Framed vs. Frameless Cabinets and Other Important Decisions
Making the decision to have custom cabinets installed in your Newport Beach, CA, home can be exciting. It gives you the chance to revamp the look and feel of your kitchen without going through a time-consuming full remodel. However, the decision-making process doesn’t stop there. When it comes to custom cabinets, you can create cabinets that are perfect for your lifestyle and space.
Fully Customizable Cabinets Made for You
What kind of decisions do you need to make? Some of the choices that you can take advantage of with custom cabinets include:
Type of wood
Choice of hardware
Color of paint or stains
Drawer system options
Door overlay types
Exposed or hidden hinges
Framed or frameless cabinets
Sure, looking at that list might seem daunting since it is a lot of decisions. However, it can also be a lot of fun to consider every aspect to create the right custom cabinets for your needs. Each of the things mentioned above can set your cabinets apart from the ones of your neighbors, friends, and family members.
Selecting Between Framed or Frameless Cabinets
The two primary characteristics you’ll need to choose between for your cabinets are whether to get a framed or frameless design. Each has its own set of advantages and will come in several styles. When you’re trying to decide which is right for your needs, several things can aid your decision. The first is understanding what the difference is between these two cabinet styles.
Frames and Frameless Cabinets Defined
Framed cabinets are the typical American style that you will see in most people’s kitchens. The inclusion of a face frame makes this cabinet easier to install. It also makes it simpler to make adjustments to the door and drawers of a cabinet. On the other hand, framed cabinets will need several different skin panels installed on-site on the exposed sides. These cabinets come in a wide variety of styles and sizes to fit any kitchen.
The frameless style of a custom cabinet is more modern and has a sleek look that is common in Europe. It makes it easier to get into the entire interior of the cabinet and offers a larger capacity for a drawer box. While prefabricated frameless cabinets come in fewer styles and sizes than framed cabinets, that isn’t the case for custom cabinets. You can customize them to fit any kitchen so they can stand out and show your personality.
Construction Methods for Framed and Frameless Cabinets
The main difference in these styles of cabinets is that a framed version has a solid wood face frame that is located between the cabinet box and the door of the cabinet. This frame is made up of horizontal items known as rails and vertical supports that are called stiles. The combination of the wood grain directions used in the face frame offers additional strength to the front opening of the cabinet.
Having a face frame also helps prevent an issue called racking. This is a situation where the cabinet box can be more easily tilted out of square. When cabinet racks, the horizontal and vertical components won’t be level, which means the drawers and doors won’t align correctly.
How Installation Varies for Frameless and Framed Cabinets
Since framed and frameless custom cabinets are constructed differently, the two will also use different hardware for installation. On frameless cabinets, they are going to attach directly through the side panels of the cabinets. A shorter screw can be used for installation. The shallow level of the anchoring may mean that additional screw locations are needed to ensure the cabinets stay secure.
A framed cabinet is attached through the width of the face frame. Because of that, longer screws can be used to anchor the custom cabinet. The reason longer screws can be used is due to both the increased width of the face frame and the solid wood material.
Choosing the Perfect Overlay Type for Cabinets
The overlay of a cabinet refers to how much of the cabinet face the drawer fronts and doors overlap. When the drawers and doors are both closed, the amount of the box or frame that can be seen is known as the reveal. The three most popular types of overlays are full, standard, and inset.
Inset Overlays
Custom cabinets with an inset overlay will have drawer faces and doors that are a bit smaller than the openings. Also, they will be recessed so that they align with the frame itself. This kind of cabinets has the most considerable reveal and shows off the face frame more than other styles. However, it can also be challenging to keep drawers and doors from sticking and binding when the humidity changes.
Standard Overlays
If you choose a standard overlay, the drawer faces and doors are slightly larger than the opening of the cabinet. This causes them to overlap the face frame by a small amount. This overlay has less reveal than an inset overlay and makes it less likely that you’ll experience issues with drawer and door alignment.
Full Overlays
A custom cabinet with a full overlay will have drawer faces and doors that are considerably larger than the openings, even more than with a standard overlay. These will have the least reveal of the face frame. However, a full overlay is also going to be the most forgiving in terms of the alignment of drawers and doors.
Other Custom Cabinet Considerations
After you make a decision about whether to go with a framed or a frameless cabinet and know what overlay you want, you can delve into other details to make the cabinets fit your space. This is the time to let your imagination go wild in terms of what wood to use, which hardware you find most appealing, and whether you want to add any customization to the cabinets to set them apart.
Enjoy Top-Quality Custom Cabinets in Newport Beach
At Knotty Nuff Wood, we understand that you want custom cabinets that look great and last for decades. Our handcrafted woodworking services ensure you get the perfect item to spruce up your kitchen and impress your guests. We’ll work with you from the imagination process to installation and excellent customer service to give you the best possible experience. Get in touch with us today for a free consultation!
Contact Knotty Nuff Wood today with any of your Custom Cabinet and Woodworking needs!