Erinct, I hope that raised panel beaded inset cabinets aren't an odd combination as my cabinets are being installed early next week. This is the cabinet, except mine will be a creamy white and I am getting a 5 piece drawer front.

I love the look of white shaker inset cabinets, but didn't think the shaker doors would fit with my house. I had been waffling over cabinet doors of various manufacturers until I saw a photo of the cabinets I am buying and the color sample. The painted inset were more expensive than I originally planned on spending, but they will be worth it.

This is one of the very few white raised panel beaded inset kitchens I have seen on this site:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg011512529585.html

Check out the ricklish kitchen on FKB. It is one of my favs and it has raised panel inset cabinets in a cream color with a light glaze finish.

I really think the style of door you choose should be based on what you really like. A raised panel reads more traditional to me. Is that something you are going for? I've also seen inset cabinets that have applied molding and those are lovely as well.

Consider how many cabinets and drawers you will have as well. Shaker or recessed panel doors/drawers tend to be more simple than raised panels and may suit a smaller kitchen or one that may look too busy with raised panel or applied molding styles.

You may want to consider the style of the rest of your home also. What style of cabinetry or doors do you have throughout your home? Do you like it? If so, perhaps sticking with a style you like and flows well with the rest of your home would be a good choice.

I know, decisions, decisions. Keep looking for inspiration and stick with what you love.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ricklish kitchen on FKB

You've gotten great advice! What kind of counter and backsplash are you planning to use? What color on the walls? Floor material? Type of glass in the upper-upper cabinets? I know, a lot of choices, but it might help us picture your entire kitchen, not just the cabinets :)

Cali_Wendy has a beautiful cream kitchen in the "islands with dining room" thread. I'll bump it up for you, just in case you didn't see it.

Hi erinct,

Ask your cabinet maker for a few sample doors in the styles and finishes you're considering, and live with them in your space for awhile. You can see how they look in different lights, which show more fingerprints, etc. You can also lug them around when you look at countertop materials -- who knows maybe a combination of counter plus cabinet really sings, even if that wasn't immediately your fave cabinet style.

Since you're using a cabinet maker (and presumably getting custom cabinets), you can expect a level of service that helps you figure out what you like the best.

Have fun!

you have gotten some great advice so sure - I don't think there is a wrong way to do this. My approach was to start with the most significant design feature I wanted (for me it was gothic glass uppers) and then work backwards from that... it at least gave me a place to begin. It can be totally overwhelming, that is for sure!

Let your house be your guide to the cabinet style.
What type of architectural style?
There are things in the house that cannot be changed. So the cabinets should complement these design details, not fight them.
What type of doors do you already have?
Do the door style complement the cabinet style?
For example, if you have raised 4 or 6 paneled doors, raised paneled cabinets would look good with that.
What about your mouling. If you have more elaborate style, raised panels would look good.
If you have very simple moulding, then more simple cabinet style would work better.
If you have slab doors with really simple moulding detail (or even no moulding around windows) in the house, then certain cabinet style would look out of place in that house.

We used the door style pages from the cabinet books and took turns putting a big X over a door we did not like. (It was hard to see my DH cross out a door once in a while but it helped to understand each other's vision). After repeating the process with a few books, we were able to see what our favorite design styles were. After that we went to the store and looked at actual doors (with the knowledge of what our overall preferences were). It didn't take long to see which was our favorite style. The color took us forever (and still may not be decided)!

Thank you so much everyone! There certainly is a lot of good advice here (as always!). I think my biggest problem is that I have no idea how to define my "style". How would you describe the kitchens in the inspiration photos I referenced? Traditional? Something else?

Katsmah: Your door looks great, and I'm relieved to see that others are planning a raised panel inset door! I would love to see pictures after they're installed!

cali-wendy: Your kitchen is one of the many I have in my inspiration binders! I love the color -- it reads like a neutral cream (without a glaze?!?). I also like the raised panels in the ricklish kitchen. Our kitchen is a u-shape and is approx. 13' x 14' (with one wall a bit longer). We're planning three stacked cabinet uppers on each side of the range wall (with a hood in between) and three stacked cabinet uppers on each side of the sink wall, and the other wall will have the refrigerator with an armoire style pantry on each side. I'm not sure if this is a small, medium or large size kitchen (for style purposes), and what that number of cabinets translates into (i.e., would it look too busy with more detail or could it handle it?). We don't really have any other built-in cabinetry. Off the kitchen we have a very small mudroom that has beadboard approx. 3/4 of the way up one wall with hooks on it for coats, etc. and a pretty wide crown molding on top, and off that is a small powder room that has the same beadboard all the way around and the same crown, with a pedestal sink and a built in medicine cabinet with sconces on each side. Kind of Potterybarn-ish. Our room doors are all raised 6 paneled doors. What do you think all this tells me?!?

