle to more-accessible drawer storage, and those 300 pound glides?? When attached properly to solid wood you can load up the drawers with pans, books, dishes, and even your toddler (cuz you *know* they’ll climb on them) and not have to worry about your built-in breaking!

QUALITY (CONTROL)

When I was asking Aaron to help me with this comparison, he said:

“In the photos I noticed a couple issues with the manufactured bench I think are worth mentioning. I tend to notice these small details tend to be very telling of the craftsmanship. There are a lot of substantial gaps and cracks where everything comes together and along the floor. (see photo) This looks like possibly poor joinery or installation, all of these corners and seams should fit tightly. This is the ‘showcase’ photo, so I would be a little concerned about the quality and fit of what is going to show up.”

Now, obviously Aaron is a craftsman and he cares about quality woodworking. He totally gets that sometimes a manufactured option is the right choice for a situation – he just wants to make sure you understand the difference in what you are getting for your money. And, sure enough, when I visited Ballard Designs in Atlanta recently, the banquette bench did indeed rock a little on the uneven floor. No biggie, and had I bought it for myself I could have shimmed up under the base a little. The key is just to know what you are buying, and make and informed choice.

SHIPPING

Lots of retailers now offer free or low-cost shipping, and Ballard Designs is no exception. That said, you will be risking having something large and heavy shipped to your home. You’ll have to find a way to take delivery and get it into your kitchen, and if it arrives damaged you are going to have to deal with refunds, returns, and warranties. The built-in, on the other hand, will either be built on-site or built in a local shop and hand-delivered and professionally installed by a carpenter. You’ll have a lot more service for the install, but you might also find it to be more disruptive, like a mini-remodel.

(WHY YOU MIGHT CARE)

You’ll spend less and have more instant gratification with the retail option, but you may find that you have more stress and hassle if things go wrong. You’ll spend more and get a higher quality, longer-lasting product if you go custom, but you’ll need to wait for the prices to start and finish. And you’ll be working directly with a contractor, making custom choices along the way that might scare you since there is no going back later. Remember! Retail and ready-made cabinetry is rarely going to have the craftsmanship of custom made woodworking. You may see gaps between pieces, and the base won’t naturally accommodate an uneven floor.

So which is better? Neither! Both have their place. Sometimes you’ll want the lower cost, instant gratification of a ready-made banquette, and you’ll have a spot in your house that will fit the available dimensions. Sometimes you’ll want the higher cost, longer-lasting custom-made banquette that will fit your home and your family’s needs perfectly. It’s up to you!

Want built-ins but want to save money?

DIY it: Jamie Costiglio shares a great post on doing just that. BUT your time is valuable and your spouse not only doesn’t want to live in a construction zone, but would also like the banquette finished before the kids go off to college. Evaluate your time honestly. And your skillset. Can you truly create a product you’ll be happy with?

DIY part of it: You can also consider having it built, but painting it yourself. Painting is time-consuming, so if you are a capable and patient painter, then doing the finish work yourself could save some bucks. But again – see above. Evaluate your time and your skillset honestly. Consider your marriage.

Hack it: This can be a great option. Find a manufactured option you like, and have a finish carpenter add trim and other details for a built-in, custom look (or DIY it like The Makerista did using Ikea’s famous Billy Bookcases – *if* you have the time and the skillz!). But this tends to work best if you aren’t looking for custom drawer sizes, or to add drawers to an existing piece (although the folks at Shelf Genie can do some pretty rad stuff with open cabinet spaces!)

Here is what The Creative Carpenter said on the subject:

“We believe in building projects to fit a client’s budget and style. Many of our clients choose the best of both worlds and use a combination of manufactured and custom cabinets. Utilizing the savings of the manufactured cabinets and adding the custom features that are not available from the manufacturer.”

Make sure you are partnered with a finish carpenter who likes to problem-solve, and not just build from scratch!

 

To sum up (as seen here from the Creative Carpenter):

Custom Carpentry is thoughtfully designed and then fabricated from high-quality lumber, hardware, and fasteners. Everything is designed, fabricated, and installed specifically for your space and usage. This is the, “Have it your way” option.

Manufactured Cabinets are designed, then built on an assembly line in bulk. This limits the consumer to stock sizes, finishes, and features. Manufactured cabinets are ordered from a manufacturer’s stock catalog, shipped, then installed. This is the restaurant that won’t let you order off-menu, but they are fast and relatively inexpensive.

Custom Carpentry Advantages:
Unlimited customization of features, design, finish and style, maximize your space and limit amount of filler used, built by a knowledgeable carpenter using superior materials and fabrication techniques, lasts longer, best value over time.

Custom Carpentry Draw Backs:
Increased initial investment, longer fabrication time, difficult to find qualified craftsmen.

Manufactured Cabinet Advantages:
Cost-saving, many stock styles and finishes to choose from, can be shipped to site, replaceable, shorter fabrication time.

Manufactured Cabinet Draw Backs:
Limited by manufacturers’ available options. Less efficient use of space; filler pieces are used to make stock cabinets fit your space, particleboard and inexpensive hardware, less attention to detail in assembly-line fabrication, need to be installed correctly by a qualified installer, shipping errors and damage, will need repair/replacement sooner and more often.

 

So that’s it! Now you can make more informed decisions about how you want to spend your money! Remember, it’s not about which is better, it’s about what you want to invest, how custom you need your functional solutions to be, how perfect you want the woodwork to be, and how long you need it to last.

Have more questions like this? This is *exactly* the kind of thing we can help you think through during a Design Helpline! We can’t always give you specific pricing comparison (hence the epic blog post lol) but we can talk through the differences between options, help you align those differences with your needs, and do our best to connect you with amazing craftspeople or resources to get the solution that is right for you.

 

May your home always be happy!