Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Cabinet types, what are they talking about?

So you need cabinets or you are just curious. What are people talking about when they throw around words like inset, full overlay, modified reveal or full reveal. Not to mention frameless and framed cabinets. Even word check doesn't recognize frameless. This a little, not to exhaustive look at this very issue.

First we are going to tackle framed cabinets and the various ways the door is hung. The way the door is hung is where we get the different types. Below is a picture of how a framed cabinet is built.

If you look down towards the bottom of the picture you will see the face frame, this the front of the cabinet and the doors are mounted on this.


Sorry for the poor resolution, the way this door is hung on the face frame is called full reveal or modified reveal. That means that most of the face frame is showing behind the doors. This is less popular than it used to be and I think it is safe to say used mostly by builders.




This style is call full overlay, meaning that the door itself covers all of the face frame. It is probably the most used door style at the moment and the picture above shows it in a Shaker door style, also very popular and timeless.


This style is called inset, for the obvious reason that the door is hung flush with the face frame or in other words inset into the opening made by the face frame.



Here is a picture of a kitchen using inset doors. On to the next issue, what is the difference between framed and frameless cabinets?


The answer to that is that there is no face frame on frameless cabinets. If you just knew what the parts and pieces of the cabinets were called you probably could have figured all this out without my help. The door is actually hung on the box since there is no face frame. The installation tolerances are much tighter so it is best left to an expert. A frameless kitchen cabinet installation and a really cool picture.


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Thursday, February 14, 2013

My feelings about back splashes!



Yes, my feelings. I know this blog is supposed to help you figure out your remodel, but I want to talk about something that makes it fun and gives you a chance to show who you are. Do you wear a diamond solitaire ring or some larger piece of bling? Do you wear pearl studs or long dangly earrings from some emerging artist.

                                               


 When designing a kitchen for most people, it is usually important that the cabinets be timeless in their design and to some extent the floors and counters. After all most people are interested in resale in this market, whether it is sooner or later. They are the big ticket items and conservative may be wise.




 Does that mean everything has to be plain and timeless? Heck no, and here is why I love tile back splashes. They are the jewelry of the project, no matter what type of clothes you dress in, you put your jewelry on last to add the finishing touch. Same with back splashes and let me tell you there are so many different and beautiful tiles that you can find one (or a million) that fits your aesthetic. Plus the good news is, if the next owner of your home doesn't like it they can replace it without having to touch the bones ( cabinets, floors and counters). Yes it cost them some money but nothing like replacing one of the big three. Plus they get to put their stamp on their new house.


So have fun shopping for something that is perfect for you and your house and your taste. I hope you got something out of this post, maybe a little braver. If nothing else you got to see lots of beautiful pictures of tile. Bye the way all these tiles are from Walker Zanger and their amazing craftspeople.