Is Fabuwood a Good Cabinet? Here Are 14 Kitchens We Built With It
We've installed Fabuwood cabinetry in hundreds of Northern Virginia kitchens since becoming a dealer. This is the review we give clients across the showroom table — strengths, limits, prices, and proof.
What is Fabuwood cabinetry?
Fabuwood is an American cabinet manufacturer headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Its 1-million-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing campus combines advanced automation, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution under one roof. The company built its reputation on a simple promise: deliver the construction quality of far more expensive cabinets — plywood boxes, dovetail drawers, quality finishes — at a price and lead time that keep real remodeling projects on schedule and on budget.
In practice, Fabuwood sits in the semi-custom value tier. You choose from a defined range of door styles, finishes, and cabinet sizes (in the standard 3-inch increments), with a modest set of modifications available — as opposed to fully custom lines where nearly any dimension or finish can be built to order. That trade-off is exactly what makes the price and the speed possible.
Their popular Allure series covers the door styles we sell most — clean shaker profiles and slab-front modern looks in whites, grays, navys, and wood tones. If a client walks into our showroom asking for "white shaker, navy island, soft-close everything, and we need it installed before Thanksgiving," Fabuwood is usually the first door sample we pull.
What are Fabuwood cabinets made of?
This is where Fabuwood earns its reputation. The construction spec reads like a much more expensive cabinet:
- All-plywood box construction — sides, back, top, and bottom in plywood rather than the particleboard or MDF boxes common at this price point. Plywood holds screws better, tolerates moisture better, and survives the occasional under-sink leak that kills lesser cabinets.
- Solid wood doors and face frames — hardwood frames with either solid or engineered center panels depending on the door style and finish.
- Dovetail solid-wood drawer boxes — the joinery that separates furniture from fiberboard, with full-extension undermount glides.
- Soft-close hinges and drawer glides as standard — not an upcharge, standard. On many competing lines this is still an option you pay for.
- Factory-baked finishes — a multi-step catalyzed finishing process that outlasts site-painted cabinets by years, especially around handles and lower drawers where kitchens actually wear.
After hundreds of installs, our field report: the boxes arrive square, the finish quality is consistent from cabinet to cabinet, and warranty issues are rare — and handled quickly when they happen. -->
Where are Fabuwood cabinets made?
Fabuwood cabinets are manufactured and assembled at the company's facility in Newark, New Jersey, using components and materials sourced both domestically and globally. For our Northern Virginia projects, that proximity is a genuine advantage: cabinets ship from New Jersey, not from overseas or across the country, which is a big part of why Fabuwood lead times are among the shortest we work with — typically measured in weeks, not the months that fully custom lines require. When a project timeline is tight, that difference is often the deciding factor.
Are Fabuwood cabinets expensive?
No — relative to what you get, Fabuwood is one of the most affordable ways to put genuinely well-built cabinets in a kitchen. Cabinets typically consume roughly a third of a kitchen remodel budget, and brand choice moves that number more than any other single decision. In our projects, full Fabuwood kitchens usually land in the small ($10,000–$25,000) and mid-range ($20,000–$50,000) tiers of our kitchen remodeling cost guide — total project cost, not just cabinets — where the same kitchen in a fully custom line could push well into the high-end tier on cabinetry alone.
Here's how Fabuwood compares to the alternatives on the decisions that actually matter:
| Big-Box / RTA Stock | Fabuwood | Full Custom (e.g., Medallion) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box construction | Mostly particleboard/MDF | All plywood | All plywood |
| Drawers | Stapled or cam-lock | Dovetail, soft-close standard | Dovetail, soft-close standard |
| Sizing | Fixed stock sizes | Standard sizes + select modifications | Built to any dimension |
| Finishes & styles | Limited | Curated range, on-trend colors | Nearly unlimited, custom colors |
| Lead time | Off the shelf | Fast — weeks, not months | Longest — made to order |
| Relative price | $ | $$ | $$$–$$$$ |
| Best for | Rentals, flips | Most family kitchens & timelines | Unusual layouts, exact-match visions |
Who should choose Fabuwood — and who shouldn't
Choose Fabuwood if you want plywood construction and soft-close quality without a custom budget, your kitchen works with standard cabinet sizes, you like current styles (shaker, slab, two-tone), and your timeline matters. That describes most of the kitchens we remodel.
Look elsewhere if your kitchen has odd angles or ceiling heights demanding non-standard sizes, you want a specific custom color matched, or you're after ornate detailing and specialty woods. That's Medallion or Kraftmaid territory — and we'll design it that way from the start rather than force a brand to do what it wasn't built for.
14 kitchens we built with Fabuwood cabinets
Reviews are opinions; installs are evidence. Every kitchen below is a real My Kitchen and Bath project featuring Fabuwood cabinetry — click any of them for the full photo set and materials list.
Notice the range: two-tone moderns in Arlington and McLean, a farmhouse in Sterling, cherry-warm and coastal-cool, greys, blues, and double islands. That's the practical answer to "is Fabuwood versatile enough?" — fourteen different design directions, one cabinet brand.
Fabuwood cabinets: frequently asked questions
Is Fabuwood a good cabinet?
Yes. Fabuwood delivers all-plywood boxes, solid wood doors and face frames, dovetail drawers, and standard soft-close hardware at a semi-custom price — construction that outperforms most cabinets in its price range. After hundreds of installations, we consider it the best value line we carry for typical family kitchens.
What are Fabuwood cabinets made of?
All-plywood box construction (not particleboard), solid hardwood doors and face frames, dovetail solid-wood drawer boxes with full-extension undermount glides, soft-close hinges standard, and durable factory-baked finishes.
Where are Fabuwood cabinets made?
Fabuwood cabinets are manufactured and assembled at the company's facility in Newark, New Jersey, using domestically and globally sourced materials. For our DMV-area projects, shipping from New Jersey is part of why Fabuwood lead times are so short.
Are Fabuwood cabinets expensive?
No — Fabuwood sits in the value semi-custom tier. In our projects, complete Fabuwood kitchens typically land in the $10,000–$25,000 and $20,000–$50,000 total-remodel ranges, where the same construction quality from a fully custom line would cost significantly more. Every estimate we provide itemizes the cabinet cost so you can compare brands directly.
Fabuwood vs. custom cabinetry — which should I choose?
Choose Fabuwood when standard sizes fit your kitchen and you want maximum quality per dollar with fast lead times. Choose a custom line like Medallion when your layout needs non-standard dimensions, matched custom colors, or specialty details. We design with both daily and will recommend the right fit for your specific kitchen — we profit either way, so the advice is clean.
Can I see Fabuwood cabinets in person near me?
Yes — we display Fabuwood door styles and finishes at all three of our Northern Virginia showrooms: Vienna, Herndon, and Alexandria. Walk-ins are welcome Monday–Friday 9–6 and Saturday 10–4, and a designer can price your kitchen in the brand while you're there.
Hold a Fabuwood door in your hands
Specs are nice; hinges you can feel are better. Visit our Vienna, Herndon, or Alexandria showroom, compare Fabuwood against Medallion and Kraftmaid side by side, and get a free itemized estimate for your kitchen.
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Written by Josh Turgut · My Kitchen and Bath is a Class A licensed & insured design-build remodeler and authorized Fabuwood, Medallion, Kraftmaid, Designer's Choice, and Forevermark dealer with showrooms in Vienna, Herndon, and Alexandria — remodeling Northern Virginia homes since 1994.
