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 The choices available when choosing kitchen cabinets can sometimes be overwhelming and it is difficult to know where to start.
On top of this, there are a number of terms and descriptions used to classify cabinets styles and manufacturing techniques.
Listed below are some of the more common terms used when buying cabinets, and it is hoped that this list will be added to in the near future.
Overlay:
The term overlay refers to how the door covers the frame of the cabinet. There are basically two different types of overlays.
Standard-overlay means you see the frame around the door and full-overlay means that the door covers the frame. In essence the door is larger on a full overlay cabinet.
Thermal-Foil:
Thermal-foil is a vinyl that is applied over a MDF (medium density fiberboard) door using a heat process. It is used for white or off-white doors. It is very easy to clean and is durable.
MDF Door:
MDF doors are made of medium density fiberboard, which can be routed into a raised panel design. They can be thermal-foiled, stained or painted in a solid color.
The advantage of choosing a MDF door as opposed to a constructed wood door when [...]
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 If you choose wood, you have the choice of solid wood or wood veneer. The latter is cheaper and is less influenced by weather conditions.
The humidity and temperature outside have an effect on your solid wooden kitchen doors, but the biggest influence comes from the changes in temperature and humidity in the kitchen.
Veneer can also give a more uniform look to the fronts (if this is what you want) as the pieces of wood used are cut from a larger piece in thin strips to cover all the doors.
Wood itself is available in all kinds of colors, but it can also be glossed, painted, colour washed or waxed to give it the finish you prefer. Look at the pictures on this site and on the Internet for more ideas and examples.
Cabinet Woods
Pine:
Has a casual, rustic look, some graining, color variation and knotholes. It is the softest of cabinet woods, so hinges may need to be tightened periodically as they tend to pull out of the wood after use.
Oak:
Has a casual look, a lot of graining and an even color tone when stained. It is a very hard wood and looks great [...]
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 There are a number of options when choosing a cabinet material, some of the most popular are, wood, laminate, and metal.
Each has its advantages and disadvantages and it is worth spending some time researching the numerous options.
Wood doors are covered in the next section due the the large number of combinations of styles and colors available.
Laminate
Laminate cabinet doors can have endless possibilities in color, texture and shine.
You can go for a soft look with creamy colours and a matt finish, or, if you want to make a real statement, choose Italian-style with glossy fronts and bold colors.
A great advantage of laminate cabinets is that they are virtually maintenance-free. Wood is a natural product and prone to changes in temperature and humidity and needs a lot of care, but laminate only needs to be wiped clean occasionally.
Laminate doors suffer from a lot less wear and tear than laminate countertops and should stay looking good for a long time.
Glass
Large expanses of wood or laminate in a kitchen can look good sometimes but if you want to break up the monotony, glass doors can be used every now and again. Transparent glass is used [...]
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 Because cabinet doors are the face of the kitchen, it will be very important that you choose a finish you want to look at for quite a number of years.
Keep in mind that, whichever material you choose to use for your cabinets, durability and low maintenance have to be the key to your choice.
As most of the cabinet carcasses nowadays are made of particleboard or chipboard, the only thing you have to worry about is the finish of the cabinet doors.
First of all it is important to choose which material you want to use. In this section, the different finishes and their possibilities will be explained.
Door Styles
There are a number of door styles, such as the following:
Square Raised Panel
Cathedral Arch
Roman Arch
Solid Panel
Traditional Mullion Glass Door
Country Mullion Glass Door
Beaded Panel
Shaker or Mission Style Door
Shaker Door with Center Stile
Raised panel doors are available in a square, roman arch or cathedral arch style. The drawer fronts are offered flat or also with a raised panel. Styles range from simple to beveled, or grooved with added details. The arch or square style works well with traditional decor. The square door works well with contemporary decor.
Recessed [...]
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 The first decision when selecting cabinets is whether to go for stock cabinets, semi-custom, custom units or frameless cabinets.
