Heart Shaped Box
Hello! Thank you so much for tuning in. It's amazing how much information there is when it comes to renovation and interior design. This podcast is here to break all of that info down into bite-size portions for you and today is no exception. We are going to take a peak into the anatomy of the kitchen cabinet. Whether you are thinking about doing a full gut renovation, looking to do some light touch facelift work, or even just dreaming about your forever home’s kitchen, this episode is for you. You may even be eyeing a kitchen update in the upcoming year, and it can be easy to get caught up in some of the more decorative elements of your kitchen - that's all well and good. But, what’s really going to set your kitchen apart and make it look extraordinary, requires understanding some fundamental basics that make a huge impact on the way your cabinets look, how much storage they can handle, how they function, and how much you pay for them.
Before we get into cabinets, let's look at the color of the week. Last week we were talking all about Pantone’s Color of the Year, but Pantone is not the only company that creates a color of the year based on trend forecasting. Paint company Sherwin Williams announced their color of 2022 to be Evergreen Fog SW 9130. This soft sage-y green is almost gentle enough to be a neutral, but punches up a space with a little old school sophistication. This color looks great when paired with most natural wood tones, saddle colored upholstery, and even blushes and mustard yellow if you want to really spice it up. This color looks particularly great on intricate details, so try using it on your kitchen cabinets, doors, moldings, and paneled walls.
This episode is brought to you by Soft Landing Studio. If you enjoy this podcast and want to take your space to the next level, you can select from a variety of one-on-one virtual consultations about your specific home, office, or retail interior design project. Whether you want a quick brainstorming session, a series of regular check-ins during your renovation, or to work with my full interior design services; you’ll get amazing design ideas, life changing solutions to problems you’d never thought you could resolve, and a space you feel proud to call your own. And for the holiday season, you can now purchase gift certificates for the 45 minute Creative Consultation. This is the perfect gift for the design lover or brand new home owner in your life. Go to www.softlandingstudio.com to schedule your experience now. And while you’re there, don’t forget to download the absolutely free Guide to Getting Started. This fun-filled PDF quiz will orient you at the very beginning of your interior design journey. If you know you aren’t 100% happy in your space, but you don’t know what to do about it, this guide is for you. You will be directed towards big idea solutions, so you’ll know what to do, and most importantly, what not to do. Visit www.softlandingstudio.com for you free copy today.
I had a professor in school who specialized in kitchen cabinetry and millwork, and he always said that cabinets are just a series of boxes on top of boxes, inside of boxes. When you think about it that way, cabinets seem pretty simple. But once those basic boxes are in place, cabinet detailing makes a huge difference in the final aesthetic. These details fall into two main categories. And I say detailing, but please note - what I’m about to tell you will have a radical affect on the look and function of your cabinets. Cabinets are either built frameless or with a face frame. Frameless cabinets are often referred to as European style, they require more precise measurements and careful fitting by a cabinet maker, but they offer more access to the storage inside of your cabinets. If you choose a frameless cabinet style, the cabinet doors will be what’s called “full overlay,” meaning the doors are as large as the cabinet opening plus the thickness of the box that makes the cabinet. This also means door hardware is connected directly to the structure of box inside, or the carcass, which the technical term, so the material that makes up the insides of the cabinets has to be a little thicker to provide strength and structure, even once you drill a hinge into it. Frameless cabinets result in a pretty streamlined and modern look.
When cabinets have a face frame, it's a similar construction to a frameless cabinet but an additional piece is added to the front of the cabinet almost like a picture frame. The frame overhangs slightly on all sides, and this does block a small amount of access to the inside of the cabinet. So for commercial spaces, frameless is the standard because the face frame would naturally get bumped into a lot when people are pulling things in and out of a cabinet. But in the residential world, especially in the United States, face frames are the standard style of cabinet. This is because a face frame allows the cabinet door hardware to be attached to the face frame, rather than the box behind it. This allows for a variety of door sizes and styles. It also allows for thinner board material to construct the carcass of the cabinets. Plus the installation of doors requires slightly less precision and measuring for fitting because there is more of a gap around each door that provides wiggle room. These factors all result in a more affordable cabinet.
If you want to check to see what kind of cabinets you have in your home, look to see if there is a gap between each set of cabinet doors. The gap might be anywhere from half an inch to two inches, and the frame beyond when all the doors are closed should still be visible. These are face frame cabinets. But, if each pair of cabinet doors are so close together they almost touch or have a gap of less than half an inch, try opening the cabinet door. If there is a nice thick piece of trim around each opening, these are face frames, but if you simply see the side of the board of MDF or wood structure of the cabinet, these are frameless cabinets.
With face frame style cabinets, there are several door styles to choose from, and I don’t mean the carving detail or the type trim on the door. I'm talking about the size of the door and how it interacts with the cabinet opening and the face frame. You heard me mention the term “full overlay” for frameless cabinets. You can use full overlay doors on face frame cabinets too. This will provide the more clean look that you get with frameless cabinets, but it can be a more affordable option. There will still need to be some precision in terms of aligning the cabinet doors, making sure they fit together perfectly like pieces of a puzzle but, from the outside you might not be able to tell the difference between frameless and face frame cabinets if there is a full overlay door on top of them.
