Kitchens require elaborate planning and designing to suit your domestic requirements and to complement the décor and style of your home. Kitchen cabinets are an extensive part of the room and contribute in a big way to how your kitchen will look.
Whether your kitchen looks old, worn out and dull or bright, sleek and modern depends majorly on the cabinets you choose. But with a large variety of cabinets available in the market, how do you select the right one for your house?
There are certain factors that you must keep in mind while choosing kitchen cabinets. It is also important to know the different types of cabinets for sale and understand what kitchen cabinet types for what purpose.
So here is our buying guide to make your job easier and help you choose new kitchen cabinets that will give your kitchen a vibrant yet cozy ambience.
- Types of Cabinets
There are three basic types of cabinets that you can choose for your kitchen.
- Stock cabinets
Stock cabinets are budget cabinets. These are inexpensive and available for you to pick off the shelf any time. These are mostly completely assembled but some may have to be assembled on site. These are generally made of thin veneered particleboard and have a limited option in styles and design.
- Semi-custom Cabinets
Semi-custom cabinets are mid-level cabinets that are a good choice for any kitchen. You can get a lot of variety with respect to design, color, size and finish. But these are not pure plywood and so there may be some issues in quality.
- Custom Cabinets
Custom cabinets offer you the largest range of color, style, finish and material options. They are also the most expensive and can be designed to suit the dimensions and look of your kitchen specifically.
- Framed or Frameless
Another important feature of cabinets that you will have to make a choice between is the face frame and frameless (European) style cabinets.
In a face frame cabinet, the front plywood or particle board edges of the cabinet box are covered with a hardwood frame. This offers a strong base to the cabinet and a secure spot for attaching the hinges. Face-frame cabinets make use of standard offset hinges. A narrowed opening size of the cabinet is a drawback of face frame cabinets.
Frameless cabinets go well with contemporary designs as they look sleek and match all panel surfaces. The panels on both sides of the cabinet are edged with a laminate strip, and holes are drilled directly into the side panels.
Most ready-to-assemble cabinets available in the market are frameless.
- Cabinet Size
Kitchen cabinets come in certain common sizes.
Base cabinets are 36 inches tall and 24 inches deep. Upper wall cabinets are usually 12 inches deep. Tall cabinets are about 83 inches in height. These may be used as a pantry space or broom cupboard.
Specialty units are custom made units that maximize use of space and functionality. These include corner cabinets or drawers, sink fronts, or suspended units.
