Design Notes
If you’re renovating part or all of your kitchen, the choice of kitchen cabinet style will be a big consideration since they take up a significant portion of the visual real estate in your kitchen. If you’re going to the trouble of remodeling this room, you may as well use design elements that will stand the test of time. If you plan to sell your house someday, overly ornate or personalized cabinetry that you love may repulse prospective buyers. The following are some time-tested cabinet styles that will still give you plenty of choice in crafting a kitchen you’ll love walking into every day.
Shaker Cabinets
The door of this popular cabinet style consists of a vertical piece on either side and a horizontal piece on the top and on the bottom, with a larger recessed panel in the middle. This style blends easily with other kitchen design elements such as various types of countertops, and it can even mix well with other cabinet types such as those with a flat front or glass front. Their relative popularity means they are commonly available, which also means that you should be able to get some for a reasonable price.
Beadboard Cabinets
In appearance, beadboard resembles a series of vertical boards fitted together. In reality, however, the material for these types of cabinets is usually made as a single piece with vertical grooves throughout to make it look like separate pieces of wood fitted together. This style is more detailed and textured than most other basic cabinet types and may not be for someone who’s shooting for a minimalist look for their kitchen. With all the grooves, they can also make cleaning a bit more of a challenge.
Plywood Cabinets
Plywood is a reasonably standard construction material if you’re going for a basic and natural look to your cabinetry that is warm and inviting. Its most significant benefit over lumber is that plywood will not shrink and expand with temperature and moisture changes, which are common in kitchens. This means they won’t be prone to warping over the long haul. You can use a clear finish to preserve the visual appeal of its grain, or you can paint it any color you like.
Flat-Front Cabinets
As the name implies, this cabinetry style is about as minimalist as you can get, with no framing or other panels. It can work well in a variety of kitchens, including contemporary and modern, and as you can imagine, its completely flat surface makes cleaning a breeze.
Unfinished Wood Cabinets
This may not be the best choice for longevity since moisture can warp the wood over time, but it’s hard to beat this choice when going for a completely natural look to your cabinetry. This is also one of the cheapest options available for your kitchen cabinets.
Glass-Front Cabinets
The literal transparency of this style choice immediately makes it stick out from all the other options above. It could be considered impractical in the sense that glass can break more easily, yet it’s also very practical in that it lets you see what’s in the cabinet before you’ve even opened it. Given the potential breaking problem, you won’t want to use glass cabinets below countertop height. As an added benefit, they mix well with a shaker or flat-front cabinets that you can use in those lower areas where an inadvertent knee movement might take out a glass cabinet.
Read what HGTV has to say about kitchen cabinet styles
Walker Woodworking
