5 Kitchen Cabinet Styles You Need To Know About!

Kitchen cabinets are the glue that holds your kitchen’s aesthetic together. Whether building your dream kitchen from scratch or renovating your existing space, the cabinets are a great and fairly inexpensive way to define your style tone. There are countless options, and it can be overwhelming to try and find a cabinetry style that you love. We put together this list of the five kitchen cabinet styles that you need to know about before designing your new kitchen or refreshing your current space. The five best styles to kick off your kitchen remodel are:

• Modern style
• Traditional style
• Shaker style
• Mission style
• Rustic Style

#1 Modern Style Kitchen Cabinets

Modern design is an interior design style that embraces minimalistic elements, clean lines, and natural materials. Modern design trends feature bold angles and curves. This design can be successfully translated into kitchen cabinets. Modern style cabinets and contemporary cabinets are very popular due to their sleek, angular design and simplistic doors and frames. Flat-front cabinets, also known as slab front cabinets, are prevalent in modern design. Flat front cabinet doors are flat panel doors that do not have any beveling or ornamentation. Modern kitchen cabinets tend to combine various materials like wood, laminates, glass, and metals. Modern cabinets offer options with hardware and without, so you can bring the contemporary kitchen of your dreams to life. Metal pulls are among the most popular options of contemporary cabinet hardware due to their sleek and simple look. If you are looking for something that stands out, glass, stone, and crystal pulls can all add some flair to your cabinets. Are you searching for something a little more lean and minimalistic? Consider minimalist options like subtle wood pulls or concealed groove, channel, lip, and finger-pull functions to provide a sleek look by blending in with the cabinetry.

To recap the main highlights of modern style kitchen cabinets:

• Sleek, minimalistic design elements.
• Flat front and slab cabinet doors are most popular.
• Modern style incorporates a variety of materials.
• Offers options with and without hardware.

#2 Traditional Style Kitchen Cabinets

Traditional style cabinets typically feature more details in their designs. Traditional kitchen cabinets utilize raised panels, beadboard details, and other flourishes. These cabinets are usually made entirely of the same kind of wood and look good, left with their natural wood hues. If you wish to paint them, traditional cabinets look great in a range of color options, from creams, reds, and tans. If you are looking for something that nails that classic kitchen look, a popular design option is traditional white kitchen cabinets. This style of cabinets is very adaptable and can host a variety of hardware styles. Gold-colored hardware and white countertops pair well and are more in line with today’s trends, or you can pair matte black hardware with a dark countertop for a more dramatic look. Being creative with your traditional kitchen hardware is the best way to create custom traditional style cabinets that you will love.

To recap the main highlights of traditional style kitchen cabinets:

• More detailed design features
• Look good in a wide range of colors
• White traditional style cabinets are popular for a classic kitchen feel.
• Experiment with a variety of hardware styles and materials

#3 Shaker Style Kitchen Cabinets

Shaker design originated in the 1770s during the American colonial era from a religious movement. Shaker styling tends to avoid flourishes and focuses on simple and functional aesthetics. Shaker-style cabinets feature trademark elements like flat paneled doors and rail frames and are constructed with quality, durable wood. Examples of common woods used in shaker furniture include cherry, maple, hickory, and quartersawn oak. Shaker-style cabinetry is known for embracing these hardwoods’ natural beauty and characteristics by applying subtle stains. Paint options for Shaker-style cabinets come in subtle grays and white tones. There are a wide variety of shaker-style kitchen hardware options that are popular. One of the most common shaker hardware options is the silver tubular bar pull because it aligns with the sleek and simple design of custom shaker cabinets. Shaker-style kitchen cabinets are popular in current kitchen designs because of the classic and casual look they lend.

To recap the main highlights of shaker style kitchen cabinets:

• Avoids flourishes.
• Simple and functional design.
• Flat paneled doors.
• Rail frames.
• Constructed from high-quality wood.
• Looks great painted or left with its natural wood finish.
• Classic and casual aesthetic.
• Pairs with a variety of hardware options.

#4 Mission Style Kitchen Cabinets

Mission style, or craftsman style cabinets, is a very popular variance to the shaker style. Mission style cabinets are defined by straight lines, quality construction, and little ornamentation. Mission-style cabinets are typically made from heavy woods like oak, cherry, maple, or hickory and are often left in their natural state. Because of the hardwood cabinets, a mission-style kitchen gives off an organic, warm, and comforting aesthetic. Mullion doors are popular in a mission-style kitchen. Mullion doors are multi-panel doors with tongue-and-groove joinery. Because of this unique construction, custom mission-style cabinets are usually made by carpenters. Mission style hardware is often a dark color like black. Popular materials for hardware in a mission-style kitchen are wrought iron, rubbed brass, and bronze medals—mission-style hardware pairs exceptionally well with the red and gold hues of the natural wood finish.

To recap the main highlights of mission style kitchen cabinets:

• A popular variant of the shaker style.
• Features straight lines and little ornamentation.
• Emphasis on quality, often handmade, custom builds.
• Made from heavy woods and left in their natural state.
• Warm and organic aesthetic.
• Multi-panel, Mullion doors featuring tongue-and-groove joinery.
• Dark decorative hardware; often wrought iron, rubbed brass, or bronze medal.

#5 Rustic Style Kitchen Cabinets

Rustic cabinets emphasize the raw qualities of wood and give off a casual and inviting feel. Rustic-style kitchen cabinets are well known for their raw, natural visual qualities. Often, rustic-style cabinets display visible knots and wood grain. Often with this country-inspired style, you will often find characteristics like raised-panel doors, but beadboard cabinets are becoming a popular option again. Other decorative variations like glass, wire, or tin-front doors are sometimes used. Although the natural wood finish is the most popular choice when it comes to locking in that home-style kitchen feel, white painted cabinets can provide a light and welcoming feel. Patina finished cabinetry is becoming popular as well! When considering hardware for a rustic style kitchen cabinet, brass and antique silver hardware options are very popular. They match the natural wood hue and complement a rustic, farmhouse aesthetic.

To recap the main highlights of country style kitchen cabinets:

• A casual and inviting atmosphere.
• Almost exclusively made with rustic American hardwoods like rustic cherry, rustic maple, and even rustic hickory.
• Emphasis on qualities of wood like wood grain.
• Raised-panel is common, but beadboard kitchen cabinets, glass-front cabinets, and other decorative options are used.
• Natural wood finish is the most popular choice, but white painted cabinets are also popular options.
• Brass and silver hardware options are popular.

Create Your Own Kitchen Cabinet Styles With Customization

Now that you know the breakdown of these five popular kitchen cabinet styles– modern, traditional, shaker, mission, and rustic– you are one step closer to creating your unique style. By first understanding the general principles of each design, you can experiment with different ways you can customize your kitchen cabinets to complement or contrast certain elements. Take inspiration from these designs to create custom cabinets for the kitchen of your dreams. If you are looking for Arizona custom cabinets or local custom cabinet contractors, Outlook Construction & Remodeling in Flagstaff is here to provide your home with a custom solution. Whether it’s new cabinets, doors, or countertops, we have you covered. Contact us today to get one step closer to building the kitchen cabinets of your dreams.

See also: Home Renovation Costs in 2023