When I chose my door style, I went to a friend's house to look at her old original cabinet doors. They were raised panels. I was quite surprised as I thought the plainer doors were Shaker. I went ahead and used the plain door style I had chosen but tried to "decorate" in a less modern style.

Here is a link that might be useful: shaker kitchen

Raised panel doors were not always raised on both sides. Sometimes the reverse of the panel was flat. (Raising it on one side, or both, added thickness and sturdiness.) The Shakers thought this extra detail caused by the raise was too fancy, so they turned it inside out, and put the flat panel on the outside. Traditional shaker doors are still sometimes made this way, while sometimes they are recessed on both sides, or sometimes flush on the reverse.

here are pictures of our cabinets.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Dont know if mine is a "true" Shaker door but I love them:

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Check out Plain English cabinetry from England for some pics.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plain English Cabinets

If you take a look at pharoah's kitchen in the FKB you'll see a close up of a Shaker Door with a reverse raised panel. I'd cut/paste/link for you but I'm at my son's and using his computer and can't quite figure out his features like on my Mac.

Here's a pic of pharoah's kitchen. You can see more pics on the Finished Kitchens site.

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His kitchen slays me... my all time favorite. And to think pharaoh built those!!

Reverse raised panel gives you a SOLID wood center door panel. Otherwise, it's a thin veneer panel. Solid is definitely better quality. Some people prefer the veneer because it doesn't have the 'striping' effect that solid wood has.

Here is a photo of my pantry door open. Raised panel on the inside....flat/shaker on the outside. You can tell if a shaker door is solid from the outside, by the stripes...wood planks glued together.

Kompy

>Solid is definitely better quality.

Yes, so much more dimensionally stable than plywood. And you know, only cheap furniture is made with veneers

(If you can't sense the sarcasm, read up a little on fine furniture!)

While we're on the subject . . . I thought I might mention that shaker doors usually have squared off edges. I had read on GW that dust collects on these edges and that it can be tough to get out. I went with a modified shaker style door that has a bit of an angle to it. It is easy to wipe clean. I can do my whole kitchen (lots of cabinets in 10 min or less). I wipe with a damp cloth and then a dry cloth. Not that I have to do this often . . . maybe once a month?

Thanks so much for the posts! All the kitchens look great. Kompy thanks so much for the pic of the inside, that really helped me understand.
judydel...that is a good idea about the modified edge, that is something that I will keep in mind.

>(If you can't sense the sarcasm, read up a little on fine furniture!)

Please, there's no reason to get sarcastic.
I am aware that veneers are not 'bad'. It's a choice. I am a lover of antique furniture which often has some beautiful veneer work. For me however, given the choice in cabinetry, I'd go solid, so now I will tell you why. I like the feel of the heavier doors. A solid panel is also easier to repair if it gets damaged. I've seen some veneer panels completely blow out when hit hard enough. I've had several clients complain about the rattly sound when closing a door with a thin center panel (especially if the doors are large...tall 42" uppers and pantry doors are the worst). You don't think about that until you're using it everyday. The invention of the soft close door devices has helped that problem...but the fact is, people have brought up that issue with me. And finally, veneers can STAIN differently and AGE differently than solid wood. I've seen kitchens where the center veneer panel is slightly lighter in color that the solid wood frames. It is what it is and it might bother some while others might not even notice.

Judydel, I agree with the flat edge dust catcher! I brought that up here at GW right after I did my kitchen 9 years ago. With my dining room buffet, I did a rounded edge instead and I like it a lot better.

Kompy

Kompy do you by chance have pics of your rounded edge that you used in your dining room? I am just curious to see what my options are, I am going to have a relatively large amount of cabinets and anything that I can do to minimize the upkeep would be helpful.
Thanks so much!

I do have a closeup picture of the doorstyle, but it's on my office computer (I am home today). For now, this is the buffet. Around the perimeter of the center recessed panel is a routed edge, not squared off.

I wish I had done this doorstyle in my kitchen as well.

Judydel and Kompy, thank you so much for sharing your photos. I had asked a question on another posting regarding shaker cabinets. Some nice person directed me to the finished kitchen forum, but I find your photos most helpful. We need to give our cabinet maker a picture. I like the rounded edges. Thank you to mgkinz for posting your question.

I never thought of the shaker flat edge as being a dust catcher. I guess I'll find out because they are installing today. That said...my favorite cure for dust in places I can't get to is canned air...the kind you buy to clean electronics. I love that stuff for houseworks. It's great for blinds, lamp shades...you name it. I guess now that I have flat edge shaker cabs I'll be investing in more. ha. Judydel...your cabs are beautiful. Truly. I had the same edge on my cabs in my previous home and loved them. They were painted, but the same. I went with shaker in this house because they were simple...like the house...with zero sophistication and no extras when built. ha.

I saw the post come on to page one again and I just remembered that I forgot to post close-up pics for the OP.
Sooooo.
Here is my buffet cabinet right after it was delivered. You can see in the close up how it's not a flat edge. Looks really nice too!
Kompy

Also forgot to mention! There's a PLUS to having the routed edge! If you want mullions like I have in the glass doors....you get the nice beefy looking, traditional mullions. If you do the flat edge, more than likely you'll have a flat mullion. Some people like them, but I think they look a bit flimsy.

>For me however, given the choice in cabinetry, I'd go solid, so now I will tell you why. I like the feel of the heavier doors. A solid panel is also easier to repair if it gets damaged. I've seen some veneer panels completely blow out when hit hard enough.

