Cabinetry is sold by the linear foot, so the single most useful thing you can do before calling anyone is measure your own kitchen. It takes about ten minutes and it turns every price guide, including this one, into a number that actually applies to your house.
How to measure your kitchen in ten minutes
- Take a tape measure and measure each wall that has cabinets, in inches, from corner to corner
- Do not measure uppers and bases separately. A wall with 12 feet of base cabinets and 12 feet of uppers counts as 12 linear feet, not 24
- Add the island separately, measuring its perimeter run of cabinetry
- Add up the total and divide by 12 to get linear feet
- Subtract any run that is just appliance, such as a 36 inch refrigerator opening or a 30 inch range
What each size costs
Using published 2026 installed pricing of $100 to $400 per linear foot for stock, $150 to $700 for semi-custom, and $500 to $1,200 for custom:
| Kitchen size | Linear feet | Stock | Semi-custom | Custom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small galley, condo, older Clovis cottage | 12 to 16 lf | $1,200 to $6,400 | $1,800 to $11,200 | $6,000 to $19,200 |
| Medium the standard 10x10 reference kitchen | 20 to 25 lf | $2,000 to $10,000 | $3,000 to $17,500 | $10,000 to $30,000 |
| Large open plan, island, walk-in pantry | 30 to 40 lf | $3,000 to $16,000 | $4,500 to $28,000 | $15,000 to $48,000 |
Those are cabinetry and installation only. Countertops, appliances, flooring, and backsplash are separate lines.
Where most Clovis kitchens land. The realistic middle of that custom column, for a homeowner choosing painted shaker doors, plywood boxes, and a sensible amount of interior fittings rather than the top of every option, is $12,000 to $20,000 for a medium kitchen. The $30,000 end of the range assumes inset construction, premium species, or a significantly larger room.
By Clovis housing type
Older homes near Old Town. Usually 12 to 18 linear feet, often galley or L shaped, frequently with a soffit. These are small kitchens, which sounds cheap until you account for the fact that older walls are rarely square and the cabinetry has to be scribed rather than dropped in. The footage is low; the fitting labour is not.
Mid century tract homes. Sunnyside style layouts and the equivalent stock across Clovis run 16 to 22 linear feet, almost always with a soffit above the uppers. Removing that soffit adds vertical storage and adds cost, since the uppers become taller than catalogue sizes.
Newer construction. Harlan Ranch, Loma Vista, and the newer north side builds typically run 25 to 35 linear feet with an island and often a walk-in pantry. Bigger number, but the layouts are square and the install is more straightforward.
Why per cabinet pricing misleads
Some shops quote per cabinet rather than per linear foot. It sounds transparent and it is usually harder to compare, because cabinet widths vary. Twelve cabinets at $600 each tells you nothing until you know whether they are 12 inch or 36 inch boxes.
If you get a per cabinet quote, ask for it restated per linear foot. Any shop that will not do that is making comparison deliberately difficult.
Four ways to bring the number down without regretting it
- Simplify the door, not the box. A flat slab or plain shaker door costs meaningfully less to build and finish than a routed five piece profile. The carcass is where durability lives, so keep the plywood and save on the profile
- Fit out fewer interiors. Roll outs, spice pullouts, and tray dividers are priced per unit. Put them where you will genuinely use them rather than everywhere
- Keep the layout. Moving a sink or a range means plumbing and electrical work that often costs more than the cabinets you saved on
- Mix tiers. Semi-custom for the straight runs, custom only for the awkward corner or the tall pantry. See custom versus semi-custom
And two things not to cut
Box construction. Saving a few hundred dollars by accepting particleboard carcasses is the false economy that ends projects early, particularly under a sink in this climate. Here is why.
Hardware. Soft close hinges and full extension undermount glides are the parts you touch every day. Reusing old hinges during a reface, or accepting cheap glides, produces an alignment complaint within a season.
Once you have your linear footage, the custom kitchen cabinets page covers what is standard on every box we build. Bring your measurement to the call and we can give you a range on the phone before anyone visits.
Budgeting the rest of the kitchen
Cabinetry is typically a quarter to a third of a full kitchen remodel, so knowing your cabinet number lets you sanity check the whole project. Rough proportions for a mid range remodel:
| Element | Share of a typical budget |
|---|---|
| Cabinetry and installation | 25 to 33% |
| Countertops | 10 to 15% |
| Appliances | 10 to 20% |
| Labour for other trades | 15 to 20% |
| Flooring | 7 to 10% |
| Lighting and electrical | 5 to 10% |
| Backsplash, paint, hardware, fixtures | 5 to 10% |
If your cabinetry quote is $18,000 and it represents about 30 percent, the full remodel is realistically nearer $55,000 than $25,000. Working backwards from the cabinet number is the fastest way to find out whether your overall budget is realistic before you commit to anything.
The line item everyone omits
Hold back 10 to 15 percent as contingency. On older Clovis housing, closer to 15.
This is not pessimism, it is what opening a wall in a house built decades ago actually produces. The common finds are ducting or a vent inside a soffit, water damage behind a sink base that nobody could see, walls further out of square than they appeared, and electrical that is not where the as-built suggested.
A project with contingency absorbs those and finishes on budget. A project without one either stops, or the homeowner starts cutting quality from the parts not yet built, which is usually the box construction because it is the least visible. That is the worst possible place to save, for reasons our plywood versus particleboard guide sets out.
Clovis Custom Cabinets builds custom cabinetry to order in Clovis, California, for homes and businesses across the greater Fresno area. For a free measure and a written quote, call (559) 314-3498.
