Cabinetry Terms You Should Know

By Dee Funk / October 5, 2016

Cabinetry Terms, Custom Cabinets, Kitchen Cabinets, Luxury Kitchens

Cabinetry terms, Custom Cabinetry, custom cabinets, Custom Kitchen, Glaze finish, glaze finishes for cabinets, Kitchen Cabinets, Kountry Kraft cabinetry, Luxury, Made in USA, wood glaze finishes

Kountry Kraft offers a variety of custom kitchen cabinets, and with this variety comes a lot of cabinetry terms that homeowners should be familiar with to select the right product. To make custom cabinetry unique for every customer, we supply an array of options for door styles, wood species, and wood finishes.

Cabinetry Terms To Know

Door Styles

There are 3 main types of cabinet doors that can be further enhanced in different ways.

• Inset Cabinet Doors – a popular style in the early 1900’s. The doors are mounted inside the frame of the box making the hinges visible when the door is shut.
• Partial Overlay Cabinet Doors – these doors are mounted over the face of the box, meaning parts of the frame and hinges may be visible.
• Full Overlay Cabinet Doors – this door style covers the whole face of the box which means very small gaps between different doors. This creates a consistent and continuous appearance.

Wood Species

Choosing your wood species is important when your cabinetry is not going to be painted. This is because each wood species has natural characteristics.                  

• Red Oak – light to medium brown with a reddish cast.
• Distressed Knotty Pine – large knots and defects which make a striking pattern.
• Cherry – light pinkish brown, darkens to a medium reddish brown.
• Rustic Cherry – same as cherry but with more mineral streaks and different sized knots.
• Hard Maple – off white to light brown in color with a golden hue.
• Hickory – open grained rustic hardwood, colors vary from near white to light brown.
• Quarter Sawn White Oak – pale brown to dark brown with a greenish gray tinge and very straight grain.
• Walnut – color may vary from light grey-brown, to a deep rich chocolate brown.
• Alder – tends to be light tan to reddish brown; darkens and reddens with age.
• Rustic Alder – same as Alder but contains knots of all sizes including cracks/holes.

Finishes 

Finishes bring your cabinetry to life and can also protect your wood from different external elements.

• Natural – the original characteristics of your chosen wood species.
• Paint – paint will completely cover the wood grain look.
• Glaze – glaze will add definition to the wood grain look because it is semi-transparent.
• Stain – enhances the wood grain patterns.
• Paint with glaze – glaze will darken your paint color.
• Stain with glaze – glaze will highlight the look of a stain finish.
• Metal fusion finish – includes brass, bronze, copper, white gold, oil rubbed bronze, iron, nickel silver, and stainless steel finishes.
• Distressing wood finish – gives the wood an aged and rustic appearance.
• Weathered grain finish – lightly distressed to replicate age and wear.

Understanding the basic terminology outlined above is the first step on the path to a successful kitchen design. For design inspiration, check out our gallery of completed custom kitchens here.