We held another virtual workshop yesterday afternoon where Kelly Summers discussed How to Chose the Perfect Kitchen Cabinets. Kelly joined Ryan Johnson, owner of Crown Cabinetry, at the Crown Cabinetry showroom to share the many different options in cabinets including door style, wood type, stain, paint, and even accessories. You may want to watch it if you didn’t have a chance to join yesterday, it is super informative and may help you in your cabinet selection.
https://youtu.be/uhWq2CgEs0o
Kitchen Cabinet Accessories
In the first display area, Kelly first shares some of the kitchen cabinet options on display at Crown Cabinetry so you can get a feel for what the different options actually look like. She then delves into accessories available in cabinets including drawer glides, utensil storage, spice racks, and garbage drawers.
In the next kitchen, Kelly shares a little bit of information about stained cabinets and then shows the hood and cabinet panels for a dishwasher and refrigerator. A few other cabinet options she shows are lazy Susan’s in both metal and plastic, a built-in step, deep drawers, and finally a mixer lift.
Cabinet Build Types
Standard Overlay
Often referred to as a half-inch overlay, the door covers the opening a half-inch on all sides. This leaves approximately one-inch of the face frame exposed. It is a very traditional look and what many older homes without a recent remodel may have.
Inset and Beaded
A classic look, the doors, and drawers sit within the frame leaving the entire face exposed. Beaded Inset adds an edge detail around the face frame. Both inset cabinet types prove to be a timeless design.
Frameless
Often referred to as European frameless or full access, the drawers and doors go all the way across. No cabinet boxes are visible. These cabinets are often used in more modern style kitchens.
Full Overlay
The doors and drawers almost entirely cover the cabinet box so they extend out to the edges. A full overlay is a designer’s choice for the upscale style.
Door Styles
Kelly then discusses a few different door styles for kitchen cabinets. Door styles really come in four different types but the styles vary vastly within those types. The four types include flat-panel, raised-panel, slab, and accent cabinet doors.
Kelly shows a few flat-panel options one is a shaker style with inset beading and the other is a basic shaker style. The basic shaker style has a basic square interior profile.
She also showed a few raised panel styles where the center isn’t flat and has interior and exterior profiles.
Wood Species
While there are literally hundreds of different wood species. Kelly and Ryan shared six of the more common options used in cabinets today.
References: https://www.wood-database.com/; https://cabinetsbycrown.com/collections/wood-species
German Beech
One of the hardest woods used to make cabinets. It’s a very dense wood and a great hardwood. Typically, a pale cream color, sometimes with a pink or brown hue. The grain is straight with fine to medium texture. Beech takes all shades of stain well.
Cherry
It’s a hardwood with red tones that is timeless. One of the most beautiful wood species for building cabinetry. Cherry has a reddish hue and stains well with all colors and is known for “sweetening” or darkening over time, especially within the first several months. The grain pattern is soft and curly.
Rustic (Knotty) Alder
A great wood if you want more of a rustic or casual feel. The grain pattern is soft and smooth. With its reddish hew, it is often mistaken for a cherry. It is beautiful for making cabinetry. Accepts all types of stain well.
Walnut
We’re seeing a lot of cabinets done in walnut. A great, chocolaty brown wood. From lighter brown to deep chocolate American Black walnut is always a show stopper. The grain is usually straight but can be irregular and has a medium texture. Typically not stained and only clear coated to show off the natural beauty.
Hickory
If you love high contrast in natural wood color, hickory is for you. With shades of brown, white, and red within a single board, it gives a rustic appearance. Hickory stains well with a variety of stain colors.
Oak
If you want that primitive antique or classic early American look than quartersawn oak is the ticket! Quarter sawing (also quarter-cut) is a type of cut in the rip-sawing of logs into lumber. The resulting lumber is called quarter sawn, quartered, and radially-sawn. These cuts leave very straight heavy grain. Accepts a full spectrum of stains.
Maple
One of the clearest wood spices, maple is known for its minimal soft grain and is ideal for light stains. It can be stained dark if a preconditioner is used.
Refacing Existing Kitchen Cabinets
Kelly shows some of the options available when you decide to keep your existing kitchen cabinets and update the face on them. Along with new doors, you can also change the door hinges and drawer glides to a soft close.
Hopefully, this will help you when looking at kitchen cabinet options for your next project! A special thank you to Ryan for sharing the Crown Cabinetry showroom with us!
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We’d love to you have you join our next virtual workshop where Ron Webster will discuss how to create a functional kitchen.
