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inset cabinets? Full Overlay? Need help

16 years ago

My custom cabinet man has asked if I want an inset cabinet which shows a hinge or frameless cabinets. He said a lot of custom cabinets are inset and that a lot of the semi-custom use the frameless. Is it just a matter of taste or does it have a significant impact? In looking at showrooms, I tended to choose the traditional, full overlay look. So should that look be inset or frameless? My cabinets will be cherry with a dark glaze. Just when I think I know what I want I take one step back. Help please:)

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Comments (4)

scubated
16 years ago
I liked the inset look but they are pricey so we went with the full overlay. You do see alot of the inset look in magazines though. Either way I think it looks really nice just depends on what you want and your budget.
vwhippiechick
16 years ago
I think it is a matter of taste. We wanted the inset style because that seemed to go with our farmhouse look. But we saw some beautiful full overlay cabinets also. We found the inset style to be more expensive in every line of cabinets we researched. If you tend to choose the full overlay look in showrooms, this is probably the style you would be happiest with in your own kitchen. When I saw our inset cabinet display, I knew that was the one for me!
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I don't have pictures, but I mixed painted white frameless-full-overlay on my perimeter cabs with framed full overlay on the island (the part facing "in") in my last kitchen. I personally stopped noticing after the first week or so, and I don't think anyone else every noticed. I did the mixing because it saved about $1000 on those 4 island cabinets. Sounds chintzy, maybe :0 When I sold that house, the flyer was full of kitchen "beauty shots" emphasizing the focal points, I had an L configuration with a long island. Since I got multiple offers and a fair amount above my asking price, I really don't think anyone deducted points for my little cost-saving measure.
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Adding to the above, a frameless cabinet is a box, 5 sides of the cube, with a door attached to it. A framed cabinet is a cube with a hole cut out of the 6th side -- creating a frame around the opening on that last side. In either case, the cabinet door covers the 6th side. In the case of a frameless, the door covers the entire opening and the sides of the box material. A framed cabinet has the option of covering all of that frame (full overlay) or just part of it (partial overlay). Maybe that will help you picture the difference. If a frameless cabinet is well built, it should be just as strong as a well made framed cabinet. You may also hear them called European cabinets because they have been the standard in Europe. The IKEA cabinets that seem to be a gold standard for budget cabinetry are frameless cabinets. I have maple painted Brookhaven and WoodMode cabinets as well as knotty cherry WoodMode. All of them are frameless and we love them. We got a lot more drawer space we have much better storage and usable space even though we were limited to the same footprint and took out a corner pantry.
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Here's another option. The first custom cabinet maker that I interviewed suggested eliminating the rail between the inset drawers. I didn't even know this was possible so I started looking for pictures before I decided to do this. I have regular inset in my master bath and knew that I did not want to lose drawer height as my previous kitchen was frameless. The national company that I went with also offers inset with no rails. I opted to keep rails on everything above counter height. I have two tall pantry cabinets on either side of my refrigerator. Each pantry base has a drawer with a pullout below (no rail between) and two doors above with a rail separating them. Not one person has noticed that I've eliminated the rails in all of my lower cabinets.
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Sorry, Patricia, the crank pasta machines stay. The penninsula stays, also. There is not enough room for an island or wall ovens. The sink is at the only outside wall and it will say at the window with a view of a creek. An unfinished attic is above the stove. We are both in the kitchen prepping, cooking, and cleaning up at the same time - not one prepping then one cooking. We need more space at the stove and primary sink. This design gives us each a contained workspace without crossing each other's path constantly. . . and takes us out of the walkway. Walking through the living room provides access to the rest of the house for anyone who wants to avoid the kitchen. We view the refrigerator as the appliance that we spend the least amount of time in front of. It's close enough to the stove and the penninsula, and acts as a landing spot for both prep and cleanup. Changing the doorway also brings the kitchen closer to the deck. The only real inconvenience I see is at the doorway when the dishwasher is open. Cabinet style was a secondary consideration. Our experience with a number of purely kitchen designers is that they design great features but won't be using the kitchen with another cook once their work is done. We want and need to be able to function in our kitchen. My question involved how well inset cabinets at the penninsula would blend with full overlay slab cabinet doors. So, here are photos of the current space and preliminary measurements for the redesign. There doorway at the left will be 30" and the fridge will be about 6" to the right.
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igloochic
16 years ago
Inset are most often more expensive (mine were a 19% upcharge I think) and there are pro's and cons. I find the look to be prettier, and like the style, but you lose a bit of cabinet space I'm told (not enough to worry about in my opinion). But, you don't have to have visable hinge to have inset. I don't have a hinge which was very important to me because my knobs are a big impact item and I didn't want to have to try to match a hinge to their finish.

Really it's all about the look you like with insets or full overlay or traditional. It sounds like you prefer the full overlay, so go with your favorite :) But don't let the hinge thing be the deciding factor.
scubated
16 years ago
I was also told that with the inset the wood swells with the humidity of the seasons. In the northeast the wood would shrink a bit in winter and you would have larger gaps. The opposite in summer. I don't have them so I don't know how noticeable it would be.

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