A short primer on cabinet door styles
Cabinet doors are available in various styles, each providing a unique look and feel for your kitchen or bathroom. The style you choose should reflect your personal taste and complement the overall design of your space. Here’s a brief overview of door styles, face frames, and cabinet door designs.
Raised, Recessed, and Flat Panel doors
Raised, recessed, and flat doors differ primarily in how the center panel is positioned relative to the frame. Raised panels have a center panel that is raised above the frame, recessed panels have a center panel that is recessed within the frame, and flat panels are simply flat and are sometimes called slab.
These three door styles can be utilized for full overlay cabinets or as inset doors.
Inset doors and Overlay doors
The main difference between inset and overlay cabinet doors is how they interact with the cabinet's face-frame. Inset doors are positioned inside the face frame, similar to how regular doors fit within a surrounding frame in a home. In contrast, overlay doors sit on top of the face frame. When closed, inset doors are flush with the cabinet's surface, while overlay doors cover part of the frame. Inset cabinet doors offer a variety of customization options, including hinge types, and the relationship between the face-frame and the doors, allowing for a wide range of aesthetic choices. Let's look at the 2 most popular inset options: Square Inset and Beaded Inset.
Square inset doors with recessed panel
With a square inset door the frame's edges are square or straight. The door fits completely inside the opening, so the face frame is fully visible when the door is closed. This style creates a clean, continuous look where the door and face frame are virtually level.
Square inset door with raised panel
Combining the clean continuous look of the square inset face frame with the traditional raised panel door.
Beaded Inset doors with recessed panel
A beaded inset door is characterized by a subtle, decorative bead or molding that runs along the inside edge of the cabinet frame openings, creating a "frame within a frame" effect around each door and drawer front. This bead adds a touch of elegance and a more traditional, handcrafted look to the overall cabinet design.
Beaded Inset doors with raised panel
Combining the decorative bead of the beaded inset face frame with the traditional raised center panel door.