Cabinet doors are incredibly versatile and can significantly impact a kitchen’s look. But with so many material and style options, how do you make the best choice for clients? Here’s an all-encompassing explanation of kitchen cabinet door materials and how they impact kitchen aesthetics.
Exploring the Variety of Kitchen Cabinet Doors
This section explores cabinet door styles, what kitchen cabinet doors are made of, cabinet maintenance door and more.
Cabinet Door Styles
As you explore the best cabinet doors for your clients, one of the first things to explore is the available styles. Here are the most popular:
- Shaker: Known for their box-shaped appearance and recessed center panel, shaker cabinet doors are timeless and simple. They fit any kitchen design, perfect for clients who want a one-and-done kitchen remodel.
- Craftsman: Craftsman doors are similar to shaker cabinets with a more rustic feel.
- Recessed: Cabinets with a recessed center panel are well-suited to farmhouse and contemporary kitchens.
- Raised panel: These cabinet doors add a decorative element to a kitchen. They add dimension and are even more beautiful when stained.
- Slab: Clients looking for a modern kitchen style will enjoy slab doors, which have a sleek, flat front.
- Beaded panel: Beachfront, coastal or farmhouse properties rise to a new level with beaded panel cabinet doors. These doors have grooved panels that add a decorative, modern touch to a classic recessed cabinet.
- Glass doors: Brighten up your client’s space with glass cabinet doors perfect for showcasing dinnerware.
While homeowners love all of these styles, shaker cabinet doors remain the most popular, with slab cabinet doors also rising in popularity.
Cabinet Door Materials
Onto the best kitchen cabinet door materials:
- Solid Wood: Wood cabinet doors can be made from various species, including maple, cherry, hickory and birch. While solid wood cabinets are the most durable, they’re typically the most expensive.
- Plywood Panel: Not quite as durable but more affordable than solid wood, plywood cabinet doors are a budget-friendly choice.
- Medium-Density Fiberboard (MDF): Ideal for painting and resistant to warping, medium-density fiberboard doors are strong and affordable.
- Hybrid: Hybrid kitchen cabinet doors have the appearance of wood with the benefits of MDF.
- Thermally Textured Surfaces (TTS): TTS cabinet doors also replicate the look of wood, and they resist warping making them ideal for high humidity climates. These doors are also resistant to scratching and abrasions.
- Decorative Laminate Veneer: These doors are versatile, offering the durability and stability of wood at a lower price.
There is a material and price point for all of your client’s needs. Additionally, you find High Gloss and Super Matte as alternative materials on the rise in popularity.
Cabinet Door Maintenance
Clients will have varying patience for performing maintenance, so here’s how the popular cabinet door materials stack up.
Solid wood cabinet doors require the most maintenance. They must be cleaned with nonabrasive, wood-specific cleaning products, and fixing scratches or damage may be challenging, but touch-up tools are available. MDF cabinets are susceptible to water damage, so homeowners will have to be certain to dry cabinet doors completely after wiping them down.
Plywood, Wood Veneer, DLV and TTS cabinet doors are easy to maintain and can be wiped down with a damp cloth whenever necessary.
Cabinet Door Manufacturing Processes
High-quality cabinet door manufacturers have their own mill where they cut wood supply into standard, predefined sizes. These companies utilize reliable machinery and continually invest in technology like robotics to help ensure unmatched cabinet door quality. It’s not all about the tech, though — also essential is employing craftspeople who are experts at their trade.
Cabinet Door Quality
The best cabinet door depends on your client’s preferences and budget. For example, solid wood doors are often touted as the best quality cabinet door material, being extremely sturdy and offering a long life span. However, solid wood doors come with a higher price, require more maintenance and can be prone to warping amid humidity changes. Wood veneer is a less expensive alternative that doesn’t compromise on durability and stability. TTS and DLV cabinet doors replicate the look of wood but are less prone to warping.
Why Cabinet Door Style Matters: The Role of Cabinet Style in Defining Kitchen Spaces
Below, we’ll explore the ways kitchen cabinet doors define kitchen spaces.
The Influence of Door Design and Material on Kitchen Aesthetics
Here are cabinet door types that work well with four popular kitchen aesthetics:
- Contemporary and modern: Recessed kitchen doors work well in contemporary homes. Slab cabinet doors are sleek and elegant, perfect for modern kitchens.
- Farmhouse: Farmhouse kitchens can be rustic and often feature painted cabinets in colors like Fern green. Shaker, Recessed, and glass doors are great choices for farmhouse kitchens.
- Traditional: Traditional kitchens use natural elements and neutral colors like deep cherry. Recessed cabinets bring a subtle elegance to traditional kitchens. Shaker cabinets are also timeless and thus can be a choice for traditional kitchens.
- Transitional: Transitional kitchens blend contemporary and traditional styles, and nothing says versatility and simplicity like a Shaker style door.
It takes a keen eye to match cabinet door styles to kitchen themes. Aside from ensuring the design and material are cohesive with the rest of the kitchen, you’ll want to consider paint colors, stains and treatment options.
Leveraging the Versatility of Different Door Styles for Unique Kitchen Designs
Unique kitchens often feature geometric tiles, patterns, unusual hardware, bright colors, and unique lighting fixtures. Enhancing an already unique kitchen or designing a new one may take extra thought — luckily, cabinet doors are versatile. You can paint your client’s door style bright colors, paint or stain the lower cabinets or an island a different color from the upper cabinet doors or mix and match styles.
Incorporating Client Preferences in Cabinet Selection
Most clients enter a renovation with specific ideas in mind, and it’s essential to take these into account. It’s their kitchen, after all. Listen to their color, material and style preferences, and show them potential cabinet doors as you find them. Being overly communicative can help avoid delays or unhappy clients.
However, despite the adage “The customer is always right,” sometimes their ideas may not be practical or possible, and it’s important to communicate in those instances as well. For example, if a client wants solid wood doors in a unique speciebut is on a strict budget, you’ll have to find a compromise. Likewise, if they have their heart set on recessed cabinet doors while the rest of their kitchen design is modern, you can communicate why slab cabinets might be optimal.
The Environmental Impact of Different Types of Door Designs
Conestoga Wood Specialties has achieved the KCMA’s Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP) certification in 2008 and has retained certification every year since. When you work with Conestoga, you give clients peace of mind that their products come from a sustainably minded manufacturing company.
Work With Conestoga Wood Specialties to Source Custom Cabinets
Conestoga Wood Specialties is a cabinet door manufacturer that’s become the go-to choice of contractors since 1964. Whether you’re looking for ready-to-assemble cabinets, want to narrow your options based on material or explore according to door style, we have the customizable options to wow your clients.
Our products ship on time 99% of the time, and you can experience the dependability for yourself when you work with us. Contact us online to get in touch with a representative!