There is a reason “Amish” has become shorthand for quality in the cabinet industry. It is not marketing. It comes from a specific tradition of woodworking that developed in Lancaster County over generations, rooted in the idea that work done by hand and done correctly is worth taking time over. That tradition is exactly what you get when you order cabinets from us.
We are Choice Custom Cabinetry and Design, and we have been building custom Amish kitchen cabinets in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania since 1979. Our founder Levi Stoltzfus built the company on the same principles his craftsmen still follow today: solid hardwood throughout, hand-fitted joints, no shortcuts, no MDF, no particleboard. His sons Steve and Leo run the shop now, and the standards have not changed.
This page covers what Amish kitchen cabinets actually are, what distinguishes them from every other option on the market, and what it looks like to work with us on a kitchen project anywhere in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, or beyond.
What Makes Amish Cabinets Different
The cabinet industry sells a lot of things as “solid wood” that are not really solid wood throughout. Door fronts in solid wood attached to particleboard boxes. Veneer over MDF with a convincing grain pattern. Finger-jointed frames painted over so the joints disappear. These products are not dishonest exactly, but they are not what most people picture when they hear “solid wood cabinets.”
Amish cabinet making starts from a different premise. The entire cabinet, including the box, the face frame, the door frame, and the drawer box, is built from real hardwood. Not composite. Not engineered. Wood. And the construction method treats that material with respect rather than trying to hide its limitations.
Here is what that means in practical terms at our shop:
Face frames are hand-fitted
The face frame is the flat border of wood attached to the front of each cabinet box. In mass production, face frames are cut to nominal size and glued on. In our shop, each face frame is fitted to its specific box, checked for square, and adjusted before it is fastened. The result is a joint line that is tight and consistent, not something that varies box to box across a kitchen run.
Drawer boxes use hand-cut dovetail joinery
This is the detail that most distinguishes Amish construction from everything else. A dovetail joint is a mechanical connection that interlocks the drawer sides with the front and back panel. The geometry means that the more you pull on a loaded drawer, the tighter the joint becomes. It does not rely primarily on glue. It does not rely on staples. It will still be functioning correctly in 40 years.
Budget cabinet drawers use a butt joint held with staples. They work for a few years and then start to open at the corners. The typical lifespan is about the same as the rest of the budget cabinet: 10 to 12 years before you are shopping again.
Nothing is rushed
Mass production schedules are built around output per hour. Ours are built around quality per piece. We acclimate our lumber in our Honey Brook facility before it goes into production. We hand-check each cabinet before it leaves the shop. We do not ship a cabinet with a fit problem and hope it gets fixed on site.
If you want to understand the full construction process, our craftsmanship and construction page covers every element in detail.
Lancaster County: Where This Tradition Comes From
Pennsylvania is home to the largest Amish community in the United States, and Lancaster County is at the center of it. The woodworking tradition here is not a brand identity. It developed organically over generations, passed from craftsmen to apprentices in shops and barns throughout the county, shaped by the Amish commitment to doing work correctly, using quality materials, and not cutting corners because no one is watching.
Our shop in Honey Brook sits between Lancaster County and Chester County on Route 322, in the middle of that tradition. Levi Stoltzfus founded the company in 1979. His sons Steve and Leo grew up in the shop. The craftsmen who work in our 20,000 square foot facility today are part of the same community and the same lineage of handwork.
When you buy Amish-made cabinets from us, you are not buying a product that markets itself on Amish heritage from a distance. You are buying cabinets built in Amish country by the people who grew up here.
To read more about our history and the family behind the company, visit our about page.
What We Build for Pennsylvania Kitchens
Our full service covers everything that goes into a kitchen, designed and built to your specific room and your specific tastes. There is no standard catalog to choose from. Every kitchen starts with a blank page and a conversation about what you actually want.
Full custom kitchen cabinets
Full custom means built to the exact dimensions of your room, in the wood species you choose, with the door style and finish you specify. No filler strips at the walls because the cabinet is sized to eliminate them. No standard module that gets adapted to fit. The kitchen is measured and the cabinets are built to those measurements.
We produce detailed CAD drawings and 3D renderings before any production starts. You see exactly what the finished kitchen will look like and approve it before a single piece of wood is cut. Changes at the drawing stage cost nothing. Changes after production starts are expensive, so we take the design phase seriously.
Semi-custom solid wood cabinets
Not every project needs full custom. Our semi-custom line uses the same solid hardwood construction and the same dovetail drawer boxes as our full custom work, in standard sizing increments that work for most kitchen layouts. Lead time is 3 to 5 weeks instead of 8 to 12. The wood is still solid hardwood. The drawers are still dovetail. The finish is still sprayed in our facility.
