How to Choose Kitchen Cabinets

How to Choose Kitchen Cabinets

Saratoga, CA

How to choose kitchen cabinets

The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the house. This is where you can create delicious meals to bring friends and family together. Because the kitchen cabinet plays a vital role in creating the culinary masterpiece, it's imperative to choose the right one.

The perfect kitchen cabinet can inspire innovation and mouthwatering creations as well as provide maximum functionality in the kitchen.

With that in mind, get your kitchen renovated with Future Vision Remodeling.

Read to find out more about choosing the perfect kitchen cabinets.

Guide to Choosing Kitchen Cabinets

San Mateo, CA

You can use several factors to decide which kind of kitchen cabinets are right for you. The kitchen cabinets are the most prominent feature in the room, so selecting an aesthetically pleasing style is vital to creating successful kitchen design. You want a style that fits your desires, needs, and aesthetic preferences.

When it comes to choosing your kitchen cabinet, you might need to consider:

  • The proper amount of space to store a complete dinner set for a large family
  • Where to display your grandmother’s cookbook
  • How to organize cutlery and cooking vessels

Types of Cabinets

When it comes to picking the cabinet type, the first step is to determine if you want your kitchen to contain all or some of the four basic cabinets. These include:

  • The base: Located under the counter
  • Wall-mounted
  • Tall: stand-alone
  • Specialty units: hutches, bottle racks, and corner cabinets.

After that, you will need to select the proper cabinet grade, which includes:

  • Ready to assemble

These are also called RTA cabinets, and they are often found in large retail stores. RTA is affordable but less durable. Not all of these will require a professional to help you install because of their relative simplicity.

  • Stock

You can buy stock cabinets directly from the manufacturer. Since they are sold in specific sizes, you will have less flexibility in selecting the ones you want. They are generally affordable and have higher quality and durability than RTA cabinets.

  • Semi-custom

These cabinets are often made with custom doors and shelves. You can choose the type of material and size that you want.

  • Custom

These cabinets offer unlimited options, so they tend to be high-quality and a little bit more expensive. With that in mind, you have total control over the type of hardware, style, material, and construction when it comes to this type of grade.

Selecting the proper construction

Millbrae, CA

Another vital component for selecting kitchen cabinets is the construction factor.

There are two types of cabinet construction – the framed and frameless construction.

The framed cabinet has stiles and rails that create a 1.5-inch base frame at the front. It is often attached to the front door to provide extra strength and durability. With this type of construction, cabinets are easier to hang from above and can be made using a vaeiety of materials.

The frameless construction has become very popular in the US despite its European style. It provides a modern look by excluding the face frame and relying on denser box construction for maximal stability. However, only overlay doors can be used with this type of construction, mainly because the hinges are attached directly to the side of the kitchen cabinet.=

Overlay

Overlay typically means how much the door can lie on top of the face frame.

The standard overlay doors are more affordable and do not require sophisticated hardware. Because they have exposed face frames, there is enough space to open drawers and doors without using a knob.

The full overlay cabinets have a beautiful, customized appearance, and the door covers the entire face frame.

If you want to add more to the style, you can incorporate a double door cabinet with full overlay. They don't have a vertical face frame between the doors, so you can easily use them to store any large items like pans or serving platters.

A full overlay cabinet looks exquisite with any modernized kitchen design because they provide a customized appearance.

The overlay cabinets are perfect additions to smaller kitchen size because they offer maximum interior storage space and access.

The inset cabinet utilizes the door inside the face frame instead of having the door on top of the cabinet box. The decorative hinge can fit the door inside the opening of the frame. The inset cabinet can produce an elegant design that is ideal for a large kitchen because it takes up more space.

These types of cabinets are more expensive because the construction methods are more complex. However, if your budget permits, then they are a luxurious investment that can breathe new life into your kitchen.

Cabinet Style

Santa Clara, CA

There are various cabinet styles, construction, and door types to choose from. In this section, we will show you different styles to help you select cabinets that fit your personality.

  • Arched cathedral

The door panel provides an arched window. The shape can be either raised or recessed within the door frame. This type of style goes very well with the kitchen cabinet upper wall.

  • Beaded

The interior panel has stripes that are created by a double or single groove. These are mainly beads in woodworking and can be combined with other types of styles.

  • Glass inset

They are basically doors that have windows in the cabinet.

  • Mission

These are flat panel doors that have square frame molding that is simple and clean. They are made of oak and stained wood grain to highlight their modernize features.

  • Raised panel

The center of the panel is slightly raised by a groove around the molding, therefore creating a more traditional style and appearance.

  • Shaker

They look very similar to the mission style cabinets, but they tend to have a narrower frame. The main focus of the style is for durability and functionality.

  • Slab

This is the most minimalist selection for the kitchen cabinet. They don't have any panels, ornamentation, or moldings. They utilize the push-to-open or finger ledge mechanism to get rid of the hardware.

