11 Styles of Kitchen Cabinet Doors That Aren’t Shaker
Shaker style is rightly popular, but it’s not the only option for well-dressed kitchen units
If Shaker isn’t for you, there are numerous other beautiful styles of kitchen cabinet doors to consider – flat-fronted ply, colourful laminate, wooden planks, cut-out handles… Narrow down your favourites as you browse these well-dressed units.
Go au naturel
The beautifully smooth wooden boards used in this pared-back concrete and Corian kitchen are Douglas fir. The design, by Jamie Blake of Blakes London, uses 300mm-wide boards across the units and also on the walls above them.
The beautifully smooth wooden boards used in this pared-back concrete and Corian kitchen are Douglas fir. The design, by Jamie Blake of Blakes London, uses 300mm-wide boards across the units and also on the walls above them.
Marry matt and gloss
Should you choose a shiny or flat finish for your units? This kitchen, by Kia Designs, shows how mixing them together can work very well.
Having a gloss finish on the grey perimeter cabinets helps to bounce light around the room, while the matt grey-blue doors on the peninsula cupboards add a contemporary element to the overall look.
Mixing in a rich wood for the dining space and peninsula worktop keeps the whole effect interesting and warm, and going handleless ensures an uncluttered end result.
Should you choose a shiny or flat finish for your units? This kitchen, by Kia Designs, shows how mixing them together can work very well.
Having a gloss finish on the grey perimeter cabinets helps to bounce light around the room, while the matt grey-blue doors on the peninsula cupboards add a contemporary element to the overall look.
Mixing in a rich wood for the dining space and peninsula worktop keeps the whole effect interesting and warm, and going handleless ensures an uncluttered end result.
Veer towards vibrancy
Birch plywood is an increasingly popular kitchen material on Houzz, and ply can be a highly sustainable option, since it’s generally made from waste wood.
It’s one of the key materials used for the doors on the units in this colourful kitchen designed by Koivu. The designer has opted for a combination of bright orange laminate on birch plywood, and Douglas fir plywood sheets.
The wood effect is accentuated by the plywood detailing and the kitchen is finished with laminated birch plywood worktops to complement the overall look.
Learn how you can renovate your kitchen sustainably.
Birch plywood is an increasingly popular kitchen material on Houzz, and ply can be a highly sustainable option, since it’s generally made from waste wood.
It’s one of the key materials used for the doors on the units in this colourful kitchen designed by Koivu. The designer has opted for a combination of bright orange laminate on birch plywood, and Douglas fir plywood sheets.
The wood effect is accentuated by the plywood detailing and the kitchen is finished with laminated birch plywood worktops to complement the overall look.
Learn how you can renovate your kitchen sustainably.
Mix trad and contemporary
This beautiful kitchen was designed bespoke by mimodo architects and features two contrasting, yet complementary, cabinet door styles.
The dark-painted wood units are glass-fronted and tile-backed and create the same sort of ‘traditional kitchen’ feel that Shaker doors might. However, to add a different twist, the other units are a pale, bare wood finish, which has a cool, modern Scandi feel about it.
This beautiful kitchen was designed bespoke by mimodo architects and features two contrasting, yet complementary, cabinet door styles.
The dark-painted wood units are glass-fronted and tile-backed and create the same sort of ‘traditional kitchen’ feel that Shaker doors might. However, to add a different twist, the other units are a pale, bare wood finish, which has a cool, modern Scandi feel about it.
Take two surfaces
Here’s another kitchen where mixing up the cabinet door styles creates an interesting finished look. The difference here, though, is that both the base units and the wall units are the same textured wood finish, but with different colour treatments.
BLOCK Design & Build opted to leave the wall units’ wood bare, and to stain the base unit doors black. A unified texture helps to keep the overall effect harmonious.
Here’s another kitchen where mixing up the cabinet door styles creates an interesting finished look. The difference here, though, is that both the base units and the wall units are the same textured wood finish, but with different colour treatments.
BLOCK Design & Build opted to leave the wall units’ wood bare, and to stain the base unit doors black. A unified texture helps to keep the overall effect harmonious.
