Despite the tremendous variety of kitchen cabinets, they all come down to two basic types: face frame and frameless. Each has characteristics that greatly affect how the modern home will appear and function. For the designer, cabinetmaker and installer, they also determine how the cabinets will be created.
Face Frame Face frame are the most popular type of kitchen cabinets in North America. This time honored method of construction involves attaching a framework of solid lumber to the carcass. Doors and drawers can be mounted in one of three ways: insert, lipped or overlay. Insert, the most elegant in appearance, is a true test of a craftsman’s skill in construction and installation. Tight tolerances are required to accommodate seasonal wood movement and yield a pleasing margin between frame and door. During installation, cabinets must be set perfectly level and plumb to maintain that margin. Most homeowners who choose framed cabinets are very interested in foraging a link with the past. They appreciate the classic look of well fitted doors and drawers that open with ease and close with a gentle puff of air as they nest within the frame.
Frameless
Frameless cabinetry was born in Europe after World War II. It addressed some of the challenges of the time, such as the shortage of lumber and the need to rebuild housing rapidly. The simplicity of the frameless, or European, Kitchen cabinet greatly reduced material, needs, and production of time. Doors would align tightly together, creating a clean line of casework. This reflected a modernist view of a changed world where time was short and production and efficiency reigned supreme. This production method yielded other benefits. Drawers could be wider and deeper because they didn’t need to clear a face frame. And storage and removal of items along with cleaning the cabinet interior became easier and more efficient.
Today, the line between face frame and frameless casework has blurred slightly. Frameless cabinets are no longer limited to flush-laminate doors; many of the frameless kitchen cabinets feature traditional raised panel doors, multi-part cornice moldings, and other accoutrements endowing each kitchen with warmth and comfort. For building, installing, maximizing storage, and other use, frameless cabinets can’t be surpassed. If on the other hand, you would prefer a timeless tradition in your kitchen; your cabinets are only a face frame away.
Your choices of kitchen cabinet styles don't end after you have decided whether you like face-frame or frameless construction. Both types are available with a dizzying array of door styles, finishes, colors, and door pulls that have a great impact on the cabinets' appearance. With different stains, hardware, and accessories, the same kitchen cabinets that create a contemporary, tailored version of a country style can also set a very traditional tone. Choices in materials and styles run the gamut from contemporary plastic laminates and wood veneers to traditional hardwood.
Kitchen cabinet styling can be:
• Simple • Carved • Molded • Made with glass inserts.
Currently enjoying popularity are English Country-style kitchen cabinets, recognizable by the decorative use of carved wood, fretwork (cut-out patterns may be leaves, flowers, fish, or abstract), and open plate racks.
Painted white, they can lend a touch of warmth yet still seem appropriate in an otherwise contemporary setting.
Newer to kitchen cabinet styles in North America are Scandinavian cabinets, whose elegant simplicity recalls American Shaker style.
The late 1980s saw a return to the use of glass mullion doors, which give an old-world quality to the kitchen and allow you to display china, glass, and collectibles. Glass doors add charm and visual appeal by breaking up long runs of solid wood or laminate doors, and they work beautifully with any door style.
Selecting Kitchen Cabinetry Kitchen cabinet manufacturers also offer a number of elements besides base, wall, pantry, and appliance cabi¬nets that help set the tone of the kitchen. Among these are range hoods (often elaborately carved), matching panels for appliances, tambour-door appliance garages, open shelving, glass door fronts (with mullions or without, with beveled, frosted, leaded, or stained glass), vertical dish racks, wine racks, spice racks, valances used between cabinets over windows, moldings, and plate rails above wall cabinets.
In traditional kitchens, attention to detail and design continuity often leads to the use of moldings. Employed above wall cabinets (crown molding), on cabinet doors, chair rails, and baseboards, molding is available natural, pre-painted, or pre-stained, or in vinyl wrapped with a wood-grain finish.
If you have some woodworking skills, you can also create your own customized look in a kitchen cabinet style by using standard doors. Order a simple wood overlay door, and then apply a molding purchased from a lumberyard. If you have ordered unfinished wood cabinets, you can stain or paint the doors to match them.
Face frame are the most popular type of kitchen cabinets in North America. This time honored method of construction involves attaching a framework of solid lumber to the carcass. Doors and drawers can be mounted in one of three ways: insert, lipped or overlay. Insert, the most elegant in appearance, is a true test of a craftsman’s skill in construction and installation. Tight tolerances are required to accommodate seasonal wood movement and yield a pleasing margin between frame and door. During installation, cabinets must be set perfectly level and plumb to maintain that margin. Most homeowners who choose framed cabinets are very interested in foraging a link with the past. They appreciate the classic look of well fitted doors and drawers that open with ease and close with a gentle puff of air as they nest within the frame.
