KCD Kitchen Cabinets

About KCD Cabinets

Kitchen Cabinet Distributors builds cabinetry sold through authorized dealers rather than direct to the public. That distribution model is the reason most people searching for KCD cabinets end up on a dealer site rather than the manufacturer's. You order through us, and the cabinets ship out of KCD's own distribution network.

The range splits into two series. The Premier Series is the plywood specification: a half inch seven ply box, full overlay doors with solid wood stiles and rails, and undermount full extension slides with metal soft close. The Builder Series trades the plywood box for engineered wood with a plywood back and moves to partial overlay doors, which is what brings the price down. Both keep the solid wood face frame and the dovetailed drawer box, which is usually the first thing a cheap cabinet gives up.

What stays constant across both is the ownership experience. Soft close hinges come standard rather than as an upgrade. Finishes are applied in factory conditions rather than sprayed on site, which is why a run of twelve doors reads as one continuous surface instead of twelve slightly different ones. And the catalog is deep enough, over eight hundred cabinet codes before you multiply by finish, that a layout can usually be solved with real cabinets instead of a row of fillers.

How The Two Series Compare

Start with the box, because that is the decision you cannot change later. Premier Series cabinets are built on a half inch seven ply plywood box with three inch plywood stretchers reinforcing the base corners. Builder Series cabinets use engineered wood sides with a plywood back and plastic corner blocks. Both carry a solid wood face frame. If the kitchen is a long term home rather than a rental, or if there is any chance of a dishwasher leak reaching a base cabinet, the plywood box is worth the difference.

Then look at the door. Premier is full overlay, so the doors sit proud of the frame and you see very little of it between them. Builder is partial overlay, which leaves a visible band of face frame around each door. That is a look as much as a spec, and some people prefer the framed appearance, but it does read as the more traditional and the more budget of the two.

Drawers are where the two series are closer than the price suggests. Both use five eighths inch solid wood boxes with dovetail joints at all four corners. The difference is the slide and the front: Premier runs undermount full extension slides with metal soft close and a five piece drawer front, while Builder runs three quarter extension without soft close as standard, with a slab front. Both can be upgraded.

Within the Premier Series the collections differ in profile rather than construction. Brooklyn is the transitional door with a three inch stile. Shaker runs a slightly narrower two and three quarter inch stile for a tighter, more contemporary frame. Oslo is the slim frame European look and sits on a taller door face. The box, the drawer and the hardware behind all three are identical.

Choosing Your Finish

KCD's sixteen finishes split into three groups, and picking the group first makes the rest quick.

Painted finishes are Brooklyn Pearl and Bright White, Shaker Designer White and Sand, Oslo White, and Essential White and Gray. These are the safe, bright choices, and they are what most kitchens use for wall cabinets even when the base run goes darker.

Stained and woodgrain finishes are Brooklyn Fawn, Slate and Modern Gray, Shaker Kodiak, and Oslo Classic Walnut and Oak. Fawn is the light warm oak tone, Slate is the dark brown, and Classic Walnut is the richest of the group. These carry visible grain, so they pair well with a quieter countertop rather than stone with a lot of movement in it.

Colors, which for KCD means Brooklyn Midnight in navy and Shaker Moss in sage green, work best as an accent rather than the whole room. A navy island under white perimeter cabinets, or a sage base run with wall cabinets in Pearl. Two tone using two Brooklyn finishes is the arrangement we quote most often, and because both come from the same line the sheen and the door profile match exactly.

Order samples before you commit. Screens misrepresent color badly, particularly greens and grays, and a finish that looks right on a phone in daylight can read completely differently under a warm kitchen bulb at night. Look at them in the actual room at the actual time of day you use it.

Styling Your Kitchen

Mixing finishes. Because every Brooklyn finish shares the same door profile and the same factory finish process, mixing two of them reads as a deliberate design decision rather than a mismatch. The usual arrangement is the darker finish on the base cabinets and island with the lighter one on the wall run, which keeps the room from feeling top heavy.

Hardware. The Brooklyn and Shaker doors take knobs and cup pulls comfortably. Oslo's slim frame suits a long thin bar pull that follows the door edge and looks fussy with anything ornate. Matte black is the safe pairing for the woodgrain finishes, brushed brass for the painted ones.

Countertops. A quiet white or gray quartz lets a strong cabinet color such as Midnight or Moss lead the room. If the stone has a lot of movement, put it against a plainer finish like Pearl or Bright White so the two are not competing.

Small kitchens. Wall cabinets are available up to 42 inches high, which is usually a better use of a small room than stopping at 30 and leaving a dust shelf above. Going to the ceiling makes a compact kitchen feel taller and adds the storage that lets you keep the counters clear.

Getting Started

Cabinets are priced individually, so a quote reflects the exact sizes your layout calls for rather than a package price with parts you do not need.

Pick the series first, then the finish. That order saves the most time, because the series decides the construction and the budget while the finish is purely a look. Order door samples in your shortlist and compare them at home before you commit.

Send your measurements and a few photos, even rough ones, and we will build the cabinet list and price it. If you are torn between the Premier and Builder Series, tell us how long you plan to be in the house and we will walk through the trade off with you before you order.