When my husband built our old entertainment system cabinets, he did narrow frames and no frames between the drawers in a section: (For those reading my thread on our kitchen/family room remodel - these cabinets were sized to fit the niche to the right of the old fireplace and went to good homes with 2 of our son's when we got the new cabinets.) The frames he made are only slightly wider than the thickness of the cabinet walls and since there is no frame between the drawers, we didn't lose space to that. The result is framed cabinets with almost as much drawer capacity as frameless. These were inset, but would work equally well with full overlay drawer fronts. We talked to a couple of local custom cabinet makers when we did our kitchen, but they wouldn't consider deviating even that much from their usual framing, but I've seen someone post here who had a custom shop who did it. It shouldn't require new machines for a framed cabinet maker to do this.

I am a cabinetmaker, I know how the sausage is made. I know very many cabinetmakers and I know very many installers. My practical knowledge is not a generalization, it is not a personal viewpoint, far from it. It is fact. Are you a cabinetmaker? Ok akchicago, lets begin the lesson. Frameless as you call them are euro boxes, thats because they originated in Germany post ww2. Europe had no kitchens, so they needed cabinets quickly. They sat down and came up with what is essentially a modular system based on a 32 mm increment. This was the initial distance between two boring spindles on the first euro woodworking machine. Incidentally, many Europeans take their kitchen cabinets with them when they move. Because of this ( and other reasons to be explained ) there needs to be a common installation system that is simple to use. I am not bashing American face frame cabinets, they are just differently made and need different machines and due to the joinery and material choice have much looser tolerances. Look at Poggenpohl website, they have a video of the manufacturing process. Now this is the utimate in euro but you get the idea, the machinery is top notch. Its not a powermatic table saw, a planer and a jointer. Anyhow....32mm ( the true name of frameless ) is a system. The base cabinets should have adjustable legs, such as the ones made by Camar. There should be no integral toe. This was cables can pass underneath and water damage will not wick upwards into your cabinet. There should be no blocking of the slides or hinges, they should be flush with the cabinet sides and work "in system" ie increments of 32mm. Reveals are commonly set to 3/32" and should be perfectly lined up horizontally and vertically everywhere. In terms of the biggest installation mistake, look at the uppers. They should have "suspension blocks" in the top left and right corners. These are small adjustable hardware that have a hook on the back that fit onto a metal rail that is attached to the wall behind. The reason for these suspension blocks is this,...if you were to say mount the cabinets directly to the wall with screws, the cabinets will conform to the irregular contours of the wall. These forces cause racking of the box, the box has no face frame to keep the opening square, now all the front edges of the cabinets are out of plane, that means your doors will not be set square or co-planar ie your reveals will never be constant. I am not trying to dissuade you from frameless. I love frameless. What I am trying to impress on you is that its very important to choose the right cabinet company. Here's the thing, I am coming from a very high level and to be honest most people dont see the things that I do. Why dont you tell them that you want the faces to be perfectly flush and the reveals equal, level and plumb. Stress this point and tell them you will go around and check each door when its done.

A lot of framed cabinetry now is done with full overlay doors which mimics the look of frameless. In some respects this is more contemporary look though depending on door style and other elements full overlay framed and frameless can look very traditional. I think more traditional framed cabinetry where the face frame has some reveal is very charming in a cottage or farmhouse influenced kitchen. Some find it very dated.

I just went through this odyssey, so I'll share what I learned. Frameless cabinets were introduced in Europe following the war as a way to save on materials. They remained popular because the absence of face frames provides a wider opening & more space. Because of their origin, they are also referred to as "Eurostyle". All modern kitchens seem to feature frameless cabinetry. Almost the same effect can be achieved with framed cabinets in the full overlay style. That is, the cabinet and drawer faces extend fully over the frame. I initially planned to have Kraftmaid Venicia (frameless) cabinets installed. However, after a bad experience with the installer and bad impression from a floor sample I decided to hire a highly recommended custom cabinet builder. His opinion is that frameless are essentially of equal sturdiness, but the door hinges may require adjustment with time to keep them perfectly aligned. He also felt framed cabinets will hold up better in a large earthquake. These points are strongly disputed in another thread (search "frameless cabinets" ). An Alaska resident claims they have never had to readjust their cabinet doors after earthquakes. Nevertheless, we live near the San Andreas fault which is predicted to blow any day now. Since space is not an issue and the prices were comparable we opted for framed cabinets out of a superstitious feeling that they are more "sturdy". Good luck with your decision!