Current Cabinet Door Finish Trends
Thinking of installing new cabinets or changing your cabinet doors to get a new look?
Most likely it has been some time since you last bought cabinets. Door finish choices have drastically improved in looks and durability in recent years. Remember when all cabinet doors were wood and the choices were solid paint, stain, or glazed stain? Then we saw laminates become popular along with adding a few glass doors. In recent years cabinet manufacturers have been experimenting with wood grain laminate that looks like wood, high gloss slabs in solid colors, chalk or matte wood finishes, enamel doors and colored glass doors, and a myriad of “look through” doors just to name a few trends. It’s a lot more fun choosing materials now and you can even mix and match elements in the same room.
The popularity of wood grain cabinet doors is back, and it looks like it is here to stay. If you like wood grain, your first choice is between natural wood or wood grain laminate. There are pros and cons to both, but thanks to high-resolution scanners you can forego natural wood and still achieve the look you desire. Laminates are environmentally friendly, affordable, easier to clean, and will keep their true color when exposed to light. The quality of some laminates are so good that you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the laminates and natural woods without touching them
High–gloss surfaces are also making a statement this year. These sleek acrylic cabinets, with minimal hardware, are not just limited to bare white kitchens any longer. Now that more and more kitchens have uninterrupted flow in the home, cabinets are becoming an art form. You can now mix your cabinet colors and textures with other bold colors and textures for a modern dual-tone look. High gloss finishes will show more fingerprints and can scratch more easily, therefore they are usually only installed on upper cabinets that get less use.
Opaque glass doors are another option, along with see-through glass doors in various types of glass including frosted, clear, and/or patterned. Glass doors are recommended for upper cabinets only, to minimize breakage potential.
Whatever look you decide to go with, most manufacturers’ websites now showcase their finish colors and with a click of a button, they will send you samples to review at home.
Also, great photos can be found on supplier’s websites which display their product, Kohler (sinks) or Silestone (quartz) or Dekton (porcelain slabs) would be good websites to check.
We are going with high gloss, glass, and laminate (solid in some rooms and wood-like in others) on the house we are currently building.
Even if you aren’t thinking about cabinets at the moment, it is fun to click through the photos on these sites.
Trudi Carey
