Cabinet styles
Two separate choices define how cabinets look: the door style (shaker, slab, raised panel, beadboard) and the overlay (partial overlay, full overlay, or inset). Door style is mostly aesthetic and cheap to change your mind about early. Overlay is a construction decision that affects both price and how much storage you get.
Door styles. Shaker is a flat center panel in a square frame - the safest, most widely available style and the reason it appears in nearly every cabinet line. Slab is a single flat front, the simplest to clean and the natural fit for contemporary kitchens. Raised panel has a contoured center panel and reads traditional. Beadboard and applied-molding doors read cottage or period.
Overlay. Partial overlay leaves visible face frame between doors and is the standard on most stock lines. Full overlay covers nearly all the frame for a tighter, more contemporary look. Inset sets the door flush inside the frame - the most demanding to build and align, and it costs the most while giving you slightly less usable opening.
Practical considerations most people learn afterward. Detailed profiles collect grease and dust in the corners; slab and shaker are easier to wipe. Very dark and very glossy finishes show fingerprints and dust badly. Inset doors are beautiful but will need occasional adjustment as the house moves seasonally.
Style also travels with tier. If you want inset doors or an unusual profile, you are typically shopping semi-custom at $150-$300 per linear foot or custom at $500-$800, not stock at $80-$120.
Choosing cabinets styles
The judgement calls that decide the bill, before anyone quotes you.
- Pick overlay before door style It is a construction and price decision. Door style can change later in the process; overlay generally cannot.
- Match the house, not the feed A style that fights the architecture of the rest of the house dates faster than any color trend.
- Simpler profiles clean easier Deep detailing in a cooking kitchen is a recurring chore.
- Get a full-size door sample Small chips misrepresent both color and profile depth. Look at a real door in your own kitchen light.
- Inset costs more than the doors It demands tighter tolerances throughout, so it raises the whole job, not just the fronts.
- Keep the island simple If you want a contrasting island, do it in color rather than a second door profile.
All cabinets styles
Shaker Cabinets
Flat Panel Cabinets
Raised Panel Cabinets
Beadboard Cabinets
Glass Front Cabinets
Inset Cabinet Style
Full Overlay Style
Rustic Cabinets
Modern Slab Cabinets
Traditional Cabinets
Where these figures come from
Sources last checked
- SimplyWise - Cost to Install Kitchen Cabinets in 2026 · retrieved 2026-07-25
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