Cabinet Door Types and Styles

Frameless cabinets, also known as European cabinets, are a very popular style. Unlike other cabinet styles, frameless cabinets have no frame and wider doors that almost completely cover the walls of the cabinet. This provides a contemporary look with clean lines and simplified designs. European cabinets are now being offered in virtually every door style including shaker, slab, decorative, and raised panel styles to accommodate increased interest.

Frameless cabinet styles offered by CliqStudios are Shaker, Slab, and Decorative styles.

Full-Overlay Cabinetry

In full overlay cabinet styles, the doors and drawer fronts almost completely cover the cabinet face, revealing as little as 1/4″ to 1/2″ of frame between doors. This creates a continuous look and minimizes the visible gaps between each cabinet door. The smooth profile enhances a transitional or contemporary style. Full overlays affect the cost of cabinet manufacturing, since the larger doors use more material.

Full overlay styles offered by CliqStudios are Shaker, Decorative, and Slab. View our variety of full-overlay door styles.

Partial Overlay Cabinetry

Partial overlay (also known as standard overlay) cabinetry was the industry standard for many years and looks exactly as it sounds; the door only partially covers the cabinet face frame, leaving large gaps. The design exposes 1″ to 2″ of the cabinet face frame between doors. Since the doors and drawer fronts are smaller and use less material than a full overlay, this style is often used to cut manufacturing costs. Partial overlay styles are typically used for low-end, new construction such as apartments or entry-level homes.

Inset Cabinetry

The inset cabinetry style is dramatically different than overlay doors. The door and drawer fronts sit inside of the cabinet face frame openings, flush with the face frame. The inset door, closely associated with Shaker, Craftsman, and Mission styles, was the first cabinet door type and has been around for centuries.

It takes precise craftsmanship to fit the inset door or drawer inside the face frame. It uses different hinges (revealed or concealed) than overlay styles. Doorstops are required in the cabinet box because the door does not rest or stop on the face frame when closed. For those reasons, inset door styles are typically more expensive than overlay styles.

Raised-Panel Doors

The raised-panel cabinet door style, where the center panel rises to the height of the door frame, has been by far one of the most popular cabinet door styles over the past 40 years. Raised-panel door styles offer the most detail in the profiles and contours of the center panel and the door frame. This is a versatile look that can complement both traditional and transitional decor. A popular door style that includes this feature is the Mason door style.

Recessed Panel Doors

The recessed or flat-panel door style provides a cleaner and sleeker profile than the raised panel door. This works well with transitional and contemporary looks. The recessed-panel shaker cabinet door has the most flexibility when it comes to design, and it's a good choice if you want to be able to change the look of your kitchen down the road. CliqStudios offers recessed panel doors in the following styles: Shaker and Shaker Inset.

Slab Doors

Slab doors are the most self-descriptive door construction type – one slab of wood makes up the entire door or drawer front. The slab may be made from hardwood staves displaying wood grain, but most are made of engineered wood covered with hardwood veneer and edge-banded sides.

Sometimes considered a European style, slab doors don't always have a face frame. Instead, the doors are attached directly to the cabinet sides. The slab door lends itself specifically to a contemporary style and modern design applications. The Wynn door style is a fantastic example of a slab door design.

Mullion Frame Doors

Mullion refers to vertical and/or horizontal bars, or moldings, that divide an open door frame into panes, or sections. A mullion frame cabinet door is an attractive decorative accent for a kitchen, buffet, or bookshelf for displaying your most treasured gifts. It's normally routed to accept a glass insert as the center panel of the door. The profile of a mullion door frame will typically match the profile of the main door style.

Open Frame Doors

An open frame door has no center panel or mullion. This modification is often requested when a glass insert will replace the panel, but the insert can be almost any material less than ¼” thick. Open frame doors, like mullion frame doors, can be used as decorative accents or for all of the wall cabinets. Base cabinets can also have open-framed doors, in which any glass insert must be tempered/safety glass.

Still not sure which style is best for you? Explore tips for choosing the best cabinet style here!