Square all the way, I like simple geometry.

I stared at photos of my inspiration kitchens until I realized they all had square, shaked cabinets :)

This question had been asked recently: square vs. beaded. Some said, myself included, beaded was.... fancier.

I choose square. They'll be installed Tuesday. We'll see :)

Square. Simple, clean lines.

We went with square based on aesthetics (and no regrets as far as looks), but I have to say that the square edge collects gunk a lot more than I anticipated (something we were warned about but figured wouldn't be that bad!) So if you are ambivalent on the looks, you might go with the bevel (not sure if the bead would help or hinder on that front).

Square too.. although I really like the bead as well, I just seemed to notice more used square, so I just picked.. made a decision and put a period at the end! It can be sooooo hard making a final choice, but either way - it will look nice!

square.

We are doing beaded with a beaded face frame. We have a georgian style house though with thick crown molding so it just seemed to go better than the more craftsman looking square . . . All are pretty though. We actually almost did an ogee, thinking it would go better with our doors, but when we got the interior door sample the beaded worked better with it.

I thought I,liked beaded, then when I really really looked at all my inspirational pictures I like square all the way! I love how the simple cabs can become almost anything with hardware, busy granite and backsplash! If the cabs are too fancy, I am not sure I can have really busy granite or backsplash. I am still in the planning stages, but that is one decision that I have finally made! I

I guess I'm a purist - if it isn't square, it isn't Shaker. It might be similar to Shaker and a very nice door style, but I wouldn't apply that name to it.

We used Shaker because we wanted a very simple clean design. Our house is MCM and after having the slab no hardware cabinets that are typical for that for 25 years, we wanted something a step away from that but still in harmony with the simple lines of the house. That was Shaker - meaning slab fronts for shorter drawers and cope ans stick with a square profile for drawers over 8" tall and doors.

For the family room cabinets that we are getting now, we wanted a different door style that would differentiate them from the kitchen cabinets, but still fairly simple. We are getting mitered, raised panel with a bevel. We considered a bead (in the frame only, not the panel) but decided to keep a simpler line without it.

The bevel on the doors we chose just knocks the edges off the frame - it doesn't go all the way down to the panel slot, so I don't see how it would make a difference to cleaning - there is still a right angle at the joint between the panel and the frame.

Thanks for all the responses!

Littlesmokie - my house is about fifty years old, very traditional I would say. The old cabinetry was full overlay slab but it's all gone now. Originally I wanted inset cabs but was talked out of it by a few cab makers due to the heavy soil movement in the area we live. Then I decided on full overlay but my cabinet maker is still discouraging that for the same reason. Shifting. The old cabinet doors and drawers were all knocked out of whack but who knows - they could have been original! I'm using soapstone and Carrara marble in my kitchen. Have been drawn to shaker cabs from the start but hadn't considered the bead or the bevel until last night.

Glad to hear some of you worried about this - like I am
now - but don't think about it at all. I'm not cut out for making all
these decisions!!!

Square! They were installed two weeks ago and I still keep staring at them! I LOVE them! I also had to go back and look at my inspiration picture to realize what I really really wanted. Do you have any inspiration pics?

We went with Shaker with a bead. I think I wanted the hard edge of the shaker to be soften a bit. I don't think the bead takes away at all from the shaker look. I like both though.
Here's some pics of our's:

jillandmatt's pictures bring up an interesting question. With white cabinets, at least in this picture, I can't really see the bead. Perhaps it is more visible in person or in different lighting. Or perhaps it is the size of bead. The beads on the stained wood doors that we were considering for the family room was more apparent.

Found my house with the renovations already done.....house built 1865...kitchen area hard to work with without changing the character off the house...an 18 x 13 area....4 windows ....3 doors....working on updating that area now :)...have to say though...have cherry Shaker cabinets....dont like the square edges at alll!!! collect gunk as a previous poster said...and I don't like the flat finish of my cabinets either...they dont wear well at all!!!! If I had done the work...I would have picked something far different...which I'm doing now with my renovation and Iove it :)...not so much cabinet renovation tho...just adding on...its pricey!

I like the rounded edges of my cabinets for my kitchen. I had them glazed to help keep the tone of the cherry from getting too bright yet having the natural color. I don't know it that will work or not. But anyway, I thought the shaker was too rigid. As you can see the detail sort of gives an old appearance to the arrangement, in keeping with my old home:

I love the clean lines of the square. But because I found the flat edges of our bathroom shaker cabinets hard to keep clean, we chose to have the rounded edges like enduring. We ended up with a bead because dh wanted it and that ends up being more work. So yay for the rounded edges and boo for the bead (since I don't like cleaning.)

You are talking about the inside edge of the rails/stiles on the doors, right? I had thought that I would choose plain square ones until I realized that the inset-panel doors that are original to this house have a sort of ogee edge on the insides of the rails and stiles. And it is true that dust and gunk does not seem to collect much there, because the edge isn't horizontal. But I haven't decided if a similar ogee would make the rails/stiles look too wide on a relatively narrow cabinet door. I am a long way from needing to decide, but I rather like the idea of a beveled inside edge instead. At least for my house. I'd love to see pictures of all these styles in real life if anyone has them.

...like yours, zelmar, thanks for posting! I do like that rounded inside edge, especially for an older house as you say.

We chose straight with a "chamfered" edge. Which I believe is just a very slight bevel. The reason we chose it is I liked the classic straight edge, and my DH likes woodwork that has some dimension to it. This was our compromise! We both love it. . .

Shaker furniture, which is the basis for the style is traditionally square. No bead or bevel. I have the straight which I find fairly easy to clean. Wondering if beaded or bevel are more troublesome? Otherwise, it depends on the cabinets and the overall detailing desired.