A woman walked in thinking she'd take forever to pick finishes. She didn't. She saw a door — flat panel — and liked it. Then a color. Then handles. Then a backsplash sitting in one of the full kitchen displays. Then a countertop. She put the whole thing together, took a picture, and left saying she'd call in a couple of weeks for a measure. She'd just bought the house.

That's what a thousand pictures can't do.

You can look at a thousand pictures. It doesn't feel realistic. You're not living in it. You can smell the wood. You can feel the texture. You can pick finishes. Just don't design the layout off a screenshot. The people who try usually never saw what they can actually buy around here.

And the ones who tour four showrooms and still can't decide? A lot of the time they knew on the first visit. They try other options. They come right back to the original. Their gut already picked. They just won't lock it.

People obsess over plywood boxes like that's where the money went. It isn't. The face goods are the cost — the doors, the drawers, the finish you actually look at. Particleboard or MDF is fine almost everywhere. Plywood where it gets wet. The sink base. That's the box that sees a slow leak. Don't pay plywood prices for a pantry that will never see a drop.

Rentals, basement suites, anywhere abuse and moisture live — that's the exception. Lean plywood more broadly there.

More drawers than doors. That's the underrated one.

Textured melamine if you want something that still looks the same in five years. Consistent. Durable. It won't feel like stained wood. If that's what you want, say so. If you want a kitchen that survives kids and still looks decent, this is the one.

Refacing a tired box to save the carcass is paying for the part you can see and leaving the part you can't. You're still buying the expensive half.

It's like putting a brand-new patio set on a crappy deck that you're going to have to replace in a few years.

Sometimes you do it anyway. Know that's what you're doing.

People will take down five-year-old cabinets because they think they're ugly. If that's your home and you walk into that kitchen every day, I get it. It's quite the expense. You're allowed to want the look. Just be honest with yourself about what you're spending.

Go to a showroom. Smell the sample. Feel the texture. Run a fingernail along the edge. If you only saw it on a screen, you haven't picked it.

Inspect for quality, weight, ease of repairing.

Then lock it. Don't keep shopping after the order goes in.