Doors Versus Drawers

If you are looking for ways to maximize your storage, then it’s highly recommended to get as many base cabinet drawers as possible.

Drawers provide more space, which is optimal for storing pans, dishes, cookware, and pots. If you prefer doors, you can check out the pullout shelf hidden behind the cabinet door.

There are also doors that have a slide-out track system, eliminating the need for bending down to access hard to reach locations.

Exposed Shelves

If you want something organized and have a unique storage system, then expose shelf is the way to go. It creates a casual appearance, and it's optimal for small spaces because it can open up rooms to make it look bigger.

Open shelves can also expand storage spaces for personal usage. In addition to that, expose shelves are more economically friendly and easier to use. If you are craving for a kitchen upgrade, then it's more affordable to opt for an open shelf system.

These types of shelves can be combined with the traditional cabinet to create space for your favorite cookbooks, vases, and dishes. The best way to do this is to add one shelf over the sink or place a high shelf for display purposes.

Tips to choosing kitchen cabinets

San Jose, CA

Choosing cabinets can be a difficult task. However, with these tips and tricks, we can show you how to select kitchen cabinets that will brighten up your kitchen.

  • Cabinet Door Profile

The cabinet doors are the most noticeable features in the kitchen, so the style of the door plays a significant role in the decision-making process.

The best way to narrow down the choices is to select the appropriate door profile. The most common door profiles are the raised arch, recessed miter, slab, and recessed square.

After finding the cabinet profile, it's time to narrow down on style. This is often based on the budget and profile. It is highly recommended to go to the store and check out samples and photos of the top three styles on your phone.

All you have to do is take a maximum of four photos, then leave the cabinet samples alone. After that, look through the photos, and delete the ones that don't fit your taste. This can easily lead to the right choice.

  • Wood type and color

When it comes to kitchen renovations, people often know their dream color and what kind of wood they want. If you are clueless, then definitely ask the kitchen designer to help you out.

Usually, renovators opt for the ornate dark cherry wood cabinet or the bright white cabinet doors.

After you have decided on the style and color, then it's time to think about the functionality of the cabinet.

  • Beauty and Functionality

You want your kitchen to have both beauty and brains, and to do that, it's time for you to do some soul-searching.

Some people like to have more drawers under the countertop rather than the shelf. That means you will have to decide on the type of style that will add personality, texture, and decoration to your kitchen.

Another style to check out is the Quiet-Close, which is a hardware that connects to the hinge, which interacts when the door is one inch from closing. This will create a soothing and silent self-closing movement. That means, no more door slamming or leaving the drawers open, they will shut all the way on their own. This is definitely the type of function that most quiet individuals often dream about for their kitchen cabinets.

  • Organize the cabinets

In order to have maximum creativity to produce a wonderful culinary mouthwatering dish, it's vital to have an organized system for your kitchen cabinet. There are a lot of great options, such as a wall message center or utensil pantry pull-outs.

  • Maximize the Cabinets

An efficient kitchen is a happy one, so you want to maximize every inch of it. An excellent place to start expanding your space is the kitchen island.

You can use barstool or the entire space for organizing purposes. Keep in mind that a SuperCabinet, Lazy Susan, or pots and pan pullout can make your life more comfortable.

With all these options in mind, you can design your kitchen with aesthetic features and functionality in mind.

Kitchen Cabinet Trends

Wall cabinets in the present-day era often extend to the ceiling, creating more space for storing cookware and serving ware.

Wall cabinets can also be expanded to full length proportion stretching from the floor to the ceiling. This creates a space to house both appliances and cookbooks.

As for material, plywood is often preferred because of its longevity and durability.

Cherry word offers a rich and dark finishing touch for any large cabinets. If you want something more exotic, definitely go for bamboo, mahogany, Anglade, and Sapele.

Kitchen Hardware Trends

Hayward, CA

European style cabinets with frameless features provide more storage and are more affordable than the traditional style cabinets.

A soft-close feature on the drawer can be created with hinges that provide built-in functions, but it could also add to the cost.

Another luxurious add-on is the touchless cabinet or handleless cabinet, which will eventually move into the mainstream. This is a useful application for waste/recycling drawers.

Now let's get into the jewel of your kitchen, which is the hardware. When it comes to hardware, always request for adjustable doors that allows the installer to create a uniform appearance and function. Don't forget to opt for a recessed bottom or valance to go under cabinet light fixture.

There are affordable semi-custom cabinets that provide a spacious area for pull out pantries and spice organizers.

Take Home Message

When it comes to kitchen renovation, we often ask how to pick out kitchen cabinets that will improve the appearance and functionality of the kitchen.

Fortunately, with all of these tips and tricks, you will be able to find the kitchen cabinet of your dreams.

You can also go to the store and talk to a kitchen designer to ask for samples and pictures. The designer can also show you how to pick cabinets that will fit the decor of your kitchen as well as giving you more space to place your cooking tools and dishes.

At the end of the day, you can get your kitchen renovated with Future Vision Remodeling.