Can You Buy Just the Cabinet Doors?

If you are reading this, you probably have a scratched, chipped, broken, or old kitchen or bathroom cabinet door that you want to replace and are wondering, “Can you buy just the cabinet doors?”

Yes, cabinet doors can be bought individually. All you need to do is measure the space of your cabinet doors, then visit your nearest cabinet dealer and have your doors custom-made to your style.

This article tells you everything you need to know about buying cabinet doors including where to buy and things to put into consideration when doing your purchase. Keep reading.

Where to Buy Cabinet Doors

Cabinet doors can be bought from kitchen cabinet dealers and showrooms, lumberyards, home improvement stores, and some kitchen appliance or big box stores. You can find a dealer near you by contacting manufacturers or asking for referrals.

Most outlets will have stock cabinet doors to show you the different designs and styles they have. While some can allow you to cash and carry these, the majority will have the doors made to order.

The reason for this is that most stocked doors come as a complete cabinet set, meaning, if you buy the doors, you will have to buy the cabinets that come with them as well.

With any type of cabinet door, we advise purchasing from a reputable dealer, as you are almost always guaranteed free design assistance. Unless you know and are confident about what you need, it pays to buy from professional cabinet dealers who can provide some help.

Trusted dealers will also likely offer installation services in case you can’t set up the doors yourself.

Go With the Right Measurements

Even before you head out to your local cabinet showroom, make sure you have measured your cabinet door spaces. This will not only ensure that the doors fit properly but also give you a rough idea of how much you are likely to spend.

Eventually, you may need a professional to come and take the measurements again especially if you will not be doing the installation yourself. But measuring in advance ensures that you go with accurate information that paints a clearer picture to the salesperson so they are able to offer the best advice for your project.

Factors to Consider When Buying Your Cabinets Doors

Because cabinet doors come in many different types and designs, deciding which one best suits your space can be an uphill task. However, if you put the following factors into consideration, you will be able to make your decision quicker and purchase a product that gives you value for your money.

House Style and Layout

Your house has a style or theme that is brought out in every piece of furniture, décor, carpet, light fixtures, and everything else you have in it. While different rooms may have different styles, they all work together to create a consistent theme, and this theme must be carried throughout your kitchen as well.

As such, when it comes to buying your kitchen cabinet doors, you have to think about your home’s overall style and setting. Whether you have a classic theme, a minimalistic one, or one that screams ‘bold and fun’, make sure this style is carried through your kitchen cabinet doors too.

While at it, look at your kitchen cabinet layout. Different cabinets may be shaped differently based on the overall layout of the kitchen. Some may be U-shaped and others may be L-shaped, and so forth. Think about how different doors will look in the existing cabinet layout and let this help you decide accordingly.

Cabinet Door Style

Most of the time, you will narrow this down based on how much you are willing to spend. Go through the options available for your budget and take pictures of your top four or five on your phone. Do not take more than five photos and do not go back to the samples you have already seen, as this will make it harder for you to decide.

Once done, go through your pictures and get rid of those with designs you don’t love. Doing this will point you to the cabinet door style that you most prefer.

For more insights on how to select a cabinet door style, watch this video.

Wood Type and Color

When you head out to buy kitchen cabinet doors, chances are that you already know what color and finish you are looking for.

If you are not sure what type of wood will go well with your current cabinets, ask an experienced kitchen designer. However, make sure what they suggest is something that works for you. If you are looking for a style that makes stains, dirt, or dust harder to see, go for darker-colored wooden doors or engineered wood slabs that are easy to clean.

Also, think again about the overall theme of your home. Are you into sleek, modern designs, traditional styles, or transitional aesthetics?

Glossy finishes will tend to fit best in modern, elegant designs while solid wood will be more associated with traditional styles. But if you are more into the classic-meet-modern vibe, doors with matte and lacquer paint finishes will work pretty well.

Without taking your overall style into consideration, a matte paint finish could appear understated while a lacquer gloss could look ‘too much’ even if the color and texture are beautiful.

Fittings and Hardware

Your cabinet doorknob is not just a doorknob; it plays a huge role in determining how the overall door looks, and together with other fittings and pieces of hardware, they support the kitchen theming.

The design, finish, color, and the material used to make the door handles of other rooms in your home can say volumes about the type of cabinet knobs you are looking for and the best doors to put them on.

For instance, a classic wood design that is dark-colored will look a little bit off with modern stainless steel knobs or handles.

If your home combines both classic and modern designs, using old-school iron knobs or handles on modern cabinets can help bring the aesthetics of your kitchen into the transitional zone. Similarly, installing doors with touch-to-open hardware on an old cabinet can make your kitchen look newer and less old-fashioned.

But you should also make sure you are going for something practical. It wouldn’t make any sense to buy stylish and chic fittings, handles, and knobs if they are hard to open and close or a pain to clean.

Cabinet Design

Just like doors, kitchen cabinets come in a wide range of designs. You will want to make sure that the door type you pick matches your current cabinets’ design.

You don’t want to install a slab door on a shaker style cabinet or a natural wood door on an engineered wood cabinet.

If you have shaker style cabinets, go for shaker style doors and if you have natural wood cabinets, go for natural wood doors. Do not mix and match, as this can negatively affect the aesthetics of your kitchen.

Quality

If you don’t plan on living in the home for a long time, then you can go for a basic style of cabinet doors. But if you are building your dream kitchen or bathroom, you should consider high-quality construction.

Because your cabinet doors will be opened and closed frequently, you should look for material that can withstand slamming and any other form of daily abuse. Glass cabinet doors, for instance, can break if banged too hard.

But don’t get us wrong; glass doors are usually high-quality. You just need to install them in the right places. For a home with kids or where your cabinet doors are likely to be abused, it would be wise to go for a wooden design.

Stock or Custom-Made

We touched on this earlier, and as we stated, not many stores will allow you to buy stock cabinet doors, reason being that most of the time, the doors are usually part of a set.

And if you do find a store that actually allows you to carry what they have in stock, you will find that you have a limited number of styles to choose from.

In other words, having your doors custom-made works best because you get to choose a style that blends with the architecture of your kitchen and the interior design of the rest of your home. Most cabinet dealers will either have the doors constructed in their workroom and brought to you or on-site during the installation.

The Takeaway

Unless you are planning to completely change how your cabinets look, you really don’t need to buy whole cabinet sets to remodel or replace outdated kitchen cabinet doors. You can buy just the doors, and this will save you not only money but also time, as you won’t have to remove the old cabinets to install the new ones.

Just make sure your new doors match the current cabinets and complement your kitchen style and the overall theme of your home.