kitchen cabinets design | Kitchen Cabinet Value

Country Kitchen Cabinets

Country kitchen cabinets determine design in creating the distinctive character of each kitchen. Everyone loves the warmth of a country kitchen. Whether this feeling comes from memories of a grandmother’s (or great-grandmother’s) kitchen or the style itself, the single design element that defines any kitchen will be the combination of cabinets.

The primary characteristic of a country kitchen is flexibility, uniqueness, ease of use and comfort. Cabinets are selected for character, usefulness and personal taste. Within the country kitchen style, however, there are several types, including

English country
Victorian
French
Cottage
Arts and crafts
Rustic cabin
American farmhouse
Old World style

The country kitchen style is eclectic in many ways. This offers the freedom to express personal style and taste, to design something truly unique and to ensure the greatest functionality. Cabinets are chosen to reflect these characteristics and to express individuality.

Country style cabinets are typically built with warm natural wood, sometimes with a “pickled” or “bleached” finish, or they are painted in cheerful colors. Cabinets are typically mismatched in color/wood tone and in style and often include an accent piece that might be a free-standing cabinet or a large table that functions as a work island.

Selecting country kitchen cabinets can be great fun because you can truly express the character of your family or the nature of family life in your home. The goal will usually be to create a kitchen that is warm, inviting and accessible. Kitchens are typically the place where the family gathers and where friends and family are entertained.

Cabinets are sometimes selected for elegance, in which cases, all of the cabinets will match in color. More commonly there will be at least one major piece of cabinetry made of a different wood or painted a different color. Open shelves, glass panel cabinet doors, storage bins, wood range/cooktop hoods and the like combine with exposed apron sinks, antique-style faucets and fixtures, and rustic floor coverings combine to create a lived-in look and feel.

The freedom in selecting country kitchen cabinets permits your unique personality to find expression and an opportunity to explore variations in door styles, knobs and drawer pulls and other touches that will make every kitchen unique. Beadboard panel, square raised panel, beaded frame and panel, reveal overlay-panel and frame, and panel are very popular cabinet door style choices. These styles can all be combined freely.

When designing the layout of the room, a country kitchen generally includes many different specialty cabinets, drawers and cupboards to maximize space and function for the cook and for the entire family. Glass panel vegetable bins combine very nicely with specially fitted pull out spice shelves, refrigerated drawers, warming ovens, wine coolers and storage units.

The great freedom and flexibility presents the greatest opportunity and the greatest challenge in kitchen design, especially if the remodeling budget is limited. The first thought about country kitchen cabinets is often “custom cabinets.” For many families, however, the cost of custom cabinetry is prohibitive.

Kitchen Cabinet Value works with high quality stock and semi-custom cabinets and customizes them to your specifications. We can often create the country kitchen you want at about the cost of some semi-custom cabinetry. At an affordable price, you can have the high-quality cabinet styles you want and have them customized to serve specific purposes and make a specific contribution to the total design of your kitchen.

Country kitchen cabinets can be easier to combine and select that you might think. Kitchen Cabinet Value can save you time, money and provide exactly what you want in your kitchen.

Kitchen cabinet design offers abundant options for every remodeler to find the perfect cabinets for their new kitchen. Understanding the basic elements of kitchen cabinet design will help you narrow the array of options and simplify the decision. Some of these basics of kitchen cabinet design relate to the quality of construction and others are a matter of kitchen style and personal taste.

Let’s consider each in turn. Two of the basics of kitchen cabinet design are quality issues. The other two are about style and taste.

1. Material. What material will be used to build your cabinets? Material is one of the most important decisions you will make because the design and style of your cabinets are the major factor determining style and design of the entire kitchen. You have several choices:

Metal (stainless steel, aluminum). Metal can be both expensive and heavy to hang. Some metals – especially those used in the past – were subject to rust. Metal can be available in colors or it can be painted. These cabinets also show any dings or dents if they are accidentally hit with a pan, and they will show scratches. For these reasons it is not a popular choice in kitchen cabinet design.
Wood combinations. Some cabinet makers use less expensive wood, such as plywood or pine, to build the cabinet case and then use doors and exterior panels of better or more expensive wood. Some also use particle board or other composite materials. Any wood cabinets can be painted in the color of your choice. You can use a glossy finish or a matte finish for your perfect kitchen cabinet design.
Solid wood. These cabinets are built entirely of finished, high-quality wood, such as hickory, oak, maple or more expensive woods like cherry or walnut. Traditional kitchens and some country style kitchens might use a dark wood, such as cherry, mahogany, walnut or ebony. Contemporary kitchens tend to use lighter color woods such as birch or maple. You will want to consider the color, the grain of the wood and the finish applied to the wood. Better cabinets are finished with several coats of polyurethane to protect the wood. Solid wood is currently the most popular kitchen cabinet design.

2. Construction. Low quality cabinets are often put together with glue or with nails or staples. This is not a good idea (if you have the choice) because under the heavy use of kitchen cabinets and drawers, they will not last. High quality cabinets will be joined with dove tail construction. This is the most important aspect of kitchen cabinet design.

3. Door Style. There are many types and designs in cabinet doors. The door style is the primary determiner of kitchen cabinet design. For example, a contemporary kitchen would almost demand a flat panel door design. Raised panel design, on the other hand, is the preferred door style for a traditional style kitchen. Other kitchen cabinet designs include these door styles: reveal-overlay panel, frame and panel, beaded frame and panel, square raised panel, curved raised panel, bead board panel and cathedral panel.

4. Accessories are the final basic element of kitchen cabinet design. Accessories in kitchen cabinet design include knobs and handles, organization customizations, accessibility options and specialty modifications. Knobs and handles should match both the style of the kitchen (rustic, worn, sleek) and the other metals used in visible places in the kitchen. For example, brushed metals work very nicely with stainless steel appliances. There are many devices and gadgets that can be installed in drawers and cabinets to organize the contents. Many custom or customized units have these items built in. Accessibility items include things like sliding trays or spinning units (lazy Susan, for example) to make things in the cabinets easier to reach. Specialty modifications are changes made to any cabinets to make them function over refrigerated drawers or bar refrigerators, etc.

By understanding these basics of kitchen cabinet design, you will be better informed, better informed to ask questions, and better able to limit the number of cabinet styles you need to consider in order to choose the cabinets you will use in your kitchen remodel.