Custom cabinets in CincinnatiMade for your room.
Not from a list.

Custom cabinets are built to your room and your drawings instead of chosen from a list of sizes. If you’re looking for custom cabinets in Cincinnati, we design fully custom work with Wood-Mode, which has built cabinetry in Kreamer, Pennsylvania since 1942. Here’s what custom adds over a semi-custom line, and how a local shop, an Amish maker and a national manufacturer differ.

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Start with a free design consultation to discuss your goals, inspiration, general budget, and whether East Main is the right fit. Detailed design follows under a paid Design Agreement.

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French Provincial Kitchen Design — interior view 2

What “custom” means, and what it doesn’t.

Cabinet lines are usually sorted into stock, semi-custom and custom. The Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association describes semi-custom as built to order within a defined set of construction parameters, in standard widths with more choices for depth and height. Custom cabinets are built to the client’s specifications. That doesn’t make semi-custom a lesser choice. Shiloh and Eclipse, our go-to semi-custom lines, offer many door styles and finishes, and Eclipse will paint in a custom color. Plenty of kitchens never need more than that. Custom cabinets earn their place when the design calls for something the catalog doesn’t have: a size, a material, a finish or a detail made for one room.

What Wood-Mode adds.

For fully custom work we design with Wood-Mode. Its published range starts with more than 200 door styles, offered as full overlay, inset or frameless, and what it calls a virtually unlimited palette of custom colors and stains. Some of its doors are a full inch thick. Wood-Mode describes Arlington as a 1-inch door and gives Whitehall and Palermo 1-inch-thick frames, while a door such as Burlington is 3/4 inch. It calls the thicker frame a fuller look. Each order is hand built to the specifications your designer draws, so the cabinetry is made around the room and not the other way round.

Inside the cabinet.

Custom shows on the inside as well. Wood-Mode’s “It’s Included” literature for its Design Groups 42 and 84 lists plywood construction with wood veneer edge banding and shelves a full inch thick. It also lists a choice of natural finished interiors in maple, white oak, walnut, cherry or mahogany, with dovetail drawers in the same woods. Eclipse, by comparison, uses an easy-to-clean laminate interior. A walnut or white oak interior matters most where you’ll see it: behind glass doors, in open shelving, in a bar or in a pantry you walk into. That literature dates from 2022, so ask us to confirm what is standard and what is an option on a current order.

Wood, veneer and finish.

Wood-Mode’s published material names cherry, maple, walnut and mahogany, along with white oak in plain sawn, rift cut and quarter sawn cuts. The cut changes the grain you see as much as the species does. It also offers rift cut and rough sawn oak veneers, high-pressure laminates, and metal details such as inlays and mesh door inserts. Finishing is a multi-step process, with glazed, distressed and vintage options beyond paint and stain. If the standard palette doesn’t have your color, custom colors and stains are part of the offer. We’d still ask you to judge a finished sample in your own light before you decide, because the same stain reads differently on each wood.

Curves, one-off doors and rare woods.

Some requests go beyond any published list: a curved cabinet at the end of an island, a door profile drawn for one house, an exotic veneer you saw in a hotel lobby. This is the kind of work people mean by fully custom. Wood-Mode’s public literature doesn’t spell out what it will build in these cases, so we won’t promise it on a web page. Ask us about it. Bring a photo or a sketch, and we’ll check with the factory what can be made, in which woods and finishes, and what it does to the schedule, before you commit to anything. If we can’t get it built well, we’ll tell you.

Local shop, Amish maker or national manufacturer.

“Custom” is used by three quite different kinds of maker. A local custom shop builds in or near Cincinnati, and you may be able to visit and meet the person making your cabinets. An Amish cabinet maker builds in a workshop that may be some distance away, and may sell to you directly or through a dealer. A national custom manufacturer such as Wood-Mode builds in a factory and sells through independent dealers, who design, order and service the work. Good cabinets come from all three. What differs is the process: who draws the kitchen, how the finish is applied and cured, what has been tested, and who comes back if something goes wrong. The table below turns those into questions to ask.

Warranty, service and getting started.