Frame your view
These sleek, flat-panel units are handleless, giving a contemporary look. What’s slightly unusual about the style of these doors, though, in a room designed by Sustainable Kitchens, is that they’re inset, meaning they sit within the frame of the units, creating a subtle graphic look.
A handleless design ensures the simple graphic lines aren’t cluttered up.
Find carpenters and joiners in your area on Houzz.
These sleek, flat-panel units are handleless, giving a contemporary look. What’s slightly unusual about the style of these doors, though, in a room designed by Sustainable Kitchens, is that they’re inset, meaning they sit within the frame of the units, creating a subtle graphic look.
A handleless design ensures the simple graphic lines aren’t cluttered up.
Find carpenters and joiners in your area on Houzz.
Cut it out
A deviation on handleless is to have cut-out shapes to enable the opening and closing of your cabinets. Here, the team at Naked Kitchens have given these deep grey units circular holes as handles.
Other popular options seen in quite a few kitchens on Houzz include a notch cut into the top or side of the door for fingers to grab hold of.
A deviation on handleless is to have cut-out shapes to enable the opening and closing of your cabinets. Here, the team at Naked Kitchens have given these deep grey units circular holes as handles.
Other popular options seen in quite a few kitchens on Houzz include a notch cut into the top or side of the door for fingers to grab hold of.
Celebrate classic country style
Think of a country cottage or rural farm building and you’ll probably imagine a ledge and brace door in the mix somewhere. This classic style has a recognisable Z-shaped support, which helps to hold together the vertical planks that make up the rest of the structure. Typically, cast-iron T-hinges hold things in place.
It’s a familiar style, but one not often used for kitchen cabinets. However, here, Mark Stone Kitchens has adapted the design to great effect, and gone for a pastel palette to create a kitchen that’s full of country charm.
Think of a country cottage or rural farm building and you’ll probably imagine a ledge and brace door in the mix somewhere. This classic style has a recognisable Z-shaped support, which helps to hold together the vertical planks that make up the rest of the structure. Typically, cast-iron T-hinges hold things in place.
It’s a familiar style, but one not often used for kitchen cabinets. However, here, Mark Stone Kitchens has adapted the design to great effect, and gone for a pastel palette to create a kitchen that’s full of country charm.
Be discreet
Plywood pops up again in this kitchen in architect Richard Andrews’ own home. The design was done on as small a budget as possible: Richard built the kitchen himself and used Indian ink to stain the wood black.
Rather than opting for cut-out handles or push latches so as to enable handleless doors, he found long handles, also in black, which he fitted vertically to create a uniform finish. The handles are recycled plastic and were sourced from Ikea.
Plywood pops up again in this kitchen in architect Richard Andrews’ own home. The design was done on as small a budget as possible: Richard built the kitchen himself and used Indian ink to stain the wood black.
Rather than opting for cut-out handles or push latches so as to enable handleless doors, he found long handles, also in black, which he fitted vertically to create a uniform finish. The handles are recycled plastic and were sourced from Ikea.
Match your materials to your budget
The budget for the refurbishment of this east London flat was modest and included fitting a new kitchen. This dictated the materials that designers Common Ground Workshop chose for the units – a combination of laminated ply, ply boards and coloured MDF board, which they’ve used to create a stylish, utilitarian room.
Tell us…
What’s the style of your kitchen cabinet doors and do any of these take your fancy? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.
The budget for the refurbishment of this east London flat was modest and included fitting a new kitchen. This dictated the materials that designers Common Ground Workshop chose for the units – a combination of laminated ply, ply boards and coloured MDF board, which they’ve used to create a stylish, utilitarian room.
Tell us…
What’s the style of your kitchen cabinet doors and do any of these take your fancy? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.
When Beth Dadswell of Imperfect Interiors designed her own kitchen, part of a converted dairy, she hired a trusted carpenter to make these kitchen units.
The doors look like traditional tongue-and-groove panelling, but are in fact made out of MDF and painted in Mole’s Breath by Farrow & Ball. “We spent a lot of time getting the proportions and details right,” Beth says.