When it comes time to upgrade your kitchen with new cabinets, two major retailers likely come to mind: Cabinets To Go and Home Depot. As leaders in the cabinetry space, both offer decent options for affordable to high-end factory-made and custom cabinetry along with national reach for accessibility.
But deciding which provides the best balance of quality, style, customization, value, and convenience for your needs can get overwhelming.
To help make the choice easier, here’s an in-depth comparison of what Cabinets To Go and Home Depot have to offer for kitchen cabinetry along with their respective pros, cons, and key differentiators when shopping:
Cabinet Offerings Overview
| Aspects | Cabinets To Go | Home Depot |
| Cabinet Quality | Middle to high-end | Economy to middle-range |
| Style Selection | Transitional and contemporary focus | Traditional to contemporary |
| Customization Options | Semi-custom available | Stock & limited semi-custom |
| Delivery & Installation | White glove turnkey service | DIY-friendly |
As you can see from the overview, while both stores provide loads of cabinet options, Cabinets To Go skews higher-end while The Home Depot runs the gamut from value to middle-tier styles and prices. Keep reading for more detailed comparisons.
Key Differences Between Cabinets To Go And Home Depot For Kitchen Cabinets
- Cabinet Quality
From a quality perspective, Cabinets To Go focuses exclusively on supplying better-grade cabinetry constructed from plywood boxes and solid wood doors and drawers in durable finishes.
Their semi-custom lines even allow you to upgrade door styles and finishes. With rigorous vetting of manufacturing partners, most selections are mid-level to high-end cabinetry aimed at the middle to luxury market.
In contrast, Home Depot stocks value-based cabinets with particle board construction up to nicer face-frame cabinetry with plywood boxes and solid wood doors.
Quality varies widely based on door type, price point, and manufacturer – from in-house Hampton Bay to contractors’ brands like Wellborn and Aristokraft.
Without the same level of oversight over vendors, you’ll want to vet specs carefully to avoid less durable economy-end products.
The Winner: Cabinets To Go for its narrower focus on better construction and materials from quality brands. The Home Depot’s extreme variety in cabinets means more due diligence on your part to get durable cabinets that will last.
- Style Selection
Both Cabinets To Go and Home Depot offer a vast range of kitchen cabinet door styles.
However, their respective strengths differ.
Cabinets To Go emphasizes contemporary, transitional, and modern designs across its catalog with cleaner lines and subdued styling along with some traditional veneers and painted finishes.
Brands like Omega, Alexandria, and Mid Continent lead with up-to-date door profiles to appeal to current trends.
The Home Depot also carries a full spectrum from traditional raised panels to sleek slab drawer fronts. But you’ll find more classic oak styles and decorative options for a cottage or traditional kitchen.
Hampton Bay, Martha Stewart Living, and Thomasville headline value selections through the mid-price Spectrum line while Aristokraft, Wellborn, Diamond Reflections, and Kemper anchor more contemporary looks in premium tiers.
So while both provide plenty of variety in door configurations, profiles, and finishes, Cabinets To Go excels in modern while Home Depot covers classic to current styles under one roof.
The Winner: Home Depot for its incredibly wide range encompassing traditional to contemporary door designs to suit any kitchen aesthetic.
- Customization & Flexibility
When it comes to tailoring cabinets to your exact storage needs, layout, sizes, and style preferences, Cabinets To Go moves into the lead. Its Premier series semi-custom line through brands like Mid Continent Cabinetry lets you configure cabinets precisely through an authorized dealer using an online designer tool.
Choose base, wall and full height cabinets in set heights and widths along with drawers, roll outs, latches and more.
Then select door styles, wood species, finish, inset or overlay, and accents for made-to-order cabinets shipped directly to you.
Home Depot offers a much more limited semi-custom assortment in its in-store kitchen design center.
Primarily offered through its premium Wellborn and Aristokraft brands, you can tweak sizing, storage configuration, door style and finish.
But the majority of inventory remains stock cabinetry. If you want to customize your own kitchen line from scratch, Cabinets To Go is the only player with an online semi-custom design platform.
The Winner: Cabinets To Go thanks to its user-friendly Premier semi-custom program that makes it easy to craft bespoke cabinets suited to your exact kitchen layout.
- Pricing & Budgets
As you might expect based on quality and customization differences, Cabinets To Go and Home Depot also vary in pricing and affordability.
Cabinet packages at Cabinets To Go generally start around $5,000 on the very low end for a small kitchen. But most cabinetry selections land in the moderate to luxury bracket between $8,000-$20,000+ for a larger galley kitchen.
Semi-custom orders can run even higher depending on materials and configuration. saver.
The Home Depot offers more diversity for budgets. Stock kitchens under the Hampton Bay line including cabinets, countertops and hardware can cost as little as $1,500+ for an apartment-sized kitchen.
The mid-grade Spectrum collection averages $3,000-$8,000 for most kitchens while premium Aristokraft and Diamond Reflections land between $8,000-$15,000 installed. Though limited in scope, semi-custom Wellborn designs slot at the higher end from $12,000+.
