Introduction

The overall appearance of a kitchen is heavily influenced by the style of its cabinet doors, but while each manufacturer goes to great lengths to create their own designs, kitchen units are all essentially based on a handful of basic themes.

Door styles

Door materials

The material that a door is made from and its colour are key to creating the overall look.

• Solid Wood – As the name suggests these doors, and usually the carcasses they hang from, are constructed from solid wood, making these durable cabinets expensive. Wood creates a warm and natural look, and the various colours of species such as oak, cherry, maple and walnut allow you to create an environment that is either rich and dark or light, bright and airy.
• Wood Veneer –The main bulk of these doors is made of MDF (medium density fibreboard) which is then covered with a thin layer, or veneer, of real wood. Although less durable than solid wood, these doors are less prone to warping and are significantly cheaper too. Look out for doors made with a frame of solid wood and a veneered central panel, as these combine the best of both materials.
• Laminate – As with wood veneer, these doors largely consist of an MDF core, onto which a sheet of paper carrying the pattern is heat-bonded using resin adhesives. The resin can also be embossed with a texture so these cost-effective doors can carry any pattern, which is usually a pretty convincing imitation of wood.
• Painted or Lacquered – An MDF core is coated with a layer of colourfast lacquer or paint. Because MDF is made from fine wood particles and resin, these doors do not carry any woodgrain, making a smooth surface which can be painted in any colour.
• High Gloss Foil – Also known as ‘Rigid Thermofoil’ (RTF) or Vinyl, these doors are also made from an MDF core to which a thermofoil layer is glued under high pressure. The result is a shiny surface that looks sleek and modern and reflects light around the room, available in almost any colour. Greasy fingerprints will however show on this surface.
• Stainless Steel – For a really contemporary look, MDF doors are now available wrapped in a thin layer of brushed stainless steel. This material does show fingerprints exceptionally easily, so a more expensive alternative that does not suffer this problem is aluminium, usually available from the high quality manufacturers.
• Glass – Cabinet doors are now often available with clear or frosted glass, either as a single framed panel or with a number of ‘windows’ within the frame. These look most attractive when coupled with glass shelving and interior lighting inside the cabinet.
• Aluminium – ‘Shuttered’ doors are becoming increasingly popular on dresser units. These lightweight doors roll up like a carpet as they are lifted and add a contemporary look to a kitchen.

For a highly individual kitchen, consider combining a couple of colours or textures as shown below;

Further information and useful links

• Kitchen unit door handles
• Kitchen base units
• Kitchen wall units
• More kitchens topics

• Find a Kitchen Door supplier near you
• Find a Kitchen Fixtures & Fittings supplier near you
• Find a Kitchen Planner near you
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