Custom-looking cabinets for up to 50% off

(MONEY Magazine) -- Ordering cabinetry, shelving, or other woodwork for, say, a kitchen or family room renovation is a bit like choosing where to dine. Stock products are fast food, on the shelf and ready to go cheap -- but not the finest quality. At the other end of the spectrum, you could hire the equivalent of a personal chef: a wood shop that designs and builds every project from scratch.

A smart, affordable option for homeowners who are staying put for a while is the one in the middle: "Semi-custom" cabinetry and woodwork is the corner bistro with a wide menu of dishes to choose from. Pick wisely, and you'll get a precise fit, upscale look, and durability for 25% to 50% less than a custom job.

KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING

Semi-custom is most commonly used for kitchen and bathroom cabinets but can also make sense for many other projects, says Mount Pleasant, S.C., kitchen designer Duval B. Acker.

An entertainment center, home-office shelving, mudroom cubbies, a paneled wainscot, and even a freestanding desk or armoire are all candidates for semi-custom woodwork.

Send The Help Desk your home remodeling questions.

Sold at big-box home centers and kitchen design shops, the components are factory made-to-order from a limited but sizable list of options -- hundreds of door, molding, and accessory choices; dozens of wood finishes; modular cabinets in three-inch size increments.

The sales staff will help with design; they'll also arrange for installation, or you can hire your own contractor or handyman. You could save $10,000 to $20,000 on a kitchen cabinet job where custom might run $40,000, and $500 to $1,500 on a $2,000 to $3,000 carpentry project.

SPRING FOR KEY UPGRADES

These extras will help ensure stylish, long-lasting results.

Plywood components: Plywood lasts longer than fiberboard. Some lines offer this standard; others charge a 5% to 10% premium.

Heavy-duty hardware: Entry-level hinges may break or become misaligned in just a few years; ask for the premium ones instead (about $35 each). Also get full-extension drawer glides ($35 to $50 per drawer), which are super-strong and make it easy to reach the back of the drawer.

Fully dovetailed drawers: Some companies put dovetails -- strong joints that interlock like fingers -- only on the front corners of drawers and stick weaker joints in back, where they're less noticeable. Pay the extra $80 to $150 per drawer to get all the joints dovetailed.

LEAVE YOUR OPTIONS OPEN

For complex projects, from kitchens to paneled wainscots, use a manufacturer that also offers a custom line. That way, if there's a spot where the standard choices don't fit, you can have a matching unit made to your exact specs. Sure, it'll cost you -- you'll pay a 30% to 40% surcharge, but only on that piece, not the entire project.