Cabinet Materials

The first step to choosing the right cabinet is deciding what tone you want for your home.  Cabinets generally come in two major styles: European or face frame.  In European style cabinets, doors and drawer fronts serve as a full overlay, completely covering the cabinet and space behind them while increasing storage space. The wood between doors and drawer fronts are visible in face framing, similar to craftsman style. However, face framing requires wood spacers that forces pullout shelves to be smaller than the European style pullouts.

Once the overall structural style is chosen, the material type can be picked.  Although there a multitude of different cabinet materials available, these solid hardwoods, wood veneers and synthetics are currently the most popular.

Common Solid hardwoods;

Alder This solid hardwood has remained popular due to lower cost, broad range of available stain colors, and subtle grain appearance.  Alder’s natural nut brown undertones allow it to take stain similar to a light colored maple, a dark walnut, or even a red cherry.  It is a softer wood within the hard wood category, so not very resistant to nick and dings.   Great economical choice for raised panel stained wood with a high end look in the rustic and traditional kitchen styles

Poplar This hardwood is best suited to be painted because its natural green undertones make staining more difficult.  It is an economic choice for the white cabinet look such as a French country kitchen; however, it is a bit softer than maple or oak so it’s not as good at resisting nicks.  Lifestyle and function determine if this is the right choice for you.  For example, families with small children or high kitchen traffic should expect more nick repair and refinishing over time.  Poplar is a good choice for high end decorative trim such as wainscoating and crown moldings and is more durable when compared to standard medium density fiberboard (mdf).

Cherry Cherry is a beautiful traditional choice offering durability and those classic rich red undertones.    It is often chosen for formal traditional kitchens and studies.  Cost is the greatest limitation of a cherry wood choice.  Alder can be stained to match much of the red undertones of cherry but it lacks its durability.

Maple This  hardwood is both strong and versitle with a mild grain pattern.  It can be stained in all shades from natural to very dark and will hold paint with excellent durability.  The cost is a bit higher than poplar or alder, but maple will hold up better in the long run.  It is a great choice for high traffic kitchens and where durability is the major concern.

Wood Veneers:  A wood veneer cabinet door consists of a thin sheet of hardwood which is applied over a thicker resin particle board or MDF (medium density fiberboard).  Most hardwoods can be made into a veneer so there are many wood choices possible.  Wood veneers are best used for cabinets fabricated in a flat wide style that do not have a raised panel.  Solid wood doors constructed in this style do not resist warping, but the resin particle board or mdf can.  Natural wood veneers provide a clean flat finished look commonly seen in contemporary kitchens.  The strength of the natural hardwood used for the veneer determines the durability of the surface.  The cost for wood veneer cabinets is about the same as that of a solid wood door.  Traditional raised panel cabinets are not typically done in wood veneer as they resist warping.

Synthetic cabinets are made in a similar fashion as the wood veneer except the veneer is a synthetic PVC material.  These cabinets are typically more durable and cost less than hardwoods.  They are frequently used in utility areas such as garages and laundry rooms.

Accessorizing your cabinets with specialized hardware dramatically affects the operation, function, and feel of your cabinets.  The following hardware options can be installed in all of the cabinet construction styles discussed:

Drawer glides

Full extension side mount drawer and pull out shelf glides:  Typical drawer extension leaves 15-20% of the drawer under the counter even when fully extended.  Adding full extension features provides much better access and durability.  An auto close option can be added to the full extension glide system to prevent the drawer or shelf from boucning back open.   The auto close feature essentially pulls the drawer closed and holds it tight.  The glides come in a undermount option which allow them to be hidden from view.

Hinges A soft close option for hinges is a wonderful feature which prevents doors from being slammed.  This is very important for panels containing glass and in homes with small children.

Cabinet Body: The structure of the cabinet behind closed doors and out of view is typically constructed from thermofused melamine.  Although not seen except when doors or drawers are open, they can come in a variety of colors.  Lacquered birch plywood is an upgraded material option for the cabinet body  construction.  The drawer body and pullout shelf is also typically constructed from thermofused melamine but can often be seen upgraded to laquered birch plywood with dovetail joints for added strength and durability.

There are an endless amount of cabinet accessory options that enhance the function and feel of a kitchen.  Interior cabinet options include carousels, lazy susans, spice drawers, vertical tray dividers, and multitude of trash pullout combinations.  Many popular exterior cabintry style options include:  decorative hoods, large multistep crown mouldings, plant on door side panels, flush toe kicks(furnature look), island furniture legs, and integrated appliance panels.

Choosing cabintry and accessories is one of the most exciting parts of kitchen remodeling, yet the variety of options can be duanting.  Choosing an experienced, knowlegable, and quality remodeler can help ease the process and ensure the creation of your beautiful kitchen.