MasterBrand

It’s interesting to note that MasterBrand is a major cabinet manufacturing company that has changed hands many times over the last 75 years. Currently, they are owned by Fortune Brands Innovations Inc. and are part of the portfolio of products that also represents MasterLock. They also include several other brand manufacturers that are all part of the MasterBrand umbrella. These companies stretch across the US and Canada through hundreds of dealers and retailers.

MasterBrand is actually the result of a business consolidation that merged Aristocraft and Decora together- back in 1988. Aristocraft is essentially the founding company that dates back to 1954. MasterCraft is also very resourceful at purchasing smaller cabinet manufacturers all over the US to be part of the MaterBrand portfolio and includes names such as Diamond, Homecrest, Kemper, Kitchen Kraft, and Schrock as mid-range price cabinet makers.

The big players who make all the high-end and luxury cabinets include Decora, Dynasty by Omega, and Omega. Then there is the Norcraft Company which is part of MasterCraft and is further featuring their signature umbrella companies including Abbey Hill, Europa, Fieldstone, Mid Continent, StarMark, Ultracraft, and Urban Effects. All of these are within the mid-range price for affordability and quality.

Aristokraft Cabinetry

While you already know that Aristocraft is the founding cabinet maker that is part of the MasterBrand-owned company, you may not know they have been responsible for 75 great years of cabinetry solutions that fit any kind of kitchen or bathroom. They are also one of the few companies that are placed into the affordable category with prices starting at just $90 per linear foot.

Aristocraft is also celebrating 6 generations of a family-run business that has seen its fair share of acquisitions and parent companies that it was a part of. Until the end of American Tobacco which was forced to break up in 1911 due to a monopolization of companies, this led to the birth of American Brands that was formed. They had the original idea to merge Aristocraft and Decora into a single company but allowed their label names to operate and sell separately.

Aristocraft is indeed an affordable cabinet brand that uses modern low-cost methods to produce cabinetry. They are even more affordable for those who are looking for a budget-minded choice when it comes to good construction quality and reasonable prices.

Decora Cabinetry

Before the company Decora began in 1976, in their hometown of Jasper, Indiana- local residents were already used to the high-end German woodworking skills that arrived in town back in the 1800s. This was the whole concept that Decora applied to their cabinetry products and made a name for themselves very easily. American Brands acquired Decora in 1988 but it wasn’t until 2002 that it finally became a division of the MasterBrand Cabinets Inc. brand.

Decora is a high-end cabinet-making manufacturer that uses premium wood to make cabinets that feature extravagant designs. They now feature a limited lifetime warranty since becoming part of the MasterBrand label and are a good choice if you aren’t sticking to a set budget. That doesn’t make their selection any less attractive since they also offer stock cabinets that are sold in big box stores like Home Depot.

If you are looking for more custom-made options, they are exclusively sold through smaller cabinet dealers all over the US. They still have a very strong commitment to quality despite their higher retail prices.

Diamond Cabinets

This cabinet manufacturer started out producing cabinetry in Grants Pass, Oregon only as far back as 1970. In a big acquisition for Fortune Brands in 1998, they became part of the MasterBrand label which allows them to produce their cabinetry under the name Diamond Cabinets. Their cabinets are also sold through showrooms and cabinet dealers all over the US and through their website.

Diamond cabinets are budget-friendly with a mid-range price tag and are focused on creating a reputation that matches their slogan: “The way people live”. They have progressed further to include a new cabinet line that includes the ‘Logix’ system. This includes a new type of cabinet organization system that allows people to store items in their cabinets with ease. They also use budget-friendly materials that are hard-wearing for everyday usage.

Their cabinets also come with a limited lifetime warranty and cover accidental manufacturing issues and faulty construction. What makes Diamond stand apart from their cabinetry is they also feature bathroom and office cabinets in addition to its line of kitchen cabinets.

Kemper Cabinets

Kemper has been around since 1926 and was started by the Kemper Brothers of Richmond, Indiana. They are among the few who were making freestanding cabinets in the region and found quick success in their cabinetry products. They were finally acquired by the Tappan Company in 1965 but started seeing numerous company ownerships for the next 30 years. Luckily, the MasterBrand Company was formed and took in Kemper along with Schrock and Diamond in 1998.

They also fall into the Mid-range category and provide finely-crafted cabinets using economical materials that include a combination of real wood and laminates. This is how they continue to sell their lines of semi-custom cabinetry through showrooms and dealers all across the nation. While earlier warranties before 2000 had different changes to their policies on select cabinet lines, they sell all of their cabinets now with a limited lifetime warranty.

