How to Incorporate Both Flat Panel and Raised Panel Cabinetry Into Your Kitchen Design
Looking to elevate your kitchen design so that it looks custom-inspired? Everything in the kitchen or the house doesn’t need to match. One popular design trick is mixing it up with a combination of flat panel and raised panel cabinetry in the kitchen. Here’s we discuss how to “break the rules” when it comes to combining door styles, wood species, and finishes in a kitchen while still maintaining a cohesive look.
Before getting started, several factors that need to be taken into consideration. Think about the overall size of the space, small or large, enclosed or open into other rooms? How do the other rooms in the house relate to each other, are they adjoining, visible from other areas? What are the finishes and door styles you are considering are they similar or very different? Finally, how much variety are you personally comfortable with?
When choosing multiple door styles for a single space, a common practice is to use a raised panel door and a matching flat panel door. The similarity between the doors would be in the outside frame, or rails and stiles and the inside and outside edge profiles.
Nob Hill and Monterey — identical rails and stiles — only the center panel is different
Dura Supreme has multiple door styles that are ideal for raised panel-flat panel combinations. Highland and Hawthorne are identical doors except for the center panel; these are beautiful transitional style doors with wider rails and stiles. Kendall and Kendall Panel are also raised panel and flat panel, leaning more towards traditional styling. If you prefer straight lines, or a more Arts and Crafts look, Lancaster and Craftsman Panel would be door styles to consider.
Lancaster and Craftsman Panel
The raised panel-flat panel combination can be used in a variety of different ways. In a kitchen the wall cabinets could be the flat panel door, the bases would have the raised panel version. In a kitchen with an island, the perimeter cabinets could be all the same, say flat panel, the island could feature the raised panel door. If the layout includes an open floor plan, the kitchen could feature the flat panel door and other cabinetry, such as a boot bench, entertainment area could be the raised panel.
These are just a few ideas for using raised and flat panel doors in the same space. In future posts we will be mixing it up even further.
— Wendy Anderson