Choosing the Cabinets to Accent Your Remodeled Kitchen

Cabinets set the tone for your entire kitchen and depending on the layout of your home possibly your dining room and family room as well. Therefore, it is crucial to choose cabinets that offer style, function and above all else superior quality. But what defines quality kitchen cabinets?

When investing in something as significant to your home as kitchen cabinets, some terminology and background information is somewhat helpful. This will help with sales people or builders who may try to take advantage of your lack of knowledge in this area. Therefore, it is important to understand the manufacturing definition of the cabinet.

A kitchen cabinet is a box that consists of five closed sides and an opening, typically covered by a door. In the cabinet industry, the box is known as a carcase or cabinet body. Other terms used to describe components include the face, frame, and door. The cabinet’s face is basically any part of cabinet that is readily visible, such as the frame, drawer fronts, doors, and any exposed sides. The body refers to the structural part or interior box and the frame and door are self-explanatory. Simple enough, right?

This guide will illuminate some of the fine points of cabinetry. While it may seem to target individuals who want to purchase custom kitchen cabinets, consumers can also use these tips when inspecting pre-made cabinets.

As with any quality piece of furniture, quality cabinetry should start with quality wood; oak, cherry, maple, birch, or whatever type of wood you prefer. Once you determine which type of wood you want your cabinets manufactured from, there are specific details on which you will want to focus. At times it may seem as though you are nit-picking tiny details, but with the cost of cabinetry consuming the majority of your kitchen remodeling budget, even the tiniest details should be just right.

The first item of interest will be the face of the cabinets. The wood for these parts should look flawless; free of deformities, irregularities, knots, scars, pitch pockets, or color inequalities. Any exposed portions of the cabinets, such as panels for the doors and drawer fronts, should each be made from a solid piece of wood, not pieced together. This will create a clean, finished look. In addition, panels should be of matching color and grain and all jointing should mesh seamlessly.

For the body of the cabinets, strength and durability are the primary objective. As such, any seams should be assembled with mortise and tenon joints, pinned, wedged or glued to securely lock the pieces in place. It is vital for cabinets and shelves to be able to support the weight of heavy dishes, dry goods and other kitchen staples. Therefore sagging and bending are unacceptable. To ensure that this issue does not arise in the future, the superlative building material is a sturdy plywood. Additionally, because thickness reinforces solidity and strength, shelves should ultimately be at least 5/8-inch. However, to virtually guarantee sturdiness, it is best to use material that is 3/4-inch. To ensure that drawers open smoothly while also bearing a heavy load, a support beam should sit flush with a bottom groove to support the base. Finally, since drawers may be pulled open hundreds of times a day, dovetail joints are preferable because of their reputation for stay intact with heavy use.

Now that you have achieved the durable, yet beautiful exterior, it is time to concentrate on the interior portion of the cabinets. This element is also chiefly dependant on the strength of its components. Thus, the best material for the interior of the cabinets is plywood. Often used to block strong winds in inclement weather, plywood has a history of standing up to pressure. Sheets of plywood are available in a wide range of thicknesses; thicker plywood equals more strength. Accordingly, panels positioned for the bottom and sides should exceed 1/2 inch breadth, while shelving panels need to be at least 3/4 inch. All sections that are used to construct this section should be positioned and stabilized into routed grooves, but they should not be glued or otherwise permanently joined to allow for expansion and contraction due to humidity and temperature changes.

While these are the basic ideal elements to ensure that your renovation includes quality kitchen cabinets, there are always subtle additions that can increase the beauty, value and functionality of the cabinets you install in your kitchen. The type of hinges and door handles, the finish or paint choice and lighting are all simple characteristics that make the difference between acceptable and perfect. Your cabinets are the often first thing guests notice when they enter your kitchen. Consider your personal style and the needs of your household, then choose special touches that reflect you and your family and you are certain to be pleased with the end result.