Two kitchens can use the same door style and color and still look different. The difference is usually how the cabinet box is built and how the doors sit on it.
Framed cabinets
A framed cabinet has a face frame, a border of solid wood, across the front of the box. Doors hang on that frame. It’s the traditional American way of building cabinets, it’s sturdy, and it suits shaker, farmhouse and classic kitchens.
Frameless cabinets
Frameless cabinets, sometimes called European or full-access, skip the face frame. The doors cover the whole front of the box, so you get slightly wider openings and a clean, seamless look that suits modern kitchens. Medallion builds both framed and frameless.
How the doors sit: overlay vs. inset
- Partial overlay: doors cover part of the face frame, leaving some frame showing. A traditional look.
- Full overlay: doors cover almost all of the frame, for a cleaner look with more door and less frame. JSI builds its cabinets in full overlay.
- Inset: doors sit inside the frame, flush with it. It’s the classic furniture look, it takes precise fitting, and it usually costs more.
Which is right for you?
For a classic or coastal kitchen, framed with full overlay or inset doors is the usual choice. For a sleek, modern kitchen, frameless gives the cleanest lines and the most usable space. See all of them on our cabinet doors page, then come feel the difference in the showroom.