When should I order kitchen cabinets during a remodel so I do not delay the project?

Order your cabinets right after you lock in final measurements and your design — and before demo starts. Cabinets almost always have the longest lead time in a kitchen remodel, so they need to be ordered first, not last. Get them scheduled to arrive about 1 to 2 weeks before your installer shows up. That buffer gives you time to unbox everything and check for damage before your kitchen is already torn apart.

We design thousands of kitchens a year, and the number one thing that blows up a remodel timeline isn’t the cabinets themselves — it’s homeowners ordering them too late. Once you know the order, this part is actually simple.

Lock your measurements and design first

Before you order anything, you need final field measurements and a finished design. Not a rough sketch. Not “close enough.” If your walls aren’t square, your appliances aren’t confirmed, or your layout changes after the order goes in, you end up with cabinets that don’t fit, missing fillers, or a reorder that sets you back weeks.

This is also why appliance specs matter before you order. A fridge that’s a half-inch wider than you planned for can throw off an entire run of cabinets. Confirm your appliance models and sizes, confirm your final layout, then order.

Order cabinets before demo day

Here’s the part most homeowners get backwards. They demo the kitchen first, then start shopping for cabinets. That’s exactly how you end up eating takeout in the living room for six extra weeks.

Cabinets should be ordered and already shipping while your kitchen is still intact. Demo, plumbing rough-in, and electrical work should happen while your cabinets are in transit, not after. That way the two biggest time blocks of your remodel — demo/rough-in and cabinet lead time — run at the same time instead of back to back.

Know your real lead times before you pick a demo date

Lead time is the whole key to this. It changes based on what you’re ordering:

• RTA (ready-to-assemble) cabinets generally ship in about 5 business days. Some orders can even ship the next business day.
• Assembled cabinets generally ship in about 7 to 10 business days.
• Semi-custom cabinet lines can run 4 to 9 weeks from order sign-off.
• Full custom cabinetry can take 6 to 16 weeks depending on the factory and finish.

This is exactly why so many homeowners get caught off guard. They assume “cabinets” means a few weeks across the board, then find out their custom painted line is backed up two months — after they’ve already demoed the kitchen. Know which category your cabinets fall into before you pick a demo date, not after.

Build in your 1-to-2-week delivery buffer

Don’t schedule your cabinets to land the day before your installer walks in. Freight gets delayed. Boxes get dinged. A panel shows up with a dent nobody saw coming. Give yourself 1 to 2 weeks between delivery and install day so you can:

• Open every box and count pieces against your order
• Check doors, drawer fronts, and panels for shipping damage
• Confirm hardware, fillers, and moldings all arrived
• Get any replacement part ordered before your installer’s start date

If you skip this step and something’s missing or damaged, your installer either sits idle (and you still pay for that day) or starts anyway and leaves a gap for later. Neither one is good.

Where flooring fits into the timeline

Flooring needs to be decided before cabinets are ordered, even if it’s installed later. Your floor height affects cabinet height, toe kick sizing, and appliance clearance. Some installers run flooring wall-to-wall before cabinets go in, others set cabinets first and finish flooring around them — talk to your installer about which method they use so your cabinet order accounts for it. Either way, the decision has to be made before the cabinet order, not after.

Cabinets come before countertops — always

This is the part people miss most. Countertop fabricators can’t template your counters until the base cabinets are fully installed, secured, and leveled. Not “mostly in.” Fully in. If your cabinets are late, your countertop templating is late. And once templating happens, fabrication usually adds another 1 to 3 weeks on top of that.

So a cabinet delay doesn’t just cost you cabinet time — it pushes your countertops back too. One late step turns into two late steps. That’s how a four-week delay turns into a seven-week delay.

The simple order of operations

• Final measurements and design sign-off
• Order cabinets (know your lead time category)
• Demo, plumbing, and electrical while cabinets ship
• Flooring installed or prepped per your installer’s method
• Cabinets delivered 1–2 weeks before install date
• Unbox, inspect, and confirm everything’s there
• Cabinets installed and leveled
• Countertop templating, then fabrication and install

Common mistakes that delay the whole project

• Demoing the kitchen before cabinets are even ordered
• Assuming all cabinets ship in a couple weeks, regardless of line
• Scheduling the installer for the same week cabinets are due to arrive
• Skipping the unboxing and damage check until install day
• Finalizing flooring height after the cabinets are already ordered

Most homeowners only go through this once. We go through it thousands of times. If you’re not sure how your layout, appliances, and flooring affect your cabinet order, that’s exactly what a free design is for — we’ll put together your layout and quote, and make sure the order gets placed at the right moment so your installer never shows up to a kitchen that isn’t ready for them.

Savings, availability, and shipping times can vary by cabinet line and order.