Lavender Lass: We're leaning toward doing granite counters, although I LOVE pictures that have marble perimeters and wood islands. I just don't think it would be practical with two young boys. So I was planning to look into the granites that look like marbles. We haven't really given much thought to the backsplash yet, but I know I want something that blends in and maybe has a little sparkle. I don't want anything with too much color. For the walls, I was thinking a soothing grey or beige?!? We're keeping our hardwood floors, which are pretty light right now, but they will need to be refinished and we're considering going a little darker. The glass uppers will be clear glass with four panes (like a basic window) . I've really started liking the gothic glass uppers but I'm not sure they would go with the house.

chicagoans: We are getting custom cabinets. Our cabinet maker is a dream come true, and he has been so patient and helpful! He has stopped by a number of times with different samples he's made for other clients, and he's bought me a number of kitchen magazines with pages marked with ideas that he thought I might like. I know he'll make me anything I ask, I just really want to narrow down my choices so I can limit how much I ask of him. But I'm sure you're right about having to see the combinations. Maybe a trip to the stone yard is in order!

laurainlincoln: I wish I had one design feature I felt so strongly about, because I think that is a great way to approach it. The problem is that I'm on the fence about everything! Argh!

Kaismom: I think the architectural style of our house is transitional colonial (i.e, built in 1997 with basic colonial layout but more open). We have 6 paneled raised doors, but some of our furniture has recessed doors. We have 3 piece crown moldings in most of the downstairs (so it's fairly large, but simple in design, meaning not dental or other details), with hardwood floors throughout. There are some internal arch doorways and the front windows have the arch above them, and french doors connect some rooms. I've been told our window have fairly large moldings and sills. What do you think all that translates into?!?

missmuffet: That's a great idea. We have a binder that shows us all the different options for the panel and other details, but not different whole doors (maybe because they're custom made?!?). But we could certainly get some books at other kitchen places and go through that process!

Thanks so much for your thoughts and ideas. It's all very helpful and gives me a starting point. I'm not quite as overwhelmed as I was last night!!!

We started out by looking at our budget. That drove all other decisions, generally. "What can I get for X amount?" "How does the savings on cabinets gain me money to spend elsewhere?" "If we choose style Y, what other items would suit that kitchen? Do we like these secondary choices?"

I would have loved to have "traditional" classic features with interesting beading and moldings, but DH doesn't have any feelings for them. More spare, modern lines are a compromise that fits our house, etc. also. It's not the end of the world, it's fine.

If you can afford anything, then do the homework to find out what's out there and what goes with what so that you make good choices that are appropriate for your house and your tastes. If you financially constrained, follow your common sense, look to the middle road for products, get a good mentor, and add plenty of creative problem solving.

From your description, your home sounds traditional to me. Not fussy traditional, but classic traditional. But, that doesn't really matter. Those are just words.

To me, it really sounds like a recessed panel or raised panel would work well with the style of your home. That said, with all of the stacked cabs that you are describing, the raised panel *could* start to get a little busy. Although, Ricklish has stacked cabs and those don't look busy to me at all. With a glazed finish (if you are still considering it) the detail in the door will really stand out and *could* start to look busy. But, AGAIN, the glaze doesn't look busy to me in the Ricklish kitchen.

Well, I'm a big help, huh? ;)

Alright, just to confuse you more, here is a door style that I LOVE. It is a recessed panel, but has quite a bit of detail in the recess as well as around the edge of the door. The picture isn't used in an inset application, but it does have a creamy color with a glaze finish.

Now, if it were me and I was planning a kitchen with a large number of cabinet doors/drawers, I would choose a more simple door style if using a glaze since the glaze will bring out the detail. If you decide to go with a nice creamy white without a glaze, I think you could pull off a door with more detail without it getting too busy.

By the way, the photo I'm including was an entertainment center in my previous home. I had all of my trim painted BM Linen White and it blended very well and had a lot of the same tone to it. That said, my current kitchen cabs are BM Linen White (no glaze) so I do think you can achieve a nice, warm creamy color without a glaze (although I still think a glaze finish is very pretty).

Ok, that my 2000 cents for the night. :)

The confirmation for our raised panel cabinets came when I asked the hostess at a dinner party where they purchased their cabinets. They had no recollection because they were more than 25 years old. They looked so good I thought they were new. The hostess laughed and said, "Oh heavens no, I just washed them this week with Spic'nSpan."

Just wanted to give a quick update . . . I really appreciated everyone's advice so I ordered a few different sample doors which will arrive Wednesday and we'll go from there. Thanks so much for the pictures and thoughts!!! This process is so much harder (and stressful!) than I expected!