What are my style choices for doors and drawer heads?

There are many choices one must make when designing a kitchen: what goes where, what that what should look like, paint color, counter top material, hardware design, the list goes on and on.Perhaps the most important decision, style wise at least, is door and drawer head style. Door and drawer head styles set the tone of the kitchen. They are a starting point that, once decided, should help you make all your other decisions.

Like with everything in this business, when it comes to door and drawer head style, there are many options from which to choose. But, once you understand the basic types of door and drawer heads you should be able to figure out what style best suits your desired look. There are four basic types of door and drawer heads: raised panel, recessed flat panel, recessed bead board and slab. Drawer heads come in these four styles as well as one more style named profiled.
You can mix and match the styles between the doors and the drawer heads or you can keep them the same. Some clients choose one door style for the top or wall cabinets and another one for the bottom or base cabinets. Others use one style for the top or “A” drawer head and another style for the bottom or “B” drawer heads. However, in order to keep the design from getting too busy if the top and bottom drawer heads are different styles, then the ”B” drawer heads should match style of the base doors. For those of you visual learners you can find pictures of some of these options’ here.

Though there are exceptions to all rules and some of the most exceptional kitchens have broken these rules creatively, certain door and drawer head styles tend to go with certain design looks.Raised panel door styles are generally used in traditional kitchens. Raised panel styles are also used when trying to achieve an old world look- think Tuscan, French or English Country. Recessed flat panel doors generally show up in rustic, contemporary and transitional kitchens. The simple lines of a recessed flat panel door or drawer head appeal to minimalists and those who are generally not fans of fussy or frilly design. Slab doors are often in modern and contemporary styles.This is the most minimal door style and is usually used in a place where other aesthetic features besides door and drawer head styles, like wood choice, finish or design features, should take center stage. Recessed bead board door styles are commonly used in country, cottage, or beachy kitchens.Recessed bead board door and drawer heads create a relaxed look that fits in well with casual decor.

So, does one of those sound like the style for you? Think you’re done? Guess again. Once the door style is decided upon, you then have to decide on box construction and the framing style of the door.Framing style is tied into the construction of your cabinet. Your cabinets will either be framed or frame-less construction. Framed vs. Frame-less is really just a matter of whether your cabinet box has a face frame or not. Again, for our visual learners, you can find a diagram of these options’ here.

When a cabinet has a face frame the door can be attached to this frame in a couple of different manners. The doors can be inset into the face frame. This is called an inset door and is perhaps the most traditional of all the options and generally the most costly. The doors can also sit on top, partially covering the frame. This is called partial overlay and is used in traditional and rustic looks. Lastly, the door can fully overlay the face frame called, you guessed it, full overlay. Full overlay is currently the most popular style. It is used in all types of designs, but most commonly in modern, contemporary or transitional looks. When a cabinet does not have a face frame and is therefore frame-less the door has no choice but to full overlay the cabinet box, resulting in a full-overlay look.

Again, take time with this decision. It will set the stylistic tone of your kitchen and, along with the finish and design, it is the most aesthetic choice you will make. At The Savannah Cabinet Shop we can help. As an on-staff interior designer, I will guide you through the process and help you with all your decisions. Come visit our showroom today or check out our portfolio at http://www.thesavannahcabinetshop.com/portfolio.php.

What are the Construction Options for Cabinetry?

In the wonderful world of cabinetry there are many different construction options to choose from. If you are using a stock line of cabinetry, most of these decisions will likely already be made for you. Semi-custom lines generally have their base construction level with the ability to upgrade certain features. With custom cabinetry you are able to choose the construction style for each individual part. The major construction decision areas are the style of cabinet box, the construction materials for the cabinet box, the construction and material of the drawer box, and the drawer glides.

Construction options have less to do with the look of the cabinetry and more with the structure and moving parts, but they can greatly affect the cost. Between look and construction, there exists a price equilibrium when working within a budget. So, if the look of the kitchen is the most important thing to you, you might consider trading off construction upgrades for look upgrades. Conversely, if construction is the most important thing, you might have to trade look upgrades for construction upgrades. Obviously if the sky’s the limit when it comes to your budget then everything can be upgraded. Your kitchen designer can help you determine what exact combination of give and take results in the perfect kitchen for you.

For the style of the cabinet box you have two options, framed or frameless. As the name suggests, the difference between framed and frameless construction in cabinetry is the presence or absence of a face frame. With a cabinet that has a face frame, the doors and drawer heads can be mounted inset flush into the frame, partially overlaying the frame, or fully overlaying it. With frameless cabinetry, the doors are mounted to the sides of the cabinet box and therefore fully-overlay the box. Once installed, both construction types are of equal stability when made with comparable materials. Framed construction can give a more traditional look to your cabinetry; especially the inset and partial-overlay styles. Frameless construction is often used in contemporary, modern or transitional areas. Frameless cabinetry is also used in industrial settings like laboratories and hospitals. Because of the absence of an overlapping frame, the clear width of the cabinet’s openings is wider with frameless construction, though the box volume remains the same. Stock and semi-custom cabinetry lines generally only make one type of cabinet box, framed or frameless. Custom cabinetry can be either and the construction types can even be mixed throughout your kitchen.

Both types of cabinet boxes can be made with engineered wood, plywood or solid wood. There are pros and cons to each type of box construction, and clients usually have their own biases. Generally speaking, engineered wood is the base construction level, with plywood construction being the upgrade. Occasionally specific projects require a solid wood box, like when using reclaimed wood, but this is rare and very costly.

Plywood is more stable than solid wood and available in many grades and species. Plywood is also relatively economical. Medium-density fiberboard (MDF), particleboard, and oriented strand board, all common types of engineered wood, offer more weight, a lower cost and a flatter panel with more surface uniformity. However, the dimensional stability, screw-holding and bending strength of engineered wood is less than plywood’s. Even though engineered wood panels have some advantages over plywood panels, some people just don’t like the idea that the panels are not made from all natural wood. Chemically sensitive clients might also react badly to the adhesives used in engineered wood which emit a greater amount of formaldehyde as they cure than plywood.

The plywood versus engineered wood choice is the same for your drawer box construction with the addition of the solid wood dovetail drawer box option. Dovetailed drawer boxes are made from solid wood stock and are constructed by cutting a series of pins in the end of one board to interlock with a series of tails cut into the end of another board. Once glued, a wooden dovetail joint requires no mechanical fasteners. The plywood and engineered wood drawer boxes are glued and pinned together.

Once you have decided on your drawer box you must also decide on what type of drawer glides to use. You must decide if you want your drawer boxes to extend from the cabinet box ¾ of the way or in full. If you choose to have full-extension glides you will also then have the option to add a soft-close feature that pulls the drawer softly closed once pushed in 90% of the way. Soft-close drawer glides also make it impossible for anyone to slam the drawers. Each type of glide can be installed mounted to the underneath or to the side of the drawer box. Glides mounted to the bottom of the drawer box will take room from the depth of the drawer box. Glides mounted to the sides will take room from the width of the drawer box.

In short, there are many things to consider and decide upon about your cabinets’ construction. At The Savannah Cabinet Shop we can help you navigate through these difficult decisions. When you work with our design staff, our knowledge becomes your knowledge. Check out our portfolio or come in today to start your cabinetry project.