I was on a quest to find a suitable carpenter for some custom cabinets at home including kitchen cabinet, TV cabinet, bedroom wardrobe, and a few others. 

Just wanted to document my experience here for keepsake. Hope it helps you too!

Preliminary stage:

Tips on how to find the best carpenters and cabinet makers for your project / Finding a cabinet maker near me

I love researching. It gives me immense joy and pride to be able to find hidden gems, services that provide value. I started by searching on Google of course. Asked friends for recommendations. Used IG to find more tech-savvy companies in the carpentry business (bonus: immediately got relevant ads too lol). I went as far as stalking Lowyat forum for ideas.

Now that I've shortlisted some options, which cabinet maker should I go for?

But first, I needed to know - how much would it cost to get a built-in cabinet? 

From my experience, there are a few types of cabinet makers:

1. Ones that asked me to visit their showroom first so they can explain to me the different materials they're offering as options for my custom cabinets

2. Immediately want to schedule a site visit to get measurements for an accurate quotation

3. Can provide me with a quotation based on the plan and requirements I provided

It goes without saying that most people are advised to get a few quotes for comparison purposes. There are some popular names like Nest Butler, Unity Kitchen, and Bespoke Kitchen but I've heard that prices for these are also on the high side. I did my due diligence to survey and made several enquiries to the following cabinet makers in Klang Valley and here is a summary of what had transpired.

Disclaimer: These are my personal experiences and may differ from one individual to another. I approached these companies based on what I saw as good reviews and Google ratings. I'm told this is currently the peak period because many people are rushing to get their house done before Raya. 

  • M*A Cabinet *oncept. Successfully received a quotation after visitation at the showroom. I was really impressed that the salesperson studied the furniture layout that I had provided and was able to remember the details during our conversation - without even referring to the document physically. Shows that he did his homework and that's the kind of reassurance you want from a salesperson. A quote was provided within a few days after the showroom visit. 
  • M** Kitchen P*az* Ar*adia. Sales rep contacted me within 1-2 days after messaging their general number. Was initially responsive and even said wanted to do a site visit the next day despite my provision of the furniture layout prior. However, plans were cancelled as I found out that my house was really messy with the wet work renovation and the rep wouldn't be able to take any measurements for the quotation. Asked if I can get a quote based on the drawing instead and now the rep said, "can". I didn't follow up after. Then got a message about 8 days later saying that he was occupied with other projects and that he would be working on a quote for me soon. At this point, I informed the rep that I was almost done with exploring other alternatives.
  • V**w *n Cabinet Sdn Bhd. Successfully received quotations without prior visitation. I had even asked for two different quotations for different materials and the rep just did it, no questions asked. 
  • A** Kitc*en Cabi*et. I was told to visit the showroom and that it was open every day. I had asked beforehand if I needed to schedule an appointment or if walk-in is accepted and was told that I could just walk in. So I took leave to head there all the way to Shah Alam only to find out that the showroom was closed. Much to my frustration. I called the sales designer and office number to no avail. Nobody picked up at all. Sent WhatsApp messages asking if they were open. Went to check their Facebook - nothing. Then finally on IG story (not even a post) saying that the factory and showroom were closed due to TNB issues/disruption. I have my doubts because there were many guys working at the back of the factory. One of them came out to see what was I enquiring about and he called his boss and it was all the same, he didn't pick up. Remember the WhatsApp message I sent? The person on the other end replied more than 48 hours later. Joke's on me. For a company with 4.8 stars reviews from close to 200 people, I really had expected more in terms of service. Glad I dodged a bullet though. 
  • Fu**e K*tch De*o - sent my first message on 19 Feb and some follow-up questions and was told by 20 Feb that someone will contact me. Their rep contacted me one week later, on 27 Feb. As of 5 March morning, I didn't hear back and as a courtesy, I sent a follow-up message saying that I no longer need a quotation as I have almost made up my mind based on the quotes I have gotten so far. 
  • Kuc**mat* Co**ept Sdn Bhd: Was quick to respond initially but I didn't get any quotations or questions after initial contact. Followed up 3 days later asking if the drawings provided is sufficient for a quote, and the rep replied - asking me to hold on. And I did not get a subsequent message after that, and I didn't bother to follow up either.


Real caveat: Your contact might be distributed and shared with others when enquiring online. Once I started messaging these cabinet makers, I received an unsolicited message from a shop in Puchong selling kitchen and bath appliances just 2-3 days later. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out who had given out my contact but 100% sure that it came from one of the places listed above. When I asked how the person got my number, the person had the audacity to say that their company collect contacts from ID and contractors and write them down in a book and "when they free only one by one WhatsApp". 

Plan to share some quotations that I got. Maybe the next post then.