Learn about the pieces that make up a kitchen cabinet so you can pick the ones you like the best when buying new or giving the ones you have a facelift.
There are almost endless options when choosing the look of your kitchen cabinets whether you are buying new cabinets or giving the ones you have a makeover.
I never really gave much thought to the parts of cabinets before I started wanting to fix up the ones I had to match my style more.
Kitchen cabinets don’t seem complicated when you open the drawers and doors to use them each day.
But when you start to look into replacing cabinet doors or hinges or buying new cabinets kitchen cabinets parts names can get confusing.
Heck, I still find it confusing sometimes…there are so many options to choose from and terms that are used interchangeably.
Let’s take the mystery out of the terms used for the parts of a kitchen cabinet!
Table of Contents
- How to Choose Cabinets
- Cabinet Frame Styles
- Types of Cabinet Doors and Drawers
- Kitchen Cabinet Door Hinges
- Kitchen Cabinet Hardaware
- FAQ About Kitchen Cabinet Makeovers
How to Choose Cabinets
The choices you make when picking out cabinets are made from your own personal preference.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to get the cabinet decision making juices flowing:
1. How do you want your cabinet to look?
Do you like modern clean lines or more traditional details?
2. What decor styles do you like?
This can be a hard question to answer, because many people like several different styles or a mixture of styles.
I’ve come to realize that I like modern pieces for the foundation of my home decor, like cabinets, and light fixtures. And bohemian, handmade, natural, colorful, and global textures as accents.
You can see what I mean in a post I wrote while refreshing my entryway recently, how to perfect modern bohemian style.
3. What do you think looks good in your home?
Often times a home may dictate what style cabinets you should choose.
You may not want to use modern cabinets in a home that already has a traditional theme if you want to keep with that style.
Choosing cabinets or any decor in your home comes down to what you love, what you want to look at every day, and how you want it to function.
Cabinet Frame Styles
One of the first considerations when choosing cabinets is the frame style. There are two different styles to choose from, framed or frameless.
Cabinets are basically built as boxes.
Then, they either have a frame added to the front or they don’t.
Framed Cabinets
Cabinets are called framed cabinets when a frame, is added to the front of the box of the cabinet (think picture frame).
Above are my current framed kitchen cabinets. See how there are pieces of wood on the front of the cabinet that the door sits on and is attached to?
Pros:
- You can have any choice overlay (door style) for your cabinet doors if you have cabinets with face frames. (see types of kitchen cabinet doors below)
- A frame adds strength to the construction of the cabinet.
Cons:
- They have slightly less openness to the front because of the frame that takes up space on the front of the cabinet. It can be more difficult to get bulky items in and out of the cabinet.
Frameless Cabinets
When the cabinet box is left without a frame on the front of the cabinets, they are called frameless or European.
This obviously is not a kitchen cabinet. It’s my bathroom vanity cabinet. But it’s a good example of a frameless cabinet.
See how there is no frame on the front of the box of the cabinet and the doors are attached to the sides of the box, different than the framed cabinet above?
Pros:
- Fully open in front. Can be easier to move bulky items in and out of the cabinet.
Cons:
- Only can use full overlay (door style) for your cabinets without frames (see types of kitchen cabinet doors below).
Types of Cabinet Doors and Drawers
Another part you will have to make a decision on when choosing kitchen cabinets is the way you want your cabinet doors to look on the cabinets or the amount of space around the doors.
There are three main types of cabinet doors/drawers to consider.
What does cabinet door overlay mean?
Cabinet door overlay means how much the door covers the front or face of the cabinet.
Full Overlay Doors
Full overlay cabinet doors do just what they say they do…they fully lay over the front of the cabinet.
As you can see on my bathroom vanity cabinet above, the doors cover almost all of the front of the cabinet and there is very little space in between them.
If you are looking at cabinets with full overlay doors, they will have a tiny space (usually 1/4-1/8 inch) on the bottom, top, and sides of the cabinet door with very little of the front of the cabinet showing through.
When you look at them, they are the cabinet doors/drawers that are the closest to each other.
If you have frameless cabinets, these are the type of doors you will have.
However, if you have framed cabinets, you may have them also. As I mentioned in the framed cabinets section, one of the pros to having cabinets with a face frame is that they can accept any of these three types of cabinet doors.
Full overlay cabinet doors are usually thought of as being more of a modern style, especially when they are on a frameless cabinet.
Partial Overlay Doors
Partial overlay cabinet doors cover some of the front of a cabinet.
My kitchen cabinet doors partially overlay the frames on the front of the cabinets.
The tape measure is on the edge of the face frame and the door is closed showing a 1/2-inch overlay.
Cabinet doors and hinges come in many different sized overlays.
Partial overlay doors can only be installed on a cabinet with a face frame.