For kitchens with standard dimensions and a straightforward layout, semi-custom produces an excellent result at a lower price point. We can tell you in the consultation which approach makes more sense for your specific room.
Wood species and finishes
We work with all major domestic hardwoods. The most requested species in our shop right now is white oak, particularly rift-cut white oak with a natural or light stain finish. Cherry, hard maple, walnut, hickory, and paint-grade poplar are all standard options. For painted kitchens, we use the full Sherwin-Williams color library and apply finishes in our dedicated spray department using a conversion varnish topcoat that is harder and more durable than anything applied on site.
See our white oak kitchen cabinet guide for more on the most popular natural wood choice right now, or browse our door styles page to see the full range of profiles available.
Where We Work in Pennsylvania and Beyond
Our shop is in Honey Brook, which puts us within easy reach of most of southeastern and central Pennsylvania. We build and install Amish kitchen cabinets for homeowners across Lancaster County, Chester County, Berks County, York County, Lebanon County, Dauphin County, and the greater Philadelphia area including the Main Line and the city proper.
We also work regularly in Maryland and New Jersey. Our recent projects include kitchens in Towson and Baltimore County, MD, and coastal New Jersey. Distance from our shop does not affect the quality of what we build or how the installation is managed. We deliver and install with our own crew, not subcontractors.
In Pennsylvania, some of the communities we work in most frequently include:
- Lancaster County: Lancaster City, Lititz, Ephrata, Manheim, Elizabethtown, Mount Joy, New Holland, Strasburg, Quarryville
- Chester County: West Chester, Exton, Downingtown, Malvern, Kennett Square, Phoenixville, Paoli, Berwyn, Devon, Chester Springs
- Philadelphia and Main Line: Center City, Chestnut Hill, Society Hill, Wayne, Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Radnor, Villanova
- Berks County: Reading, Wyomissing, Kutztown, Birdsboro, Boyertown
- York and Harrisburg area: York City, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Carlisle, Hanover
If you are not sure whether we serve your area, call us at (610) 273-2907 or check our about page for the full delivery map.
Why Working Directly with the Manufacturer Matters
Most kitchen cabinets sold in Pennsylvania go through a showroom dealer. The dealer does not build the cabinets. They represent a manufacturer, add their markup typically 30 to 50 percent on top of the manufacturer’s price, and coordinate the order. You are paying for a layer of commerce between you and the actual product.
When you work with us, you work directly with the people who build the cabinets. That means no dealer markup, which is one reason our pricing for fully custom solid hardwood cabinets is often competitive with or lower than what showrooms quote for their semi-custom lines.
It also means direct communication with the people who will be responsible for the finished result. There is no handoff between a designer, a dealer, and a factory. Our design team, our craftsmen, and our installation crew are all part of the same operation in Honey Brook. If something needs to be adjusted, there is one phone call to make.
We have customers who first came to us in the 1980s and have returned for multiple projects over the decades. That kind of relationship does not develop when you are buying from a catalog through a showroom. It develops when the people building the product care about the result.
Our testimonials page has reviews from homeowners across Pennsylvania and neighboring states who have been through the process and can describe what it was actually like.
How the Process Works
A lot of people assume that commissioning custom Amish cabinets is more complicated than buying from a showroom or ordering online. In practice it is straightforward, and it produces a result that off-the-shelf options cannot match.
Here is how a typical kitchen project moves from first conversation to installed cabinets:
- Consultation. We meet at our 6,000 square foot showroom in Honey Brook or visit your home for larger projects. We take measurements, discuss your layout and design direction, look at wood species and finish samples, and get a clear picture of what the project needs to accomplish. No charge, no obligation.
- Design and approval. Our team produces detailed drawings and a 3D rendering showing the finished kitchen. You see every cabinet, every dimension, and how the materials look together before anything is built. You approve the design before production starts. Changes at this stage are free.
- Production. Your cabinets are built in our Honey Brook facility by our craftsmen. Face frames are hand-fitted. Drawer boxes are built with dovetail joints. The finish is applied in our spray department in multiple coats with sanding between coats. Each cabinet is checked before leaving the shop. Full custom production takes 8 to 12 weeks. Semi-custom takes 3 to 5 weeks.
- Installation. Our own installation crew delivers and installs. We handle scribing to walls and ceilings, leveling, crown molding installation, and all finish touches. We do not hand you a delivery and leave. The project is finished when you are satisfied with it.
For more detail on each stage, see our how we work page.