Ask every maker for the warranty in writing, and ask who handles a claim. Wood-Mode’s published warranty covers defects of material and workmanship under normal use for as long as you own the cabinets. It applies to the original purchaser at the original site of installation, it excludes improper installation, and a claim starts with the dealer you bought from. Installation matters as much as the build, and East Main can install your cabinets or work with your contractor. Your first design consultation is free. Detailed design, with measurements, layouts and pricing, happens under a paid Design Agreement that sets out the scope and fees before work begins.

Three kinds of custom cabinet maker and the questions to ask each. Entries for Wood-Mode come from its published material; for the others, ask the maker.

	Local custom shop	Amish cabinet maker	National custom manufacturer (Wood-Mode)
Where it’s built	In or near your city. Ask to visit the shop	In the maker’s workshop. Ask where, and whether you buy direct or through a dealer	In a factory in Kreamer, Pennsylvania, and sold through independent dealers
Design and drawings	Ask who draws the kitchen and whether you approve drawings before building starts	Ask who measures and draws: the maker, a dealer or your own designer	Designed with the dealer’s designer. With us, you review the final design before we order
Sizing freedom	Ask whether every cabinet is built to your drawing	Ask whether every cabinet is built to your drawing	Built to the order’s specifications. Ask us what limits apply to your design
Construction and joinery	Ask about box material, drawer joinery and hardware brand	Ask about box material, drawer joinery and hardware brand	Published for Design Groups 42 and 84: plywood boxes, 1 in. shelves, dovetail drawers
Finish type and curing	Ask what the topcoat is, where it’s sprayed and how it cures	Ask what the topcoat is, where it’s sprayed and how it cures	A multi-step factory finish with custom colors and stains. Ask us for a finished sample
Testing and certification	Ask whether the cabinets or finish have been tested to a standard such as KCMA A161.1	Ask whether the cabinets or finish have been tested to a standard such as KCMA A161.1	Certified under KCMA’s Environmental Stewardship Program. Ask us about performance testing
Lead time	Ask for the schedule in writing	Ask for the schedule in writing, including delivery	Varies by order. We’ll give you the current estimate before you commit
Warranty and service	Ask for the warranty in writing and who comes out to fix a problem	Ask for the warranty in writing and who comes out to fix a problem	Covered for as long as you own them, for the original purchaser. Claims start with the dealer
Installation	Ask who installs and who returns to adjust	Ask who installs; it may be separate from the maker	East Main can install or work with your contractor

A few questions, answered.

What is the difference between semi-custom and custom cabinets?: Semi-custom cabinets are built to order from a defined set of sizes, door styles and finishes, usually with some modifications allowed. Custom cabinets are built to the specifications drawn for your project. In practice the question is whether your design needs something a semi-custom catalog doesn’t offer. If it doesn’t, a semi-custom line may suit you well.
Are Wood-Mode cabinet doors really 1 inch thick?: Some are. Wood-Mode describes its Arlington door as 1 inch thick and gives the Whitehall and Palermo styles 1-inch-thick frames. Others, such as Burlington, are 3/4 inch. Thickness depends on the door style you choose, so ask us which styles are built at 1 inch, and handle a sample before you decide.
Can I get walnut or white oak cabinet interiors?: Wood-Mode’s published literature lists natural finished interiors in maple, white oak, walnut, cherry and mahogany, with matching dovetail drawers, for its Design Groups 42 and 84. That brochure dates from 2022, so we’ll confirm current availability and cost for your order. A wood interior is most worthwhile behind glass doors and in open or walk-in cabinetry.
Is a local or Amish cabinet maker better than a national brand?: Not automatically, in either direction. Each can build good cabinets. Ask all of them the same questions: who draws the kitchen, what the boxes and drawers are made of, how the finish is applied and cured, whether the cabinets have been tested, how long it will take, and who services the warranty. Then compare the written answers.
Do custom cabinets cost more and take longer?: Usually, yes. Fine Homebuilding describes custom cabinets as usually the most expensive category, with the longest wait for delivery. How much depends on the design, materials and finish. We’ll price your actual design and give you the current lead time before you commit. Design fees are separate and are explained in your Design Agreement.

Let’s make a plan

Your kitchen starts with a conversation.

Start with a free design consultation to discuss your goals, inspiration, general budget, and whether East Main is the right fit. Detailed kitchen design follows under a paid Design Agreement.

Book a consultation