All have their own advantages and disadvantages.
There are the three basic classifications of cabinet manufacturing: Stock, Semi-Custom & Custom, and this can be further subdivided into Framed and Frameless.
Pricing will vary depending on your layout, the manufacturer, wood, finish, door style and the interior accessories you select.
Stock
Lowest price range
Limited selection of door styles, woods and stain colors. Solid woods and veneers are both used. Wood selection is usually oak, hickory, maple, cherry and MDF doors in white or off-white thermal-foils (see ‘Kitchen Cabinet Terminology’ below).
Usually offers three different grades of construction. Standard consists of particleboard sides and a 4-sided drawer box that is dadoed, stapled and glued. Mid-range upgrades the drawer box to wood with dovetailed joints and usually thicker shelves in the wall cabinets. Best offers all this plus plywood sides instead of particleboard. Hinges used are concealed, drawer glides are an epoxy side-mount. The finish is machine sprayed and sanded (finish quality will vary between various stock lines)
Cabinets are pre-made in standard sizes that increase in 3″ increments from 9″-48″ and [...]
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 The best place on the Internet for Kitchen Cabinet quotes.
There are so many choices where cabinets are concerned, such as the door materials, style, color, frames, etc., and so much variation in price that the whole area can be confusing at times.
Hopefully, this guide should give you a good place to start.
You may also want to consider the option of having your cabinets refaced. You will be surprised at the results you can achieve by doing this, and also how inexpensive it is, especially if you can find a good deal with a reputable company.
To go straight to the kitchen cabinet refacing quote page, click here. Fill out our 3-5 minute form to receive a free kitchen cabinets price quote from one of our prescreened and licensed contractors.
Definitely check it out first, get some quotes and see if makes sense for you. Then click on the links on the left to read more about kitchen cabinets.
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Now you’ve chosen the design of your kitchen cabinets and worktops, the next thing is to choose the materials and the colors of your walls.
The most common materials for the kitchen walls are paint, wallpaper and tiles.
Paint
Paint is the cheapest and fastest way to transform the feeling of your kitchen, however, you need to have good surfaces to paint on (i.e. no holes or cracks which will show through the paint).
If your walls aren’t smooth enough, then you can line the walls with lining paper first (a special kind of wallpaper), and paint on top of that. There are also many decorative and faux paint finishes that look good in the kitchen (and which you can do yourself). Talk to your designer about this.
Wallpaper
Regular wallpaper is a more expensive option than paint but it can give just a little more character as it comes in a large variety of patterns as well as colors. When you use wallpapers and paints for your kitchen walls make sure these are specially made for the kitchen as these will be more resistant to humidity and will be easy to clean.
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Tiles
Adding colorful tiles to the backsplash of a [...]
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There are so many choices where cabinets are concerned, such as the door materials, style, color, frames, etc., and so much variation in price that the whole area can be confusing at times.
Hopefully, this section should give you a good place to start.
You may also want to consider the option of having your cabinets refaced. You will be surprised at the results you can achieve by doing this, and also how inexpensive it is, especially if you can find a good deal with a reputable company.
Definitely check it out first, get some quotes and see if makes sense for you. There are plenty of good cabinet refacing advice sites out there, for example, this one.
Cabinet Manufacturing Classifications
The first decision when selecting cabinets is whether to go for stock cabinets, semi-custom, custom units or frameless cabinets. All have their own advantages and disadvantages.
There are the three basic classifications of cabinet manufacturing: Stock, Semi-Custom & Custom, and this can be further subdivided into Framed and Frameless. Pricing will vary depending on your layout, the manufacturer, wood, finish, door style and the interior accessories you select.
Stock
Lowest price range.
Limited selection of door styles, woods and stain colors. [...]
(click here to continue reading ››)
You may also be interested in reading:
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The frame is the front of the cabinet box where the door attaches.
