The different types of kitchen cabinet doors

Examining differences in kitchen cabinet doors

Whenever it comes to the kitchen cabinet doors during your decision making on your new or remodeled kitchen, the question is more about taste and favors than anything else. This article wants to give you a little more insights on what to look for when you decide which doors you will put on your kitchen cabinet. Apart of many obvious things like material and color, you might want to have a closer look on some details of kitchen cabinet doors.

Two basic types of kitchen cabinet doors

First of the typical board or panel type cabinet door is the most common nowadays. Made out of plywood it is either coated with laminate or veneer. Available in all shapes or sizes, panel doors are much cheaper to manufacture than framed.

Framed kitchen cabinet doors are the traditional way of door making. While a simple board of massif wood would not be kept flat over time, a frame is constructed where the insert wooden panel is fixed in a groove. Framed kitchen cabinet doors can have a panel set in made of either wood or many other materials, such as glass or even laminated panels.

If you go for framed doors you should check the way the corner joint of the frame is done. Basically three types can be differentiated:

The most common and durable joint is the mortise and tenon joint. Being also the most time consuming to make, only high end kitchen cabinet doors are done in this matter. The tongue and groove joint often combined with a dowel is more often used nowadays, giving the doors enough stability.

The third category of kitchen cabinet doors are glass doors. Mostly used around kitchen island cabinets, they allow an interesting additional design element in the kitchen. If you happen to have one or more kitchen cabinet doors made of glass, you should have a look on the hinges used to hold it. Look for high quality durable hinges otherwise your glass doors might bevel quite a lot.

To sum it up, when you decide on your kitchen cabinet doors keep in mind not just material and color, but also the way the are fabricated. Especially on framed doors you should have a close look on the corner joint. On kitchen cabinet doors made of glass take a look on the hinges offered.