Choosing the right cabinets is essential to improving the functionality and aesthetics of your kitchen.
1. Think About The Appliances That You Use Most
There’s no point in having a kitchen designed for baking if you only ever make pasta. Similarly, there’s no point having drawers and drawers of kitchen storage if you only use the same few spoons and spatulas for all of your meals. You’re the only person who knows how you cook, so you can plan all the design elements for that.
Similarly, if you’re always using the same toaster and food processor for almost every meal, then adding a simple plywood cabinetry can that texture and utility to your kitchen! That way, you can effortlessly tidy them away when they’re not in use but have them instantly revealed when you want to get cooking.
Nice and easy!
Your cabinets should not be the focus of your kitchen – they should just help to make your kitchen easier to use. If there are large appliances that need space on your countertops, plan your cabinet designs around them instead of taking up valuable overhead counter space and making things awkward.
2. Modern vs. Traditional vs. Transitional -- Which One Are You?
Cabinet styles are all about personal taste. Your kitchen cabinets take up a lot of your kitchen’s aesthetic, so they can make the room pop if done correctly. Nonetheless, the style of your cabinets needs to marry up with the décor overall. A dark-wood classic kitchen with glossy white, glass fronts modern cabinets would look strange.
Modern cabinets are the way to go for many people, especially if they’re looking for an ROI as they plan on selling their home in the next few years. Shaker style cabinets are an example of a modern and traditional hybrid. Although trends are always evolving, interior design trends don’t tend to change radically fast, so you can bet that a modern design with slick frameless cabinets will still look pretty fashionable in the next 5 years.
There’s no guarantee, but it probably will!
With that said, modern cabinets run the risk of becoming dated and unfashionable as time rolls on, looking like they’re stuck in the past. On the other hand, traditional designs have stood the test of time and there will always be a large portion of the population who enjoy them, so they’re perhaps best if you want to sell your home in the next 10 years.
It’s wise to keep reselling in mind at all times.
If you’re not sure whether to go with old-school particle board cabinets or modern white glossy drawers, consider a transitional design instead. Transitional kitchens cabinets adopt elements of old and new, marrying them together for a unique look. Wooden drawers painted white with long metal handles are a good example of transitional cabinets – there’s a blend of new and old features. You might even find a nice, timeless cabinet box.
3. Decide Upon a Cohesive Color Story
Your kitchen’s color story must be cohesive, even if it’s a simple one. Your color story is basically the color palette of your kitchen and how all of the hues marry together to make the space feel warm, comfortable, spacious, and stylish. Nobody wants a kitchen that’s all one color – it’s boring and lacks dimension.
We're after style here!
For example, if you’ve got a light beige floor and taupe walls, then matte black cabinet doors add that accent of darkness that you need to break up all that light. On the other hand, if you’ve got a solid wood flooring with duck egg blue walls, some off-white wood cabinets with black fittings pop as a feature of the room.
Take the opportunity to make your cabinet doors a feature of the room!
If you’re working with interior designers or kitchen designers, then make sure to talk to them about, especially if they’ve got a color palette to style in mind. While cabinets are practical for storage, they hit the eye sooner than your walls, countertops, or flooring, so it’s essentially to get that balance of colors just right.
4. Think About The Finish You Want For Your Kitchen Cabinets
Speaking of color stories, another important element of your kitchen’s aesthetic is the finish of your kitchen cabinet doors. The finish of your cabinets can make them pop as an accent or make them fade away into the background of the room, depending on the style you’re going for.
For instance, a glossy cabinet door is a staple of sleek, modern designs, while solid wood and particle board tend to be associated with traditional designs. If you like the idea of a transitional aesthetic, cabinet doors with lacquer and matte paint finishes tend to be used well for that classic-meets-modern vibe.
Your finish can make a huge difference in how your cabinets translate within the context of your cooking space. With the wrong kind of design, a lacquer gloss could look tacky and “too much” while a matte paint finish could look drab and understated, even if the color story its beautiful.
Ultimately, cohesiveness in your kitchen design is what you should be looking for while you are going through the kitchen remodel.
If you’re not sure which finish style is right for the cabinets in your kitchen, you can start by reading our blog exploring the best finish for kitchen cabinets by comparing 4 different paint finishes. Or speak to an interior designer or the team of kitchen designers at Kitchen Infinity who can help guide this process for you.
5. Choose Fittings That Are Practical and Stylish
You might think that a door handle is just a door handle, but these fittings and small pieces of hardware can add a unique feel to your cabinets and help to support the kitchen’s theming overall. The color, design, finish, and materials of your door handles and cabinet knobs can say a lot about the feel you’re going for. A classic dark wood design with modern stainless steel handles will put the whole vibe off!
Kitchen cabinet handles, cabinet doors and fittings are especially important if you’re going for a transitional aesthetic where classic and modern references combine. A modern cabinet with an old-school iron handle could help to pull your aesthetic into the transitional zone, while classic wooden drawers with touch-to-open hardware make your old-fashioned kitchen feel newer.
The devil’s in the details, as they say!
Touch-to-open drawers are very popular in home kitchens these days, and they’re especially good if you do a lot of complex cooking and baking where you’re often having to search for different utensils. These drawers can also reduce the amount of hand-washing you need to do, as it’s easy to bump them open with your leg or arm if your hands are dirty.
Don’t underestimate the need for well-designed fittings, handles, doorknobs, cabinet doors and general kitchen cabinet hardware. Think about what’s practical yet also stylish and chic. There’s no point going for traditional iron cabinet handles if they’re awkward to open and a pain to keep clean!
