Where to Buy Kitchen Cabinet Samples Online

The best place to buy kitchen cabinet samples online is the store that sells the cabinets you are considering, because a sample only helps if it comes off the same line, in the same finish, as the order that will arrive. At RTA Cabinets Plus a full sample door is $19.99 and a quarter door sample is $4.99, shipping included, and the sample price is refundable.

Below: why a sample is worth ordering at all, what a good one looks like, full door or quarter door, and how to judge a finish once it is in your kitchen.

Why order a sample at all

A finish on a screen is a set of pixels on a screen that has its own color settings. The same white can look cool on one phone and creamy on another. In your kitchen it will sit next to your floor, your countertop, your wall paint and your light, and every one of those changes how it reads.

Wood is the other reason. A stained finish shows the grain through it, and grain is never the same from one panel to the next. A photo shows one door. A sample in your hand shows you what real wood under a real stain looks like.

There is a practical reason too. Our refund policy does not accept a return because a color looks different from the photos if no sample door was ordered before the cabinet order. Checking the color is exactly what the sample is for, and it costs far less than a kitchen in the wrong finish.

What a good cabinet sample is

• A real door, not a chip. A small color chip shows a color. A door shows the color, the profile of the frame, the edge and how the finish sits on each of them.
• From the same line as the cabinets. Same door style, same finish, same edge as the doors that would arrive with the order.
• The door style you will actually order. A finish can look different on a wide frame than on a slim one, because the shadow lines change.
• Priced so you can order several. You rarely choose between one finish and nothing. You choose between two or three, and you need them side by side.

Full door or quarter door?

Both are real doors in the real finish. The difference is size and what each is best at.

• Quarter door sample, $4.99. The cheap way to narrow a shortlist. Order a few, hold them against the counter and the floor, and rule finishes out.
• Full door sample, $19.99. The way to make the final call. A full door shows the whole frame and center panel at real size, which matters most when you are choosing between our two kitchen doors: Sterling, a classic shaker with a wider frame, and Studio, with slim rails for a cleaner, more modern line.

Both include shipping. Both are refundable: ask us within 30 days of delivery and the sample price comes back, with no restocking fee and nothing to ship back. The door is yours to keep.

Which samples we sell

Our kitchen finishes are real paint and real stain, never paper, thermofoil or melamine:

• Sterling: Snow, a cool near white; Alabaster, a warm off white; Quarry, a soft grey; Wood Ridge, a warm blonde stained wood; and Coastal, a greige stain on genuine white oak.
• Studio: Snow, Alabaster, Coastal, and Caviar, a near black.

If you are not sure how a door style differs from a finish, our guide to cabinet door styles explains it in a few minutes.

How to judge a sample at home

1. Order the finishes you are torn between, together. A finish only really means something next to another one. Most people order three or four.
2. Stand them where the cabinets will go. Against the countertop sample, on the floor you are keeping, next to the wall color.
3. Look at them three times a day. Morning light, afternoon light and the kitchen lights at night. A white that looks crisp at noon can turn grey or yellow under warm bulbs.
4. Look at the grain on a stained finish. Expect it to vary. If the variation bothers you on a sample, a painted finish will suit you better.
5. Decide, then order the kitchen. Keep the winning door. It is a handy reference when you choose hardware, paint or a backsplash later.

Questions

Are kitchen cabinet samples free?
Not up front at our store. A full sample door is $19.99 and a quarter door sample is $4.99, shipping included, and the sample price is refundable within 30 days of delivery.

Do I have to send the sample back to get the refund?
No. Ask customer service within 30 days of delivery, nothing is shipped back and no restocking fee applies.

Can I order samples without ordering cabinets?
Yes. There is no minimum order, and a sample door is an order on its own.

Should I order a full door or a quarter door?
Quarter doors to narrow the list, a full door to make the final call, especially when choosing between the Sterling and Studio door styles.

Ready to see a finish in your own light? Order sample doors, or read painted vs stained cabinets first if you are still choosing between the two.