Modern Kitchen Cabinets: What Are Your Options?
Today people want the design and finish of their kitchen cabinets to flow seamlessly with the kitchen theme and color of the kitchen. When it comes to choosing kitchen cabinets people do so according to their own unique preferences and thus there is a wide variety of kitchen cabinets and accessories available. Before making the final selection it is prudent to know about all the varieties of modern kitchen cabinets available and here is a brief overview.
Kitchen cabinets are available in a variety of materials like wood, shiny polyester and plastic laminate, stainless steel or even glass in frosted, clear, etched, ribbed and leaded varieties. For wooden doors people are choosing maple over oak and cherry comes next. They are followed by hickory and pine as preferred wood. Due to its natural knotted look alder is also making its presence felt. The exotic wood varieties like mahogany are also becoming increasingly popular.
Modern kitchen come in frame and frameless constructions. But when it comes to door style the variety is wide ranging from plain and simple, flat, raised or curved or the ones that are intricately carved. There are the inset and lipped doors and full overlay or partial overlay furnish the clean lines that one associates more with the modern designs. However you are not done until you have decided on the finish. If you want to retain the natural beauty of the wood the go for light stains. You can also go for the painted and glazed finishes. However for that unique look there are the crackled or distressed finishes. To further personalize the look you can add pulls and knobs of your choice.
What lies behind the door is also very important. The cabinet box can be of framed or frameless construction. In the framed variety the parts are held together by wood joinery with vertical styles and horizontal rails securing the door to the cabinet box and the door is attached to the face frame with hinges. On the other hand, in frameless kitchen cabinets no front frame is used and the thick side panels give rigidity to the box. The door is fitted to the end or side panels with the help of special hardware fittings.
The frameless style is cleaner, as the doors lie flush with one another and is known as the European style. The framed style is known as the American style. In the European style modern kitchen cabinets the access is slightly easier because there are no stiles or rails to block the way and offer 10 percent more storage space. In many cases the center stile in the double door types is eliminated to provide easy accessibility for oversize bowls, plates and dishes.
Contrary to popular belief solid wood is rarely used for making modern kitchen cabinet boxes, rather it is used in doors. As the moisture levels in the kitchen tend to fluctuate solid wood tends to warp. The box material usually contains wood byproducts like wood chips and synthetic additives to make them warp resistant and strong. You can choose from plywood, furniture grade flakeboard, medium density fiberboard (MDF) or particleboard. All these materials have good durability and screw holding power. Although the modern kitchen cabinet box and door are usually constructed from different materials they are given the same finish to present a unified look.
