Adding custom kitchen cabinets to your home can enhance the functionality and aesthetic appeal of your kitchen. Working with a team of fabricators and installers can help you get a tailored kitchen based on your needs. Here are some aspects to know about integrating personalized kitchen cabinets into your home:
Design and Style
Start by assessing your kitchen’s existing layout and identifying any limitations or opportunities for improvement. Standard kitchen layouts include galley, L-shaped, U-shaped, and open-concept designs. You can also determine the number and size of cabinets needed for your kitchen items to find your desired design.
Common styles to choose from include traditional, modern, transitional, and rustic. You can also choose a more unique style to make your kitchen stand out. Floating cabinets are mounted on the wall to give an illusion of floating and offer a minimalistic design. Tiny shelves offer a creative method to store small kitchen items like mugs and decor. You can also choose to use repurposed furniture as cabinets such as an old dresser or wine crates.
To add more texture to your kitchen, consider grooved cabinets. A wooden plank texture offers a unique style that makes your kitchen stand out and adds variety to the space. Paint them cool tones and combine them with copper fixtures to give your kitchen a rustic feel.
Work closely with a professional kitchen designer to determine a suitable cabinet design and style. Make sure to consider how your kitchen style fits with the rest of your home. A kitchen designer can provide expert advice, create detailed drawings or 3D renderings, and guide you through the design process.
Materials
Choose high-quality materials for your custom kitchen cabinets to enjoy longevity and visual appeal. Common choices include hardwoods like oak, maple, cherry, or walnut for a classic look or medium-density fiberboard (MDF) and plywood for a more budget-friendly option. Hardwoods offer a stunning natural appearance with distinct grain patterns. Plywood has multiple layers of wood veneers glued together, providing strength and stability. When sealed properly, plywood can resist moisture.
MDF is a composite wood material containing wood fibers, wax, and resin, offering a smooth and paintable surface for a clean, modern appearance. High-density fiberboard (HDF) is a step above MDF. It offers more durability than MDF while also being affordable. It is also warp-resistant. It is easy to paint and lasts well in dry or humid areas.
Polyester cabinets blend pine fiber and melamine and add a coating of polyester to create a faux wood look. This material is durable and scratch resistant but is more expensive than laminate and melamine. They take colors well and do not fade easily.
Glass-fronted cabinets can add elegance and sophistication to your kitchen. You can even do half-glass cabinets so you can hide things like silverware and display your nice dishes without losing any space. Other reliable materials to select for your cabinets are laminate, thermofoil, copper, and stainless steel. For a futuristic design, consider installing high gloss cabinets. High gloss can also help the room feel larger and brighter.
Color Scheme
Choose cabinet colors that complement wall color, flooring, countertops, and backsplash to attain a harmonious look. If your kitchen has warm-toned walls like beige or light yellow, opt for cool-toned cabinets with shades of gray or blue to create balance. You can choose a monochromatic palette, like light gray for upper cabinets, to a deeper charcoal gray for lower cabinets, creating depth and contrast within the same hue shades.
To add visual interest, consider using cabinet colors contrasting with the surrounding elements. If your countertops and backsplash are white or light-colored, you could choose dark-colored cabinets like deep navy or rich brown to create a striking contrast. Neutral cabinet colors like white, beige, gray, or natural wood tones are timeless and versatile, making them suitable for many kitchen styles.
Two-toned cabinets are a unique combination that makes your modern style kitchen stand out. Choose complementary colors so the cabinets do not stand out too much. Painting the bottom cabinets a dark color and the top a light color, helps the space feel open and sophisticated.
Finishes
The finish of your tailored cabinets can impact the overall look. You can choose different finishes for your cabinets, such as stains, paint, glaze, and distressing. Stains range from light to dark shades. They enhance the natural wood grain and hue, allowing it to shine.
Applied over paint or stain, glaze adds depth and highlights details for a more antique or rustic appearance. White or lighter paint creates a classic look, while bolder paint tones can add personality. To create a worn or aged appearance for a rustic or vintage look, designers can use the distressing technique. Distressing entails adding deliberate marks, scratches, dents, or other imperfections to cabinetry.
Hardware and Accessories
Invest in cabinet hardware, such as handles, knobs, and pulls, that matches the style of your cabinets. Your handles, knobs, or pulls should be proportionate to the size of your cabinet doors and drawers for a balanced appearance. Adding concealed hinges provides a clean and streamlined look, while visible hinges can be more decorative.
You can also integrate functional accessories like pull-out shelves, lazy Susans, and built-in organizers to optimize storage and usability. Pull-out shelves are suitable for making the most of deep cabinets, allowing you to access items at the back more easily. Lazy Susans are rotating trays that optimize corner cabinet space, making it easy to retrieve items stored in the corners. Built-in organizers help keep utensils, pots, pans, and dishes tidy. Professional designers can also incorporate spice racks and pull-out pantries to keep your spices and pantry items organized and within reach.
Get Custom Kitchen Cabinets Today
An experienced designer or fabricator can work with you to develop a tailored kitchen design plan, considering factors like layout, style, materials, finishes, colors, and accessories. By working with an expert, custom cabinets can help your kitchen design look more cohesive. They can tie together elements like the countertops, backsplash, and flooring. Get custom kitchen cabinets that complement your space and boost usability today.
