Select the Right Kitchen Cabinet Options by Learning the Lingo

With the numerous options available on today’s market, selecting finishes for any home remodeling project can be difficult. Cabinetry is no exception. Below are a few details to hopefully help narrow down those kitchen cabinet options when searching for the perfect cabinet for your home.

Kitchen Cabinet Construction

Generally speaking, there are two different ways cabinets can be constructed.

Framed Cabinet Boxes

The most common type of construction, framed cabinets have a 1-1/2” border applied to the face of the cabinet. This flat frame is where the doors are secured, giving the cabinet extra stability. Additionally, framed cabinets offer multiple different door style options – partial overlay, full overlay, and inset – but we will get to that later. Just know, this type of cabinet box is perfect for traditional and transitional designs and is available in most cabinet lines offered in today’s market at ACo.

Frameless Cabinet Boxes

Sometimes called European style cabinets, frameless cabinets eliminate the face-frame from the box creating a more streamlined and contemporary look. Typically, thicker more durable material is used to construct the box to compensate the missing face frame. Only full overlay doors can be used in frameless construction. The benefits – The space that was taken up by the face frame can now be used for more storage (which is perfect for large square dinner plates that are often stored in 12” deep wall cabinets) & they are easier to access too. Our semi-custom Bellmont Cabinetry line & fully custom Green City Cabinet line offer multiple contemporary and traditional frameless options.

Kitchen Cabinet Options for Doors

As mentioned above, doors can be constructed in a variety of ways. Below are three of the most popular.

Partial Overlay Cabinets

Just as it sounds, partial overlay cabinets have doors that partially overlap the face frame of the cabinet box. This reveal adds dimension and detail and is oftentimes seen in traditional designs. Typically used in stock cabinet lines, this style is usually the most economical option when designing with new cabinets.

Full Overlay Cabinets

The doors on full overlay cabinets cover nearly the entire face frame of the cabinet creating a cleaner and more transitional design. As mentioned above, these doors can be combined with both framed and frameless boxes and tend to make the design of the space feel more high-end and custom.

Inset Cabinets

Instead of resting atop the face frame, the doors on inset cabinets fit inside the face frame creating a clean, flush look. To dress up the inset door a bit, a band of detail can be added to the frame of the box. This is known as a beaded inset. While very custom and beautiful, these doors are typically more expensive and limit the amount of cabinet storage available.

Door Styles

Once the construction and door sizes have been selected, it’s time to start exploring the different door styles available.

Slab Kitchen Cabinet Options

Slab doors are often used in contemporary design and come in a variety of different finishes, wood species, and even laminate. The doors have little to no detail and are seamless and simplistic in design.

Recessed Panel Kitchen Cabinet Options

On a recessed panel door, a raised border is created around a flat or recessed center panel. The most common recessed panel door is the shaker door. The shaker door is clean with minimal details and is great for contemporary or transitional design. By adding some details to the edges, the recessed panel doors can take on a more traditional look as well.

Raised Panel Kitchen Cabinet Options

The center panel on a raised cabinet door is raised to be even the door frame. Similar to the recessed panel, details and applied moldings can be added to the edges to increase the amount of interest to the cabinet door. In general, Raised Panel doors are considered traditional in design.

Looking for more information on all of your kitchen cabinet options? Check out ACo’s handy guide for a complete rundown on cabinets for your home.