TYPE

How the cabinet door fits over the cabinet box determines its basic type.

Your options for door type include:

• Full overlay
   

• Partial overlay
   

• Inset
   

• Lipped

Full overlay doors have less than one-eighth of an inch between them—in effect, they fully lay over the cabinet. Frameless cabinets always have full overlay doors but some framed cabinets have them as well. You can tell for sure whether a cabinet is framed or frameless by opening a door and checking for rails and stiles.

Partial overlay doors somewhat conceal the frame; there is usually a ½” to 1” space between closed doors, allowing you to see much of the face frame. This choice could slightly reduce your cabinetry’s total cost: Because the doors are smaller, less material is used.

Inset doors sit within the rails and stiles and lay flush with the front edges of the cabinet box. Truly inset doors are only available with a framed construction, but designers can achieve the same look using vertical pilasters on frameless cabinets. Note that wood’s expansion and contraction due to humidity can cause rubbing between the door and stiles.

Lipped doors are routed with a slight wooden groove to fit over the face frame.