The Winner: Tie since both retailers provide options for varying budgets. Those wanting truly affordable cabinetry will benefit most from Home Depot. But Cabinets To Go’s focus on quality materials appeals more to owners wanting long-term value versus upfront savings potential.
- Installation & Delivery
The final differentiator comes down to sourcing and getting cabinets delivered to your home.
Given its emphasis on turnkey kitchen remodeling services, Cabinets To Go only sells through authorized dealer showrooms.
You’ll work with an expert kitchen designer to select cabinets for your space who will manage the entire installation process after placing the factory order.
Enjoy white glove coordination from measurement to final cabinet placement with the option for full-service undermount sink, appliance, lighting and flooring upgrades as well.
With Home Depot, you can either work with an in-store kitchen designer to order cabinets and arrange third-party installation or opt for a DIY cabinet purchase online. Besides cabinet supply, you’ll otherwise handle sink, lighting, flooring and countertop upgrades separately.
Select locations offer professional measurement and cabinet install as an additional cost. Otherwise, you’ll tackle the delivery, inventory and cabinet assembly on your own or with hired help.
The Winner: Cabinets To Go if you want a seamless start-to-finish kitchen remodeling experience. For DIYers willing to drive the design and install, Home Depot offers more flexibility minus the hassle of coordinating everything.
Key Takeaways: Cabinets To Go And Home Depot
- Cabinets To Go specializes in supplying better quality mid-level to luxury cabinetry lines you won’t find anywhere else.
- Home Depot carries a much wider range of good, better, best cabinet collections spanning value to premium tiers for any budget.
- Cabinet To Go’s online Premier semi-custom program enables you to fully customize cabinets rather than relying solely on in-stock sizing.
- Home Depot has a broader range of kitchen styles from traditional raised panel to modern slab in its thousands of options.
- Turnkey kitchen remodels come easier through Cabinet To Go showrooms while Home Depot appeals more to DIYers.
Determining whether Cabinets To Go or Home Depot offers the best kitchen cabinet solution comes down to your budget, desired quality, customization needs, aesthetic tastes and installation preferences.
For a seamless mid-to-luxury kitchen overhaul where semi-custom cabinetry allows creating your dream layout not limited by off-the-shelf sizing, Cabinet To Go gets the nod.
Prefer wider style variation in good quality to premium cabinetry you can install yourself or via third parties?
You can’t beat Home Depot’s unmatched selection and DIY-friendly process.
Hopefully this detailed comparison helped provide clarity around what distinguishes these two kitchen cabinet giants. Thinking through your must-haves around budget, design flexibility, quality construction, customization extent and installation approach should make determining the optimal retailer much simpler.
Feel free to leverage this analysis as a starting guide when beginning your kitchen remodeling journey!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
As a factory-direct cabinet supplier partnering with local designers, Cabinets To Go notes typical lead times between 5-7 weeks from order submission. However, delivery times can vary based on manufacturer, customization selected, and inventory supply which your kitchen designer can clarify. From there, most kitchen remodeling projects through Cabinets To Go take 4-8 weeks allowing proper time for measurement, any demo, cabinet order completion and professional installation.
Cabinets from Cabinets To Go are constructed using plywood or hardwood boxes for durability with solid wood doors, drawers and face frames. Specific material details can vary slightly by brand and collection. But you can expect moisture-resistant plywood case construction along with door and drawer fronts in oak, maple, cherry along other woods overlaid with decorative veneers. Semi-custom offerings allow even more species and material options.
As a specialty cabinet supplier focused on selling through authorized dealer showrooms, Cabinet To Go competes most directly with distributors like MasterBrand Cabinets, Wellborn Cabinet Inc. and American Woodmark which supply cabinetry to professional designers and remodelers rather than directly to consumers.
The most affordable kitchen cabinet options include:
1. Opt for value-priced stock cabinets at home improvement stores
2. Choose frameless over framed cabinet construction
3. Skip customization for standard sizing
4. Consider paint or thermofoil over solid wood doors
5. Install cabinets yourself rather than professional fitting
6. Purchase incomplete cabinet boxes to outfit interiors yourself
7. Use your existing cabinet box layout and just replace doors and drawer fronts Prioritizing budget over customization, material quality or hiring a kitchen professional helps keep cabinet costs down.
Closing Remarks
In closing, Cabinets To Go and Home Depot both offer decent kitchen cabinet options but at different quality and pricing levels. Cabinets To Go focuses exclusively on better construction and contemporary styling while Home Depot provides extreme choice from affordable to high-end cabinetry spanning all kitchen aesthetics.
Factoring in your budget, desired materials, customization needs, design tastes, and installation preferences helps determine which retailer provides the best balance. Ultimately, Cabinets To Go shines for turnkey mid-tier to luxury kitchen overhauls valuing semi-customization in modern styles.
For great choice across the spectrum favoring DIY-friendly processes, the wide selection and deep value at The Home Depot can’t be beat. Use this detailed comparison to help guide your cabinet purchasing decision.