MC

Mac Cool

14/05/2010 12:51 AM

Have European cabinets gone out of style?

Have the European (frameless) cabinets gone out of style? Everywhere I
look all I find are face frame cabinets. I'm planning on building new
cabinets for my kitchen and I prefer the frameless look.


This topic has 3 replies

CF

Chris Friesen

in reply to Mac Cool on 14/05/2010 12:51 AM

13/05/2010 11:32 PM

On 05/13/2010 08:33 PM, Robatoy wrote:

> The face-frame look, IMHO, allows for a more 'furniturey' look and
> works better in a smaller kitchen.
>
> BUT.... I can guarantee you one thing: somebody will disagree with my
> take on this. <G>

Heh...I agree that the face frame looks more furniturey. However, the
frames take up an awful lot of vertical space between drawers. I
rebuilt some of my drawer boxes and it basically meant that I had to use
side mount slides rather than undermount because the face frames took up
too much space.

And if you've only got a skinny little cabinet (9" or so) you lose a
significant fraction of the opening to the frames.

Chris

Rc

Robatoy

in reply to Mac Cool on 14/05/2010 12:51 AM

13/05/2010 7:33 PM

On May 13, 8:51=A0pm, Mac Cool <[email protected]> wrote:
> Have the European (frameless) cabinets gone out of style? Everywhere I
> look all I find are face frame cabinets. I'm planning on building new
> cabinets for my kitchen and I prefer the frameless look.

The eurocabinets spiked around here about 3 years ago. Although there
are some advantages in the frameless style for the consumer, the real
advantages are for the higher-volume cabinet shops. An edgebander and
a 13-bit gang drill and you're flying.
The hidden hinges are nice, but now there are systems in place to have
hidden hinges AND the look of a more elegant face-frame cabinet. As a
face-frame cabinet also has the frame protrude a little on the outside
of the cabinet, joining two of those cabinets creates a bit of a hinge
which allows for a much quicker and tidier installation.
Personally, I like the euro cabinets when you're doing a flat panel
one piece door and when you match the grains of a whole wall of doors
like that, it can be spectacular. (Think book-matched rosewood)
The face-frame look, IMHO, allows for a more 'furniturey' look and
works better in a smaller kitchen.

BUT.... I can guarantee you one thing: somebody will disagree with my
take on this. <G>

Sk

Swingman

in reply to Mac Cool on 14/05/2010 12:51 AM

14/05/2010 9:40 AM

On 5/13/2010 7:51 PM, Mac Cool wrote:
> Have the European (frameless) cabinets gone out of style? Everywhere I
> look all I find are face frame cabinets. I'm planning on building new
> cabinets for my kitchen and I prefer the frameless look.

I build high end homes ($800k - $1m+), and generally the kitchen
cabinetry that goes in them, and I would agree with Robatoy's take on
the issue that Euro style has lost steam in the last five or six years,
particularly in that market.

I see some nice Euro jobs, but most high end clients opt for traditional
FF cabinets ... AAMOF, it I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand
time, out of the bee stung lipped mouths of the upscale woman home
buyer: "There is something temporary looking about those frameless
cabinets!"

... and they're right, considering the genesis and philosophy behind the
Euro 35mm system design. :)

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 4/15/2010
KarlC@ (the obvious)


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