Inset Doors and Drawers
Inset cabinet doors or drawers are the ones that are flush with the frame on the front of the cabinet.
They sit perfectly inside the frame of the cabinet.
My nightstands in my bedroom have inset drawers.
Can you see how the drawer sits inside the frame of the cabinet and everything on the front of the cabinet is flat and nothing sticks out?
Replacing your cabinet doors, or refacing your cabinets, is one way you can change the whole look of your cabinets without buying all new cabinets.
Kitchen Cabinet Door Hinges
Another cabinet part to consider when choosing the look you want from your kitchen cabinets are the hinges that make it possible for the doors to swing open and shut.
There are two main types of kitchen cabinet hinges that are used.
Surface Mount Hinges
Surface mount hinges are the hinges that are visible on the outside of the cabinet door.
My current kitchen cabinets have surface mount hinges. They are attached to the front of the cabinet and the door, and can be seen on the side of the doors when the doors are closed.
Concealed Hinges
Concealed cabinet hinges are hidden inside the cabinet.
They are attached to the inside of the face frame or the cabinet box and the inside of the door so you cannot see them on the outside when the doors are closed.
In general, hidden hinges are thought to have a more modern look.
Changing the hinges of your cabinet doors is another way to change the look of your cabinets.
Kitchen Cabinet Hardaware
There are a million different styles of cabinet door and drawer hardware these days.
Once again, cabinet door and drawer hardware are usually chosen according to your preferred decor style and how it looks on the cabinet.
If you look around at pictures of kitchens or even your own friends and family’s, you’ll notice that when it comes to kitchen cabinet hardware just about anything goes.
If you want to update your kitchen cabinets, starting with changing the knobs and pulls is one of the easiest parts of a cabinet to change.
Drawer Pulls
Cabinet drawer pulls are the bigger handles with two screws that attach them to your cabinet.
But they are not just used for drawers anymore. Many people use them as door handles.
Cabinet Knobs
Cabinet knobs are the smaller handles that have one screw that mounts them to your cabinet.
You can use cabinet knob handles on drawers or doors.
No Hardware
Some cabinet doors and drawers don’t have pulls or knobs.
Usually, cabinets without hardware have some sort of opening or groove cut into the cabinet door or drawer where you can slip your fingers behind to pull it open.
There really doesn’t seem to be any rules about cabinet hardware anymore. I see kitchens with all combinations of drawer pulls and knobs on doors and drawers and it doesn’t look weird.
FAQ About Kitchen Cabinet Makeovers
Can I remove or replace the face frame of my existing kitchen cabinets?
It depends on your cabinets. I thought about removing the frames on the front of my cabinets because I wanted the look of full overlay doors. But it seemed like a lot of work when you could replace the hinges and doors with full overlay and get the same look. That’s what I did!
Can I add face frames to my existing cabinets?
I have never done this before, but I presume you could. One of the main things I would keep in mind is to make sure your countertop overhang will not become an under hang when adding wood to the front of your cabinet.
I would think it would work well if you were thinking of having inset cabinet doors. That way you would only be adding the same depth that you started with from your original cabinet doors and the countertop overhang should stay the same.
Can I change the types of cabinet doors on my existing cabinets?
Probably. This is known as refacing your cabinets. You can order cabinet doors from a company or DIY your own.
If you have cabinets with face frames you can use any of the three types of cabinet doors. Just make sure you use the correct hinges.
Remember, if you have cabinets without frames, you can only have full overlay doors.
Can I change the hinges on my cabinet doors?
Probably. Just make sure you get the right hinge for the type of cabinet you have (framed or frameless), the type of door you have (full overlay, partial overlay, inset), and the amount of overlay if it is an overlay door.
Can I change my cabinet knobs to pulls or drawer pulls to knobs?
Possibly. It depends on the finish of your cabinets and where the holes are.
If you have painted cabinets changing the type of cabinet hardware is easier because you can fill in the old holes, if you need to, paint or touch up paint, and start all over by drilling new holes and installing new hardware.
If you have wood cabinets it will probably be pretty obvious if you fill holes and drill new ones, so I wouldn’t recommend switching from drawer pulls (2 holes) to knobs (1 hole).
If you have cabinet knobs and want to change to drawer pulls you may be able to use the one hole from the old knob as one of your 2 holes for the pull. It depends on where the hole is.
Wow! that’s a lot of information about the parts of cabinets, how to choose your favorite cabinet look, and cabinet makeover possibilities.
I hope it helps you understand your cabinet options.
What is your favorite cabinet look? Have you ever made over cabinets before? What parts did you change?
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[…] you’re not sure, or not familiar with any of the terms used above, check out my parts of a kitchen cabinet post where I explained the pieces that cabinets are made up […]
[…] you are not sure what that means check out my post on the parts of a kitchen cabinet, to learn about the pieces that make up a cabinet and/or figure out what kind of cabinets you […]