At AWA Kitchen Cabinets, we’re proud to not only provide clients with a wide range of beautiful kitchen cabinets, from base cabinets to wall cabinets, utility cabinets and many others, but also to offer a huge swatch of color options. Color is a huge part of how your cabinets will play into the kitchen’s overall aesthetic, and we stock a gigantic variety of options to make sure you can mix or match to your heart’s content.

One particular color hue area that’s grown in popularity in many modern homes over recent years: Black, or extremely dark hues like our espresso or dark wood styles. What are some of the top practical and stylistic reasons why more homeowners are choosing black or near-black colors for their kitchen cabinets, and how might you utilize these cabinets in your kitchen? Here’s a primer.

Versatility and Numerous Styles

Black and darker hues are enormously versatile when it comes to design within the home, and can either match or contrast a variety of different aesthetics. A few styles or themes it often helps invoke:

• Elegance: Black cabinets bring a refined, elegant feel to any room, and this can be promoted even further through various enhancements. You might consider gold or brass hardware, for instance, or similarly-colored accents. Others might prefer to contrast these cabinets with rich marble counters or a similar backsplash area. You have several great options here.
• Modern: Black is used in contemporary design with an emphasis on clean lines. It’s known for sleek, high-gloss and upscale looks.
• Traditional: And yet, at the same time, black is a viable option for traditional kitchens as well. With great hardware or crown molding, or with a glassfront style that was popular for many decades, you can maintain this classic look with black cabinetry.

Space Perception

For those who do choose black cabinets, it’s important to be considerate of space perception. Too much black in a given space will make it feel smaller – for this reason, it’s important to include non-black accents or complements in other areas of the kitchen.

Accenting

Speaking of accents, they deserve their own section here. In many cases, homeowners use black cabinets only in certain areas, such as on a kitchen island, while leaving other cabinets a lighter hue. This helps these particular cabinets stand out without risking too small a perception of the space. There are also other features that do very well as cabinet accents, such as a standalone hutch. The idea here is to break up your colors just enough that the space doesn’t feel too small.

For more on using black kitchen cabinets effectively, or to learn about any of our kitchen cabinets, vanity cabinets or other services, speak to the staff at AWA Kitchen Cabinets today.

In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some of the basics on both framed and frameless cabinets for the kitchen. Kitchen cabinets come in a variety of styles and options, and one of the simplest decisions here is whether to go with framed or frameless selections.

At AWA Kitchen Cabinets, we’re proud to offer a wide range of kitchen cabinet options, from base cabinets and wall cabinets to vanities, utility cabinets and many additional accessories. We’re happy to inform you of any of the qualities you should be considering depending on your cabinet needs, budget and other factors, including whether framed or frameless options will be the best choice for you. Today’s part two of our series will look at a couple other important areas and compare these styles to help you choose between them.

Installation Themes

One of the key differences between framed and frameless kitchen cabinets is the kind of hardware and processes that will be used for their installation. Framed cabinets, for starters, attach to one another throughout the width of the face frame, a process that allows for screws to anchor themselves very deeply into their attachment points within the cabinet. For this reason, framed cabinets can accommodate longer screw lengths than frameless options, plus will generally be the most durable option long-term.

Frameless cabinets, on the other hand, attach to each other directly through side panels they possess. This means that a shorter screw length is generally used and accepted, meaning the anchoring is a bit shallower for frameless cabinets. In some situations, this will require additional screws and screw locations to ensure secure attachment.

Overlay Types

When we talk about overlays in cabinets, we’re referring to the amount of the cabinet face that’s overlapped by the doors and drawer fronts. When the doors and drawers are all closed, the visible face frame or box is known as the “reveal.” For framed cabinets, there are three overlay types available:

• Inset: Where the door and drawer faces are slightly smaller than the openings, and recessed to align with the face frame for the largest possible reveal.
• Standard: Door and drawer faces are slightly larger than the openings, with a slight overlap of the face frame. These reveal a bit less of the face frame.
• Full: The door and drawer faces are longer than the openings and overlap the face frame, leaving a small reveal.

For frameless cabinets, on the other hand, door and drawer faces are nearly the exact same size as the cabinet box. This leaves a tiny portion visible, leaving a streamlined appearance where you don’t have to worry about overlays.

For more on framed versus frameless cabinets, or to learn about any of our kitchen cabinets, vanities or other products, speak to the staff at AWA Kitchen Cabinets today.