Step 2: Style selection
Breaking Down Cabinet Door Styles by Category
Knowing the terminology is half the battle when beginning the style selection process. Here are some over-arching terms that should help you more easily navigate the world of cabinetry styles.
In order to help get you started towards choosing a door style for your kitchen, here are some over-arching categories from which you should be able to more easily target your end result.
Each category below will show you a couple of door styles available from Kitchen Craft, and give you some insight as to the specific characteristics of those styles.
Standard Shaker Door Styles
Certainly one of the most popular style choices in recent years is the shaker door. No matter if you choose a wood species, such as maple, cherry, rustic alder or rift oak, or perhaps a painted style using maple or MDF (medium density fibreboard) as the core, shaker styles fit right in with many different home decor layouts.
The main reason for this is that shaker styles are known as “transitional” doors. Meaning that they provide a nice balance or ‘transition’ between both traditional and modern styles.
Shaker door styles have a few common characteristics, such as a square profile and uniform rails and stiles (the vertical and horizontal ‘frame’ around the door), as well as a flat centre panel on the doors and also the 5-piece drawer fronts, however they are not restricted to a simple edge design.
For example, take a look at the two doors pictured above. While they are both considered to be shaker, the addition of edge detailing can easily take the overall look to the next level, creating something very unique.
Wide Rail Shaker Door Styles
While the shaker style has an almost universal appeal with kitchen renovators, sometimes your individual style and taste calls for something a little more dramatic and substantial.
Enter the wide rail shaker door styles. While still maintaining the basic appeal of standard shaker doors, these heavyweights take shaker up a notch with rails and stiles that are wider, and give a new perspective to a door style that you thought you knew.
Above are a couple of examples of wide rail shaker door styles. Note not only the wider shaker frame, but also the availability of even more pronounced edge detailing for those who are searching for a look that’s both clean, and elegant at the same time.
Raised Panel Door Styles
Next on our list are raised panel door styles.
Hinting just slightly more towards a more traditional look and feel, raised panel doors have been, and continue to be another popular option for many people when either remodeling their existing kitchen, or starting from scratch with a brand new build.
While our shaker doors feature flat centre panels on the doors and drawer fronts, raised panel styles feature, you guessed it, a raised profile. Below are a couple of examples of raised panel doors, each one offering a different design aesthetic, along with their own unique profiling details.
Notice that, even though both of the doors shown above feature the unmistakable raised centre panel on the doors, their drawer fronts are quite different, with one raised and one flat centre drawer panel.
Slab Door Styles
Presenting themselves with the total absence of any type of profile, our slab door styles are perfect for those who are searching for a more modern, contemporary feel in their new space.
Along with that sleeker look, these door styles lend themselves quite well when everyday functions like easy-cleaning or an overall more streamlined presence within the room.
Slab door styles are available in many wood species, and even more finish combinations, giving you a broad palette to draw from when planning and creating your dream kitchen.
What About Something Completely Different?
For those of you out there who are looking for something that’s a bit more unique, and want to make a real statement with the door style they choose for their new space, here are a few ideas.
The sky is literally the limit when you’re considering which door style to feature in your home. Beyond the physical door style itself (shaker, wide rail, raised or slab) you have even more options with Kitchen Craft. Here are just a few of them:
- Beaded panel doors
- Painted doors
- PureStyle™ standard and premium textured woodgrain
- Exotic species choices like bamboo
- Acrylic doors with some ultra-modern finishes
- Even finishes that are hand-brushed for an authentic, specialty look and feel
Remember that you can rely on the experience and expertise of your Kitchen Craft designer and their extended team to create a kitchen design you will love.