Plywood and veneer aren't the same thing, and both come in many thicknesses. I have no idea what you mean by "blow out", but properly glued veneer (or properly made plywood) will never delaminate.

OTOH, only a fool would make guarantees about solid wood and warping and splitting on larger panels. Many companies, for that reason, will either not make the large doors without extra stiles or will not guarantee them. If you have a raised panel fridge door with just two panels, for instance, all the luck to you, but there's a reason that raised panel passageway doors are made with SMALL panels.

>I've had several clients complain about the rattly sound when closing a door with a thin center panel (especially if the doors are large...tall 42" uppers and pantry doors are the worst). You don't think about that until you're using it everyday.

You mean that the whole DOOR vibrates? Or that the panel vibrates in the door? With the second, it's more likely that solid panels will develop that problem over time, since they move more with the seasons.

You can reverse-cove-shape a plywood panel, too, though the results wouldn't be as pretty on the backside, but I'd take that before having a *big* solid wood center panel. The LAST place you want big panels is with solid wood. (Unless, of course, you can magically keep the moisture and temperature exactly steady year-round--like you'd have to to keep paint from splitting where stiles join, as Woodmode mentioned.) It will warp very rapidly. You're courting disaster if you insist on it.

If you have to have solid wood on big doors--if, for instance, you have the actual panel with a cove facing out--then you should keep the size of each panel to a reasonable dimension considering the dimensional stability of your chosen wood. That means raising the number of panels per door.

>And finally, veneers can STAIN differently and AGE differently than solid wood. I've seen kitchens where the center veneer panel is slightly lighter in color that the solid wood frames.

Now you're making no sense.

A horizontal stile will look a different color from a vertical stile because of the direction of the wood grain. This is true with the vast majority of stain colors.

Natural variation in the wood mean that panels and stiles will also look slightly different colors to a very careful eye. The BEST way to get panels to look the same, if you're not doing an almost opaque stain, is with veneers. (True veneers, not plywood.) The BEST way is to book match or slip match veneers. Without that, the best you can do is to do a "pleasing match" of solid woods--that is, select them to make sure they are all the same color. If some moron didn't do so, blaming the veneering process (or the fact that they used plywood) shows an astonishing lack of comprehension of what veneer/plywood is.

If you like solid wood panels because you think they're more authentic, sure, whatever, I'll give it to you. If you like the idea of being able to put an enormous gouge in a piece of furniture and the color underneath being able to be stained to the same color, I'll agree but I'll think you're crazy since any sensible person would fill it, sand it, stain it, and make it disappear.

But if you're pretending that, in performance, solid wood is superior for a flat panel application or if you're pretending that the most exquisite furniture made today isn't enormously dominated by rare and beautiful veneers...you're selling your clients a load of nonsense.

The very best casework is made with a mixture of plywood, veneers, inlays, and solid wood--typically, in that order. The pieces that are worth more than my car ever was rarely have more than trace amounts of solid wood. Pretending that solid wood=high quality is dangerously deceptive.

The stile-and-panel style door was originally developed because slabs of solid wood warp so dramatically. (Yes, solid-wood panels work--as long as you keep the doors within reasonable sizes ***for the material.*** Many people don't want that, though....)

Historically...yes, Shakers wanted simpler designs. They couldn't change the existence of stiles-plus-panels because plywood technology didn't exist yet. The cove actually has a function in solid-panel doors, so they kept it and reversed it to make it seem less decorative. If Shaker villages were thriving today, they'd probably all have slab-style doors! :-) (Which aren't just slabs of playwood, BTW, but are built up--with plywood and solid wood, both--and usually have...yes, veneers, if they are any size at all. Those amazing zebrawood modernist design? All veneers!)

Wow Reyes, you are certainly passionate about this subject. Ok, ok...so solid doors aren't superior in every aspect. I agree with you, it's more stable when it comes to temp. changes.

I base everything I have said on MY experience in the kitchen industry. I don't have the time to respond to everything in your long post, so I will just touch on a couple things.

Here are some excerpts from kitchen cabinet websites:

1) "Veneer cabinet doors will hold up better against humidity and temperature changes. "(yes we know that!)" They are less likely than solid wood to swell or warp. At the same time, veneer is typically quite thin, and is susceptible to damage in the form of chipping or peeling. While wood can be sanded and refinished, veneer must be completely replaced if damaged or faded."

2.) "NOTE: All veneer wood products react differently to stain or paint process. Applied side panel material (veneer) does not have the same character traits as solid hardwood and may vary in color, graining, sheen and tone depths."

Veneer CAN stain lighter than a solid piece of the same wood. I have a couple of door samples at work that show this very well. And yes, I know about differences that can show up on vertical/horizontal stiles/rails (even end grain) differences in color....please!

I am definitely not anti-veneer (did I say that already????). I agree they can be extraordinary!!! I am even thinking of doing my built in entertainment center in a slab (veneer) door!

Please...Are you done flaming me now?

I've stumbled upon this thread and am hoping someone can help me. We just had our kitchen cabinets installed over a month ago and the finish on all of the side panels are crackling. We have Applevalley Woodworks cabinets in a painted cream with glaze finish. It looks awful. Any information would be appreciated.

lamermaid, you will get a better response starting your own thread. Mention the brand in your subject. And don't forget to check the box so that replies go to your email also.