Semi-custom cabinets in Lynn, MA cost you $150 to $700 a linear foot installed against $500 to $1,200 for fully custom, and Custom Cabinets Lynn fits plenty of them because on a lot of kitchens that gap buys nothing. A 10x10 comparison kitchen in stock or semi-custom boxes runs $3,000 to $11,000, against $10,000 to $26,500 built to your opening. Lynn's median household income is $75,043, so we would rather quote you the tier that suits the house than the tier that suits an invoice. Both sets of figures sit on our cabinet price guide with their sources.
Three tiers exist, and the words around them are vague on purpose, so here is the plain difference.
Stock cabinets at $100 to $400 a foot come in fixed widths, usually three-inch steps, in a short list of doors and finishes. Semi-custom at $150 to $700 gives you real choices on door style, finish and some sizes, built to order rather than pulled off a shelf. Fully custom at $500 to $1,200 is drawn to your room. The only thing it truly buys you is that every size is yours.
What you trade going down the tiers is measured in inches. Your 41-inch bay takes a 39-inch semi-custom box and a 2-inch filler. The question is where that bay sits and whether you will ever look at it.
What you are choosing between
Semi-custom lines and what the choice actually covers
KraftMaid is the semi-custom line most people here have already been quoted somewhere else, so we use it as a benchmark rather than a secret. You get a choice of door style, finish, some interior fittings and a range of widths. The trade is real, because you do not get a width that is not in the book. At $150 to $700 a linear foot it is a good trade on a house with fairly standard openings.
Stock boxes, where the budget rules
Stock cabinets at $100 to $400 a foot are the honest floor of this trade, and Fabuwood is the line a North Shore rental refit or a budget-led kitchen usually gets quoted on. Fixed sizes and a short finish list mean more fillers and more compromise on layout. We fit these properly rather than treating them as beneath us, because a well-installed stock kitchen beats a badly-installed custom one every time.
Semi-custom boxes with the hardware upgraded
You can buy a mid-tier box and put good hardware in it, and that is often the best value on this page. Blum soft-close hinges and slides come from our supplier in North Reading, and swapping them in during installation costs $30 to $80 per door or drawer. The hardware is what you touch forty times a day, so it is the line we would upgrade before the door style.
Mixing tiers across one kitchen
Nothing stops you putting semi-custom on the runs nobody studies and custom on the one wall that has to fit. We do this often on Lynn kitchens where a chimney breast or an old pantry doorway makes one bay impossible and the rest of the room is square enough. You spend the custom money where the room is difficult and the catalog money where it is not. That is usually the cheapest way to get a kitchen that reads as fitted.
How we get catalog boxes to fit
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We measure before you order, not after
We measure your runs at three heights and check the walls for lean, then work out which openings a catalog size can actually serve. That measure is free, and it is the step that tells you whether the semi-custom saving survives contact with your kitchen.
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We tell you where the fillers will land
We mark on the drawing exactly where a filler strip goes and how wide it will be, before you commit to a tier. Where one lands in the middle of your view from the doorway, you may decide that bay is worth building. Where it lands beside a fridge, nobody will ever see it.
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We check your order against your room
We read the supplier's list against our measurements before anything ships, because a box that is two inches out is a delivery problem rather than an installation one. Catching that at the order stage costs you nothing. Catching it on install day costs you weeks.
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We trim the ends to the wall even on catalog boxes
We cut your end panels to follow the wall wherever there is material to do it, which is the same technique we use on custom work and it costs the same hours. A semi-custom kitchen trimmed at the ends and filled in the middle reads far better than one filled everywhere. Fitting into a pre-1940 opening adds $450 to $1,600.
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We set your doors and hand over what is left
We hang and adjust every door and drawer and set the gaps for the damp end of the year, since a catalog door moves with the seasons exactly as a built one does. You keep the spare hardware and the finish touch-up. On a catalog line that matters more, because matching it in five years is a supplier question.
How to read one tier against another without guessing
Why Lynn homeowners call us for semi-custom
Nobody wants to be talked into a custom kitchen when a catalog one would have fitted. So we measure first and tell you honestly which tier your room needs. Most houses here were built around 1946, and on most of them semi-custom at $150 to $700 a foot does the job with two or three fillers nobody will notice. We mark every filler on the drawing before you order, and we build the one bay that a catalog box cannot serve.
The per-foot figure is the only number that compares
Two kitchens with different amounts of cabinet produce totals that cannot be read against each other, and every tier on this page is published per linear foot for that reason. Measure the run of base and wall cabinets along the wall, not the floor area. A total with no per-foot figure behind it is a number you cannot check against anything.
The written agreement and deposit rules do not change with the tier
Massachusetts requires a written, signed agreement on home work above $1,000, naming the work, the materials, the total price, the payment schedule and the dates. The deposit is capped at one third, or the actual cost of special-order material if that is higher. A semi-custom order is still special-order, so that exception applies to a $9,000 kitchen the same way it applies to a $26,000 one.
Fitting a catalog box is not cheaper labor
A straight cabinet swap needs no permit whichever tier you buy, so the tier changes the material cost and not the process. Leveling, joining, trimming and setting doors take the same hours on a $150 foot as on a $1,200 one. A quote where installation drops with the box price has priced the fitting off the invoice rather than off your walls.
