We get asked whether cabinet door designs have to match on upper and lower cabinets and the answer is a definite no.
You can mix upper and base cabinet door styles, design detail, and materials to create a more curated, high-end, custom furniture style look.
When mixing door styles, typically more detailed designs, darker finishes, darker wood species and dark paint colors are used on the base cabinets due to their heavier appearance. Less detail, lighter wood species, light paint colors, and glass or mullion door designs are specified on upper cabinets.
The most common use of different cabinet door styles on the base and upper cabinets includes glass or mullion (also known as divided lite or French lite) upper cabinet doors with flat or solid panel lower doors.
In kitchens with cabinets to the ceiling and a second set of upper cabinets above the over-counter cabinets, glass panel doors on the top cabinets break up the expanse of tall cabinets, and are often lighted on the inside to showcase decorative vases or other decor pieces inside, and add soft lighting to the room.
Other popular cabinet door combinations include raised panel base cabinet doors with flat panel uppers, wide frame base cabinets with standard or narrow frame uppers, Shaker style base cabinet doors with modern veneered, edgebanded uppers, and applied molding base cabinets with matching edge detail uppers without the applied molding.
Square panel base cabinets paired with arched uppers was much more popular in the late 90s and early 2000s than it is now. However, we’re starting to see designers specifying this combination in furniture style built-in hutches that break up a wall of cabinets, for a high-end traditional look. TaylorCraft’s left eyebrow C14L and right eyebrow C14R cabinet door styles are a great design option for a built-in furniture look.
Another option for combining cabinet door styles is adding a built-in furniture style cabinet within the kitchen with an entirely different door style and finish on the uppers and base cabinets.
For more information and photos of mixed stains, designs, materials and painted cabinet door colors read our Combining Paint and Stain Kitchen Cabinets article.
Cabinetmakers, contact TaylorCraft cabinet door company today to place a cabinet door order.
We look forward to serving you.