The only downside is that some of their cabinets do tend to have issues with finishes and material failure which is something they will replace if there are any problems. For the price that you pay, they do seem to produce good cabinets for the economic prices they offer, but if you’re looking for anything higher in quality, perhaps Kemper is not your cabinet solution.

Schrock Cabinetry

Schrock Cabinetry has been around since 1961 and was founded in Arthur, Illinois that specialized in building handcrafted cabinets. Today, they are also part of the MasterBrand label and feature semi-custom cabinets that are frameless by design. It seems that many people who bought their cabinets before 2016 have had very good quality cabinets delivered with no problems, but in recent years have encountered lower quality that has poor finishes and technical issues.

We’re not sure what has led to this decline in customer service and the quality of the cabinets they produce, but since they do offer a limited lifetime warranty, many of these issues are solved. Their line of solid wood cabinets made from maple, oak, and hickory seems to do better than those that are laminated. If you decide to upgrade your cabinets, it will be better to stick to solid wood construction models instead to avoid issues.

The entire catalog of Schrock cabinets is also mid-range which can reach up to $20,000 for a complete set of kitchen cabinets. Once again, if you are going to consider Schrock for cabinetry, be sure to avoid their cheaper lines of cabinets due to issues that are becoming more common.

Omega Cabinetry

Omega Cabinetry began its path in the cabinet business in 1977 in the small city of Washburn, Iowa. They essentially started their cabinet building out of a barn and later grew into larger and more modern workspaces. They reached their peak popularity with locals in Iowa and soon onto the national field when Fortune Brands finally acquired them in 2002. They now have two factories located in Waterloo, Iowa, and Clinton, Tennessee.

Their dedication to building fine cabinetry has been steady up until 2012 when the quality of their cabinets was starting to be reviewed by online customers. Not that any pre-2000 cabinets seem to fall under the same scrutiny, but the modern internet does tend to talk. Omega Cabinets aren’t exactly cheap, but they are considered mid-range prices that depend on the cabinet series you are looking to purchase.

This type of cabinetry is a traditional framed design and goes through several steps before cabinets are completed. They do follow construction and performance standards which make them ANSI A161.1 compliant. So it’s hard to tell if less than a handful of poorly constructed cabinets slip through when hundreds of cabinet orders per month can be hard to maintain 100% quality construction.

Fieldstone Cabinetry

Fieldstone is another cabinetry manufacturer from Iowa that started in 1978. They began their cabinetry business in Mason City, Iowa, and then later at bigger facilities in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They aren’t an exclusive company that is led by the Fortune Brands label but rather a subsidiary brand or Norcraft. Nonetheless, they are under the MasterBrand label of cabinet manufacturers.

As for their quality, they are also mid-range in pricing and do tend to have more luxury elements to their designs than other cabinet makers. On a scale of 1 to 10, Fieldstone averages 8 out of 10 for great service and quality and backup their limited lifetime warranty with prompt service. Perhaps this is because their parent company Norcraft has strict guidelines they should follow to ensure customer satisfaction.

As usual, Fieldstone does provide free design consultation and advice when ordering their cabinets through showrooms and dealers. They also feature over 600,000 combinations of various wood types, door styles, finishes, and colors to choose from.

HomeCrest Cabinetry

Located near the center of Indiana is where HomeCrest Cabinetry was founded back in 1971. HomeCrest was one of 11 other cabinet manufacturers that were acquired by the MasterBrand label around 1998. Since then, MomeCrest continues to make cabinetry with a genuine amount of detail and quality. Their cabinets are semi-custom and also placed into the mid-range price category.

Many customers who ordered HomeCrest cabinets before their acquisition by MasterBrand still own their cabinets. Of the cabinets made after this transition, there aren’t many complaints. It seems that anything made from wood can be anticipated to sometimes warp and do strange things. Since HomeCrest does offer a limited lifetime warranty on its cabinets, manufacturing defects are still easy enough to replace.

They do have a very good selection of cabinet styles, wood species, finishes, glazes, and decorative hardware to make their cabinets nearly custom-looking. They further have over 300 styles and finishes just for the final look too.

Kitchen Craft Cabinetry

Kitchen Craft Cabinetry got its start back in 1972 all the way up north in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They’re not an American company but well known to most Canadians. It wasn’t until they were acquired by MasterBrand that they became more known throughout the US when their showroom samples started showing up in the early 2000s. They also are very simple to select since they only have two lines of cabinetry called Integra and Aurora.

This cabinetry is simple to describe since it uses a modular system that works with their semi-custom cabinetry. Not only are their cabinets good for kitchens and bathrooms, but they are also perfect for home office applications and even in the laundry room.  All in all, Kitchen Craft has nice mid-range cabinets that do have finish process issues. Canadian craftsmanship likely is not to blame but the lower costs involved for Canadian manufacturing.