The numbers that separate the tiers
| Semi-custom cabinetry, installed | $150 to $700 per linear foot |
|---|---|
| Stock cabinetry, installed | $100 to $400 per linear foot |
| Fully custom, for comparison | $500 to $1,200 per linear foot |
| Stock or semi-custom 10x10 kitchen | $3,000 to $11,000 |
| Fully custom 10x10 kitchen | $10,000 to $26,500 |
| Hardware upgrade during installation | $30 to $80 each |
Fully custom cabinetry in Lynn runs $500 to $1,200 per linear foot installed, or $10,000 to $26,500 for a 10x10 kitchen. Semi-custom runs $150 to $700 per foot and stock $100 to $400. What moves the number is the box, the door and how far out of square the wall is.
| What the job is | Typical range | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Fully custom cabinetry, built to the openingDrawn to your kitchen rather than assembled from catalog sizes. Any width, any height, any depth, and no filler strips standing in for a wall that is not straight. | $500 – $1,200 | per linear foot, installed |
| High-end custom: inset doors, specialty species, hand-applied finishInset doors sit inside the frame rather than over it, which means every reveal has to be even and every one is visible. That is where the hours go. | $1,200 – $2,500 | per linear foot, installed |
| Semi-custom cabinetryCatalog boxes with real choices on door style, finish and some sizes. The middle of the market and the honest answer for most Lynn kitchens. | $150 – $700 | per linear foot, installed |
| Stock cabinetryFixed sizes off a shelf, usually in three-inch increments. Cheapest per foot, and the version most likely to need filler strips against a pre-1940 wall. | $100 – $400 | per linear foot, installed |
| Fully custom 10x10 kitchenThe standard comparison kitchen the industry prices against, roughly 20 linear feet of cabinetry. Use it to sanity-check a quote, not to price your own room. | $10,000 – $26,500 | installed |
| Stock or semi-custom 10x10 kitchenThe same comparison kitchen in catalog boxes. The gap against the custom line above is the whole decision in one number. | $3,000 – $11,000 | installed |
| Building and installation labor alone, on custom workRuns 25% to 40% of the total on a custom job. Worth knowing, because a quote where labor is far under that is either using catalog boxes or leaving something out. | $200 – $300 | per linear foot |
| Installing cabinets you already haveHanging, leveling, scribing, joining and setting the doors on boxes bought elsewhere. The spread is mostly about how true the walls and floor are. | $4,500 – $15,000 | per kitchen |
| A published North Shore figure for the same job, Salem MAOne live, published, local number for a full cabinet installation. Carried because it is the only one in this table that came from this side of the state, and because it sits above the top of the national custom range. | $28,564 | as quoted |
| Scribing and leveling a run into a pre-1940 openingPlaster over lath, a floor that has settled, and no corner at a true 90 degrees. Scribing the end panels and stiles to the real wall instead of filling the gap. On a 1946 kitchen this is normal work, not an extra. | $450 – $1,600 | added to the job |
Want yours measured properly?
We come out, measure the opening at three heights and check how far off square your walls sit, then put a written number on it before anything is ordered.
Questions we get asked
How much do semi-custom kitchen cabinets cost in Lynn?
$150 to $700 per linear foot installed, or $3,000 to $11,000 for a 10x10 comparison kitchen in stock or semi-custom boxes. We charge $500 to $1,200 a foot fully custom, or $10,000 to $26,500 for the same kitchen.
What is the difference between stock, semi-custom and custom cabinets?
Sizes. Stock at $100 to $400 a foot comes in fixed steps with a short finish list. Semi-custom at $150 to $700 gives you door, finish and some size choices, built to order. Custom at $500 to $1,200 is drawn to your openings, so it has no fillers.
Are semi-custom cabinets good enough for an old house?
Often yes, and the measure decides it. Where your openings sit close to catalog sizes, the saving is real. Where a chimney breast or an old pantry doorway leaves you a 41-inch bay, we would build that one run even if the rest is catalog.
Can I upgrade the hardware on semi-custom cabinets?
Yes, and it is usually the best money you will spend on the job. We fit Blum soft-close hinges and slides at $30 to $80 per door or drawer during installation. A soft-close slide is rated for a drawer full of pots, which is what your pan drawer actually needs.
How many filler strips will a semi-custom kitchen need?
In a 1946 Lynn kitchen, usually two to four. We mark each one on the drawing with its width before you order, because a filler beside a fridge is invisible and one in the middle of your view from the doorway is not.
Who fits semi-custom cabinets near me in Lynn?
Custom Cabinets Lynn supplies and fits semi-custom kitchens across Lynn and the North Shore at $150 to $700 a linear foot. We check the supplier's cut list against our own measurements before anything ships, since a box two inches out is a delivery problem.
Semi-custom is the right answer on more Lynn kitchens than custom is, and anybody who tells you otherwise is selling the tier with the bigger margin. We mark the fillers on the drawing so the trade is visible before you spend anything.
If your openings turn out to be impossible for a catalog box, custom kitchen cabinets is where that goes. Where fitting is the only part you need, kitchen cabinet installation is $4,500 to $15,000 on boxes you buy yourself, and everything we handle lists the rest.