system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do people care so much about kitchen cabinets, why do they cost so much, and what makes them out of date?

I watch a lot of home and garden tv shows, and kitchen cabinets are usually a big deal when it comes to renovation or house hunting. Cabinets that look fine to me are called out of date, and it can be enough to stop someone from buying a particular house. If someone wants to replace their cabinets, it costs like $20,000+ - they're just wood!

I really don't understand this - why don't people just replace the handles and resurface/paint their cabinets if they don't like the color? It just seems like an absurd amount of money for what you get.
gpt
Cabinet styles go out of date just like anything else in a house such as an old brown shag carpet. Also any proper wooden furniture is more expensive. Take a look around your house, and notice how much "wood" isn't wood, but particle board with a veneer. On top of that cabinets have a lot of moving parts, and nicer ones will line up correctly, and not have gaps between doors. The hardware can be expensive too, like ones with mechanisms that prevent them from slamming.