Their single saving grace is that they do offer a limited lifetime warranty and will replace anything faulty that is part of the construction and finishing processes only. All of the hinges and hardware, however, are fully covered by a lifetime warranty.

Mantra Cabinetry

Mantra is a relatively new company that is based in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. They are also part of the MasterBrand label and are cabinets sold at a budget-friendly price. Mantra cabinets are all stock assembled and are very similar to semi-custom cabinetry depending on the models you choose. They globally source all of their materials which are making these cabinets cheaper in price as a result.

The only downside to Mantra is they have a limited selection of options but pass all of the technical and manufacturing requirements for MasterBrand cabinets. Essentially, Mantra cabinets are a great choice for those who are looking for good quality, low prices, and last-minute delivery options. They are also a good choice if you aren’t looking to have a semi-custom appearance for your kitchen or bathroom.

Mantra is a good fit for any homeowner that needs something nice looking but isn’t looking to spend more than what you’ll find for stock-assembled cabinets.

Mid Continent Cabinetry

Getting their big start in a small woodworking studio in Minnesota back in 1966 is where the future team of Mid Continent Cabinetry would get their big break. So far they have grown to include three individual manufacturing facilities throughout Minnesota. They also became part of MasterBrand after proving they were pulling their own weight for customer satisfaction and quality cabinetry.

Even though they are part of the MasterBrand label, that doesn’t mean you’ve heard of them before. They don’t invest all that much into an advertising budget and they aren’t featured at big retailers. Smaller showrooms and retail designers love Mid Continent cabinetry because their cabinets are very good quality with a mid-range price that is affordable. If you’re big on selection, they also feature many choices that help them to become semi-custom cabinets.

There isn’t a lot of negative feedback about Mid Continent and customer service for their cabinetry is pretty good. This is further topped off with a limited lifetime warranty on all of their cabinets.

StarMark Cabinetry

StarMark Cabinetry is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and started making cabinets in 1978. They are one of the few that is dedicated to making high-end cabinetry that is leaning more towards semi-custom with all of the customization that can be achieved. It’s no wonder that Norcraft decided to acquire them in 2002 which also further allow them to be listed under the MasterBrand label.

They have two categories for their cabinets which include StarMark Custom and their Starmark Collection. In addition to a healthy dose of cabinet choices, wood species, and hardware, their cabinets can be accurately ordered within 1/16” of the size you require. Their price range is also appealing with prices starting from $1000 to $5000 for complete sets. The choices of materials and configurations typically raise these costs higher.

StarMark is also rated very high for customer satisfaction and their cabinets are worth every penny. Even with a great warranty that covers manufacturing defects, it’s not too common that you hear about customers who were unhappy with their StarMark cabinets.

UltraCraft

UltraCraft has only been around since 1986 and got into the cabinetry business by opening its facility in Liberty, North Carolina. It didn’t take more than a few years before Norcraft spotted how well UltraCraft was doing -to make an acquisition offer. It also seems that any company that Norcraft is part of also delivers high-quality cabinetry at a nice mid-range price. This company produces frameless cabinetry for increased storage and accessibility purposes.

This reason alone is why UltraCraft cabinets allow for 15% more usable space inside their cabinets than framed cabinets. They are also one of the few that offer a 100-year limited warranty on all of their cabinets. They offer many styles and designs including raised panels, recessed panels, and slabs with 7 different wood species to choose from.

Customer reviews have further proven that customers are very happy with their cabinets especially when it comes to the extra space. There are some unhappy customers here and there but these typically chalk up to replacement issues or excessive wear-and-tear stories.

Urban Effects

Another Canadian-based cabinetry company is Urban Effects and was formed in 2008 in Manitoba, Canada. Their parent company Norcraft, also has another Canada-based company called Kitchen Craft in their portfolio. In short, they get to be part of the MasterBrand label which helps to expand Urban Effect’s cabinet products all across the US. Their primary products are cabinets that are all semi-custom builds for homeowners and home builders.

Not only do they make kitchen and bathroom cabinets, they further create custom bookcases, entertainment centers, home bars, and custom shelving. Their cabinets in particular are all frameless which allows their customers to have more room inside the cabinet itself. This design further allows you to get to items with less struggle than you often find with framed cabinets. Their line of cabinets is also reasonably priced for the mid-range cost category.

Their reputation is pretty impressive with very few upset customers that make comments on the wood finishes or functions. This is perhaps the reason why their customer service comes first with their customers well after their cabinets were installed.