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American or European? Framed or frameless? Full overlay or overlay? Ready-to-assemble or custom? Inset or reverse bevel? What wood species? What color? What size? These questions, and many more, will come up when you start looking for new kitchen cabinetry. They can be overwhelming if you’re just getting started and your kitchen design ideas are still stewing in your mind. All these questions are only compounded when you look at the price tags and see the wide price variance in kitchen cabinetry. You might ask yourself then, “what makes this cabinet different from that one?” Read on to learn about the major different kinds of kitchen cabinets and how to tell high quality cabinets from others.

It is first important to know that there are two main types of cabinets: framed and frameless. Framed cabinet design is associated with the American school of kitchen design. Bordered by a 1 ” piece of wood, framed cabinets have doors that “lip” over the frame. These doors can come in standard overlay (partial overlay over the frame), full overlay, and inset (situated within the frame so that the door is flush).

Frameless cabinets, on the other hand, are often used in European cabinetry design. These cabinets do not use the 1 ” piece of wood for a frame – the doors and hinges are directly attached to the walls of the cabinet, which have to be slightly thicker than their framed counterparts for this reason. Frameless, or European, doors tend to have a wider opening and are more accessible since the frame doesn’t impinge.

Framed cabinets are often installed in more conservative kitchens for their traditional aesthetic. Doors on this type of cabinet are usually more ornate and may feature crowned molding. Frameless cabinets are better for smaller spaces and fit in well with modern style kitchens. Whichever type of cabinet you end up choosing, you should also keep in mind that some appliance makers design their products to fit only one type of cabinet. For example, high-end European designers like Gaggenau and Fagor streamline their cabinets for frameless cabinets, while other companies like GE and American Blue Star build for framed cabinets with wider flanges.

But what makes some of these cabinets more expensive than others? What determines a kitchen cabinet’s quality? The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) says there are a number of features related to quality, form, and function that determine a cabinet’s price. These variables include construction quality, door styles (molding adds substantially to the cost), the joints, hinges, drawer glides, hardware, storage options, and materials and finishes.

Once you decide if you want to go with frameless or framed kitchen cabinetry and start looking at the different lines of kitchen cabinets, you might start to ask yourself what, if any, other differences there are. The NKBA recognizes multiple grades of kitchen cabinet quality, based on these factors:

• Construction system
• Material specification
• Hinge hardware
• Finish system
• Interior accessories
• Styling
• Guarantee
• Relative cost
• Degree of customization available

 

Recognizing the tangible and intangible differences between the different levels of kitchen cabinet quality will help you understand the wide price variance in the kitchen cabinet market and led you to a wise final decision as you work your way through our kitchen design process. So, you ask, what are the most important kitchen cabinetry features to compare? The most important features when you look at kitchen cabinets are undoubtedly style, quality of the finish, and type of drawer action.

Look for cabinet drawers with a smooth slide and a positive closure. A good drawer guide, like the Blum Smartrac FX, will be strong enough to hold 75 lbs while still sliding smoothly. Besides weight capacity, your choice of a cabinet with a good drawer action will mostly come down to a question of feel.

The primary reason most Americans begin a kitchen remodel, after failure of a major appliance, is the deterioration of the finish on their kitchen cabinets. The natural oils on our hands can deteriorate a lesser quality lacquer finish on a cabinet door and eventually leave a visible discoloration. This is in addition to common spills and cooking residue that over time can wear out builder-grade and shop-built finishes. Determining a high-quality wood finish on a kitchen cabinet can take a practiced eye. The best wood cabinet finishes use a multi-step process of sanding, sealing, hand-wipe staining, finish coating of conversion varnish and baking in specialty ovens. If you look closely at the cabinet door you can see these flaws in lower quality kitchen cabinets:

• Stains in the crevices
• Dirt particles trapped under the finish
• Rougher areas to the touch where it wasn’t uniformly sanded
• A murky look where the natural grain has been masked – the result of poor toner stain
• And other flaws that your kitchen designer can point out

 

An interesting fact that you might find counterintuitive is that local cabinet shops that advertise custom cabinetry do not always produce higher quality custom kitchen cabinets since they rarely have the capital to invest in the state of the art finishing equipment that manufacturers who deal exclusively through kitchen dealers have invested in. When you’re going through our kitchen design process, make sure to keep the importance of a high-quality finish on kitchen cabinets in mind.

Gary Case is the owner of Signature Kitchens, Additions & Baths, a leading home design and remodeling firm in the Washington, D.C. area.

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