Next we have the almighty inset cabinet door. This is my current obsession, but I remember there was a time where I did not like this style of door. It's probably the least common, but when you see it, it leaves an impression. This style of door sits completely flush with the face frame, inside the cabinet opening. So rather than the door over laying on top of the face frame, this door actually is inside the cabinet slightly, the front face of the door and the face frame are all on one continuous plane. This style has always reminded me of a vintage wooden advent calendar. As you can imagine the precision, measuring, and craftsmanship required to install this type of cabinet door is high, so in the world of face frame cabinets this is the most expensive option. Additionally, if you are really scraping together as much storage space as you can, this style of door does actually eat into the space within the cabinet because the door is inside the carcass slightly, rather than sitting in front. So you lose about 3/4 of an inch of storage which may be exactly what you need to get the very edge of a pot into a shelf. So precise planning is required. However, these doors can look exceptionally modern when you choose to have contrasting materials between the face frame and the door. This creates a distinctly minimalist aesthetic, but there's still more visual interest than with a frameless cabinet where it's one solid material. If you're like me, there is something really magical about watching a drawer close and set back into a face frame perfectly aligned, that's the kind of millwork craftsmanship that really makes my heart sing.
Last, but not least, is probably the most prolific cabinet door in the United States of America. This is the partial overlay door. If you live in a rental there's a 98% chance that this is the type of cabinet you have. There are a few reasons why the style is so prevalent, and it's not necessarily because it looks the best. In fact, aesthetically it's probably the most clunky of all the choices. But, a partial overlay door gives the most wiggle room in terms of precision, leveling, and installing the doors of cabinets. This is the largest gap that you'll get with any door style. Also, this is the only type of door that can function without any additional door hardware like pulls or knobs or handles. You can simply grab the top edge of the cabinet or the drawer because there's enough of a space to easily get your little hand in there. Not having to pay for high precision installation or extra hardware makes it cost less than any other door. If you have partial overlay cabinet doors and you want to upgrade your kitchen (assuming you’re home owner or you've gotten explicit permission from your landlord if you’re a renter), a great way to do this is to replace your partial overlay doors with full overlay doors and add some jazzy hardware that you love. You can also take the time to paint both the face frame and the doors and that will give you basically what feels like a brand new kitchen for a fraction of the cost of actually getting a brand new kitchen.
And while we’re at it, let’s talk about painting cabinets for a second. Painting kitchen cabinets is really different from painting furniture because we touch kitchen cabinet doors and drawers all the time, the oils from our finger tips can eventually weaken the paint and cause it to peel and chip. You want to use a primer that is specially meant for the material you are painting, whether that’s natural wood or plastic laminate or some kind of thermoform product. If a sales person at the hardware store tells you that a certain paint doesn’t need primer, slowly walk away from them. Primer is absolutely critical and is a true tear saver for all painting projects. The type of paint you choose is equally important, because this the protective layer. A waterborne urethane or alkyd paint is going to give you durable results and you can clean them up with water when you’re painting, as opposed to most oil based paints. There are of course countless brands of paint that fall into this category, Benjamin Moore makes two of them, one is called Command and the other is called Advance. Command is slightly more durable, at least anecdotally, and that is totally dependent on what primer you pair it with, but Advance is the only one available in a matte finish.
The finish of paint makes all the difference in the final look of your space. Semi-Gloss is the standard go-to for a lot of DIYer’s, but let’s look at the advances and disadvantages of each sheen level. Let’s start at the top with a gloss or high gloss finish. This option can feel very glamorous, modern, and expensive; but be warned - gloss paint highlights imperfects both underneath the layer of paint (hello stray cat hair) and on the surface like finger prints and smudges.
Semi-gloss, takes it down a notch, we still get a little reflectivity, but the finish is more forgiving of life’s little mishaps. There’s still light reflectance, but it isn’t going to feel like a mirror. It’s the perfect middle of the road solution, which is why it’s the go-to.
Next is satin or eggshell, which is a much more modest finish in terms of sheen and does a good job of hiding wear and tear. The only trick is that it can be fussy to apply - brush strokes tend to be more visible with this paint. A good work around for this is purchase a refillable paint spray gun that will apply in thin, even coats.
Lastly, matte kitchen cabinets, though fairly rare, can be a true thing of beauty and lend themselves to all kinds of spaces from shabby chic to hyper modern. Matte paint can hide imperfections and scratches, but make no mistake, a greasy fingerprint will show up on this paint. A better route to take with a matte finish is to use spray on lacquer. This type of finish is exceptionally durable, and will outlast paint any day. The biggest downside is the application and the smell - this process has to be done in a well ventilated space, away from you and your kitchen. The other thing to keep in mind is matte can look a little sad and lifeless if there isn’t another design element happening. If you have super intricate moldings or you’re working with a bold color, matte will help those elements take center stage, but if you painting a flat door a neutral color, it’s better to use a finish with a little more sheen. This is especially true in small kitchens, where a little light reflecting will help the space feel bigger, and matte doors will emphasize how small the room is.
Whatever sheen you chose, painting kitchen cabinets is a serious commitment of a project, I’ve included some links in the show notes of good tutorials and tips, but the internet is full of these, so this is really just a jumping off point.
So you have four basic cabinet door styles - frameless with a full overlay door, face frame with full overlay, face frame with partial overlay, and face frame with inset doors. You also have four main paint sheens - gloss, semi-gloss, satin, and matte. Do you have a favorite? I’m going to be diving in a little deeper with kitchen design over on instagram in January, so make sure to follow me over there @softlandingpodcast, if you haven’t already.
That’s it for today, I hope you have an amazing day, enjoy your home, you’re really doing an awesome job, and I will talk to you next time.