For inspiration on what is possible, our project gallery covers completed kitchens, bathrooms, built-ins, and specialty projects across a range of styles and price points. For a look at what Amish kitchen cabinetry represents within the broader American woodworking tradition, Architectural Digest has written about the design influence of Amish craft and its continuing relevance in contemporary homes.
What Amish Kitchen Cabinets Cost in Pennsylvania
We will give you real numbers here rather than a range so wide it tells you nothing.
Our fully custom solid hardwood kitchens typically run $15,000 to $25,000 installed for smaller kitchens and $25,000 to $45,000 for medium to larger kitchens with islands and more complex layouts. Larger, more detailed projects with premium wood species and inset construction can go above that. Our semi-custom line starts lower for standard-dimension kitchens.
These are complete installed prices. Design, materials, production, finishing, delivery, and installation are all included. Countertops, appliances, plumbing, and electrical are not included in the cabinet quote.
The most reliable way to get a number for your specific project is a design consultation. We produce a detailed quote with room dimensions in hand. Our Pennsylvania cabinet pricing guide has a full breakdown of what drives cost up or down and what each price level actually delivers.
Questions About Amish Kitchen Cabinets
Are your cabinets actually Amish-made?
Yes. Choice Custom Cabinetry and Design was founded in 1979 by Levi Stoltzfus and is today run by his sons Steve and Leo out of our facility in Honey Brook, PA, in the heart of Lancaster County. Our craftsmen hand-build every cabinet using the same standards the shop was founded on. Face frames are hand-fitted. Drawer boxes are built with individually cut dovetail joints. Nothing is mass-produced.
What is the difference between Amish cabinets and regular custom cabinets?
The term custom cabinet simply means cabinets built to non-standard dimensions. Amish cabinets carry that baseline plus a specific set of construction standards: solid hardwood throughout, hand joinery where it matters, and a quality standard that is not calibrated to a price point. A factory custom cabinet can be built to your dimensions but still use particleboard boxes and stapled drawers. An Amish custom cabinet is solid hardwood at every component.
How do you handle delivery and installation outside Lancaster County?
We have an experienced installation crew that works throughout Pennsylvania and into neighboring states. For projects in Chester County, Philadelphia, Berks County, York, or elsewhere in PA, installation is a normal part of our process. For Maryland and New Jersey projects, we factor travel into the project timeline and pricing. The quality of the installation does not change based on distance from Honey Brook.
Can I visit your shop and see Amish cabinets in person?
Yes. Our showroom in Honey Brook has working displays across multiple styles, wood species, and finishes. You can open drawers, close doors, and see the construction details up close. We recommend visiting before making final decisions on wood species and finish, because the difference between materials is most apparent in person. Visit us at 3400 Horseshoe Pike, Honey Brook, PA 19344, Monday through Friday 8am to 4:30pm or Saturday 9am to 1pm. Call ahead at (610) 273-2907 if you want to speak with a designer during your visit.
How far in advance should I start planning a custom Amish kitchen?
We recommend starting the design conversation at least 4 to 6 months before your target completion date. Full custom production takes 8 to 12 weeks after design approval, and you want time before that for design iterations and material selections. If you are working with a contractor on a broader renovation, we can coordinate our timeline with theirs. Semi-custom projects move faster, typically 3 to 5 weeks in production.
Do you work with designers and builders as well as homeowners directly?
Yes. We work regularly with architects, interior designers, and general contractors across Pennsylvania and neighboring states. We produce detailed shop drawings and 3D renderings, work from architectural specifications, and can accommodate project schedules and phased deliveries. Our designer and builder page has more information on how we work with the trade.
What wood species is most popular for Amish kitchens in Pennsylvania right now?
White oak is the most requested species in our shop right now, particularly rift-cut white oak with a natural or lightly stained finish. Hard maple and cherry have been the traditional favorites and remain popular. Walnut is our most dramatic option for clients who want a rich, dark natural wood kitchen. For painted kitchens, paint-grade poplar and soft maple are the standard substrate materials. Our white oak kitchen guide covers the current trends in more detail.
Start Your Amish Kitchen Project
If you are ready to talk about a kitchen renovation in Pennsylvania or a neighboring state, the first step is a conversation. We offer free consultations at our Honey Brook showroom and can visit your home for larger projects in Lancaster County, Chester County, Philadelphia, and beyond.
There is no obligation until you approve a design and a price. Request a free quote online or call us at (610) 273-2907 to set up a time to talk.
You can also browse our completed project gallery for inspiration before you visit, or read more about our construction standards to understand exactly what goes into every cabinet we build.
