How to Choose Kitchen Cabinets

When shopping for cabinets, your lifestyle, plus the materials available, will guide and influence the appearance of your cabinet doors. Do you like the traditional Shaker-style door with its raised frame and crisp edges? Or a sleek flat-front contemporary panel? Are your kids opening and closing doors all day with sticky fingers? Or is your kitchen the entertaining hub of your home, one that you like to keep looking neat for visiting friends and family?

Semi-custom, Shaker-style cabinets with full overlay doors

How to choose your cabinet door style

Most commonly, the door is a flat panel, a raised panel, or a slab front. What’s the difference?

A raised panel has a raised rectangular-shaped center and the surface surrounding it is recessed, creating a frame-like appearance. The raised center may be surrounded by other detailing, such as a beveled edge, and/or an arched top, providing a traditional appearance, like antique cabinetry. This style looks beautiful with painted or stained finishes that play up the three-dimensional qualities.

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A flat panel is three dimensional as well, but the center panel is recessed (though still flat) and framed by two stiles (rectilinear panels at either side) and two rails (panels at top and bottom). This construction is not simply decorative. It was developed (hundreds of years ago!) to keep the door shape stable with fluctuating temperatures and moisture. Popular examples are Shaker and Craftsman style. You can also find some additional variation, with a glass insert that replaces some or all of the center panel (much like a true divided light window), or a beadboard center panel for a country or cottage effect.

Shaker design has always been as clean and simple as possible with no unnecessary details, and we feel we’ve nailed it with this Pedestal design.

Need more cabinet inspiration? Click and check out these kitchen renovations completed by us.

With the many benefits of updating your kitchen, we encourage you to contact us to speak with our KSI kitchen experts.

We are offering free consultation for your plan and budget control. We can sit down with you to discuss your vision for your kitchen.

Whether you’re looking to make the necessary updates to increase the marketability of your home, increase the functionality of the room, or create more storage space to help with organization, we can help you create the kitchen of your dreams.