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lizzybethme It's a very nice feature and I wanted it for my new home. For me, it came down to budget. Is it worth the extra money? Is there something you want more? Ask yourself these questions. Believe me, there are going to be lots of hidden costs/added expenses if you are building a new home. I think you are the one who asked yesterday about upgrading doors? There is always an upgrade...just stick with your
must-haves and your wish list. And if there is something you want to splurge on, I say go for it!! (I did on a couple of things). Just don't splurge on everything. :). Good luck. We moved in 3 weeks ago...all the decisions and stress was worth it! :)

Judy M For me, soft close was not something I cared about but full extension drawers are a must have. And absolutely, positively no center stiles on cabinets.
I have one soft close vanity and I keep pushing it in everytime I use it.

princess_q Congratulation on your new house! It sure is stressful, but exciting at the same time. I didn't realize there were so many options. Most I them cost a lot more than standard. Each day I feel overwhelmed but in an exciting way. It's so great getting everyone's opinion because sometimes you just new to hear it from someone else to make your final decision. Thank you for the encouragement and advise.

mcbride2304 I love the soft close doors!

Hurst Total Home, Inc. Soft close is a great feature. Once you have it you'll never want the other way. Our favorite thing about the soft close drawers is that is grants you access to the entire drawer box, not just 3/4 extension of the box. If you were wanting to upgrade, but not totally blow the bank, I would recommend the soft close drawers, and maybe just hold off on the soft close doors. The drawers will benefit much more from the soft close feature than doors (if you really want to choose). It's a nice selling feature too when you do decide to sell the home. Good luck with your decision!

Scott Design, Inc. The soft close drawers accomplish two practical goals on a frameless, full overlay cabinet. Prior to the soft close, the drawers would shut with a push on the drawer head and a hit against the cabinet sides. Over time, the typical weight of kitchen items in the drawers would create enough momentum to cause the drawer heads to split under the repeated impact. Also, the doors and drawers of full overlay cabinets butt up to each other and to the under side of the counter. Often times people get their fingers caught (particularly children) between the drawer and counter on a fast close which is painful. The soft close eliminates these two concerns. Often times there isn't much weight in a vanity drawer and since a soft close mechanism needs some momentum to effectively close the drawer completely, you find yourself adding a little push.

I would opt for the soft close hardware on the drawers.

Interiors International, Inc. Do them all it is worth the money and it is expected in mid to high-end homes.

Ironwood Builders I build with nothing but soft close hinges and drawer slides now. The overall cost is small compared to the undermount slides that gain us drawer box room and exposed dovetail construction....mid-high to high end requirements. If it is an issue, do roll out shelves inside the door cabinet boxes in epoxy and save few dollars there. The soft close is also so strong on the Blum hinges we use that we opt to use half soft close and half disabled soft close to make the door shut at a reasonable pace. Doing on hinge on each door would maybe save a buck or two a door?

lewis + smith We build all our own cabinets. We have used the Blumotion drawer slides since they were first available. We have never bothered with the soft close doors though. The drawer slides are great and I would not do drawers without them.

Urbana ~ Designer Ellen Crystal if you have an open plan home, the peace of soft close cabinets it worth every penny. Just like a quiet DW. Drawers are a must, doors optional. keep in mind not every style of hinge is available soft close, so this is why I often pass on the soft close door hardware. These quality features set your home apart from the builder basics.....Senior Designer~Urbana

onthefence I think soft close is a wonderful feature and well worth having.

If you don't do it now, you may be tempted to go back and do it later. It's going to cost you more then - a) for the labor and b) for the hinges you've already paid for and now will need to purchase more.

This I think is one of those things that's worth doing the best way you can the first time around.

onthefence BTW - somewhat off topic - but we even put the soft close thingie on the commodes. It's marvelous!

Judy M The style of cabinet was not specified in the question, so perhaps the soft close is not important to me because I have inset doors and drawers, that I do not feel make noise anyway.

lizzybethme Onthefence: I have those slow close lids too!!! Lol, they are magical!! Seriously, they are great!! (Especially, for my husband)

feeny I love the full extension and soft close features on our drawers, but we didn't get them on the cabinet hinges. My friend had them and actually found the slow closing on the cabinet doors a bit annoying.

Ironwood Builders Feeny, tell your friend about the ability to disable the soft close feature on the hinge. We typically doable one youths of two so the door doesn't stand open so long but doesn't slam either. BTW, euro cup hinges are available for full inset doors. You don't get the shoe of a butt hinge on the outside, but the technology of the hinge is available.

tallest it's like having a rain sensor on a car. it's nice to have. and helps resale value probably.

R J Hoppe Inc We have recently switched over from Blumotion to a top of the line grass soft close slide. The slides are great for ease of installation. I would only use these slides on high end projects. "Salice" has now come out with a line of soft close european hinges for cabinet doors. What is unique is that the soft close feature is built into the cup of the hinge and not an add on like some of there compitition. We recently completed a very high end home office desk with soft close hardware installed in the drawers and doors. If interested follow this link and you can see the drawer slides and door hinges installed and the advantages of them. Its a five minute video and you have to weight until the end to see the doors close "by themselves", turn up the volume as well :)

princess_q I think it would be worth the invested to have the drawers done throughout the house before possession. We can think of doing the doors afterwards as it is not so difficult from what I have heard to do yourself. Thank you everyone for your opinions.

tallest To add to what RJ HOPE posted above, we also have GRASS (Austrian) hinges. Which are bit better value than Blöm, a more overpriced German alternative. We got them installed in kitchen and in bathroom cabinets. Some cabinets have the push-to-open function, some just have the soft close. Why we got them, is in our old place we didn't have any soft close option and every time someone would close the cabinet with too much force it was just annoying to hear the "BANG!!" that followed with dishes shaking inside a bit. None of that anymore.

princess_q What's funny is that now I hear the bang of the drawers and doors closing (we don't have soft close in our current home).

AMN In a high-end kitchen, I would expect soft-close drawers/doors be installed.

AMN It makes a huge difference. We have it in our kitchen, and I def notice when someone doesn't have them. Bathrooms / closets? SC would be nice but not necessary except where quiet is imperative.

Deborah Butler, Brickwood Builders I would do the drawers, but not the doors. The doors can be done later if you find you really want it and it is not that expensive to change out hinges. Upgrading the drawers later would be more expensive and more difficult.

R J Hoppe Inc The installation of a soft close hinge and a non soft close hinge (European hinge for a door) is the same, there is no difference. The cost difference between a soft close hinge and a non soft close hinge is insignificant about $1 plus or minus per hinge. So for the cost of a good meal you should be able to cover your entire house with soft close hinges. The slides are a different story.

ktr2907 Yes expected in high end kitchen

princess_q We have upgraded all the drawers in the house to be soft. The doors were costing us $20/door and we have over 50 doors. Considering the hinges would cost much less after build and everyone says they are easy to install yourself, we will do it ourselves after possession.

Norm Walters Construction Inc. Originally the soft close doors used a piston type device which was attached to the face frame of the cabinet. Now some, but not all cabinet manufacturer's, use a hinge with the soft close feature built into the hinge. The older way of providing soft close doors was more expensive as it was a separate part, and is still used today on some cabinets.