We did this in a recent Plain & Fancy kitchen. The hinges look a bit bulkier thanthose on overlay cabinets in my limited experience--the clients haven't said anything about problems with them....

They work on mine.

Thank you Palimsest and Antiquesilver! That's good news!

Maybe I'm pushing my luck here, but do your doors open all the way flat (what is that...180 degrees?) or only 90 degrees? Mine will be next to doorways into the room and also I have kids who can be rough on things so knowing they can open all the way would be a relief.

Thank you!

The cab over my refrigerator must have 180 degree hinges since the doors fully open to allow clearance for roll out trays; they're bigger than the other adjustable hinges.

I insisted on them in my last kit and found with small doors they were a pain. They took up more room, I kept bumping my knuckles & ended up having them removed the doors taken apart and new stile replaced where the holes had been drilled, refinished and went with the usual exposed hinges on inset.

I forgot to mention that my inset doors are set flush with framing around them.

Palimpsest - a local hardware guy told me that with my situation (inset w/ frame) I can only get the concealed kind in 120 degrees, no more. He said that should be good enough for my purposes and hopefully he's right.

Antiquesilver - do the cabinet doors over your fridge have 180 degree hinges that are also concealed? Are they inset w/ frames around them - flush?

Eandhl - how small a cabinet door is so small that it would create the problem you had? I'm hoping the hinges aren't a major pain - but my doors aren't very small. They're maybe slightly larger than standard, if there is in fact a standard.

Thanks! Later I'll take/post a pic of the cabinets w/ the frames (no doors yet but you'll be able to see where they'll be - about what size they'll be).

Theresse,
All of my hinges are the European, invisible, adjustable type. After posting the other day, I examined mine more closely & I can take photos if you need them.

I have 3 kinds:
> The one shown above is 90 degrees & the back part of the hinge is mounted on the side of the cabinet because the exposed frame is too small for attachment (some of my large cabs are double sided for strength, taking up most of the inside 'frame' space - I'm guessing this is what you mean by flush mounted).

> On cabs where there are fully exposed frames, a 90 degree hinge was mounted with the back half being attached to the frame.

> The 180 degree hinge is mounted to the frame on the frig cab but I also have a lower cab with 180 mounted to the side so it seems they come in both styles.

My carpenter/cabinetmaker/artist is highly experienced & was a genius at making things work out the way I wanted on these made-from-scratch, oversized cabinets. So far as I know, he bought all the hinges & glides from a local place that sells woodworking/cabinetry supplies although it's possible he got some of the oddball stuff online. I'll try to remember to check the brand tonight.

Thank you antiquesilver.

I know I need more than 90 degrees, and I'm told that - due to having a flush face frame - I can't have as much as 180 degrees. That's were I get a bit confused. What's your setup? Can you show me a pic of your cabinets on the outside? Flush/inset is just that there's a frame built that sits on top of the cab boxes, and then within the frame (flush with it) sits the doors.

Thanks!

theresse

I have followed this & decided to investigate my own -
these are custom inset/framed cabs 4.5yrs ago

Sorry for the really poor quality on pics (w/phone) but maybe this gives you an idea of another option
Cabs open 180 -hinges are nearly concealed

Theresse, the 90 (or maybe it's 110) degree hinge in the above photo is on a door & frame like you're describing. The maker is 'Salice' and I'll take closeups of that & the 180 degree flush mounted this weekend.

I did a cursory google & it appears that these type hinges are sold in 2 pieces, so as to be customized for different applications. Not sure but I think the piece that's attached to the door is for a particular angle & the back piece can be matched depending on the required mounting.

My hinges are actually 110 & 165 degrees; I looked them over more carefully & compared them to the ones on the Salice website. Since they're attached to the side of the cabinet rather than the face frame, they're listed as being for 'frameless' construction - & that's probably the secret word to finding the hinge you're looking for.

The photos are taken with a flash because the dark cabs soak up all the light so forgive the weird colors - the hinges are nickle plated & shiny.

Inset cabinets

110 degree hinge

Cabinet over refrigerator with 165 degree hinge

Closeup of 165 degree hinge

I don't know if I would want the 165 hinges on all my cabinets - they're extremely large - but in a necessary place, they're wonderful. Also, the 165 opens wide enough for clearance but not so much that the doors hits adjoining cabinets. HTH

jejvtr - thanks for the pics! The partially concealed ones are the ones I always think of when I think of hinges - I mean they're the ones I grew up with myself. I really want the totally concealed kind though...although it's possible I could just give up and go for the butterfly hinges like I have on the upper cabinets but I'll try not to give up just yet! Seems there are so many down sides!

antiquesilver - those pics are really helpful, thanks! And therein lies the rub - mine have a frame all around the openings. So hey - this analogy works for me!: mine are more like a regular door in a house (that people walk through). There's the door, and the frame next to the door, and they're flush with each other, and connected by a hinge, rather than the hinge being connected to the door and the wall next to the door (like in your case).

Your pics make me very curious about seeing more of your cabinets from afar. I'm so curious about their style and colors. I love your cabs' interior paint...and what backsplash do you have? More pics, please. Yes that is a pretty massive hinge! I've saved the site though, thanks!

Okay - I'm confused, but I'm easily confused about hardware terminology, LOL, so I'll need to see pictures. If your hinge isn't attached to the cabinet wall, what's the problem with attaching it to the face frame? If there's not enough width of frame, a strip of wood can be added to the inside of the cabinet to make it(the cab side) flush to use the above hinge (I have this situation on a lower cabinet).

Below is a thread containing some photos of my kitchen. The finish is milkpaint, with the inside being a heavily whitened version of the outside streaked with the dark color.

Here is a link that might be useful: Antiquesilver's Kitchen

Antiquesilver - there's no problem w/ attaching it to the face frame IF you know what type of hinge does that, or if you're willing to put in that strip of wood you mentioned (I think it would be more than a strip though - it would probably have to be around 2"...so taking up even more space!). I'm terrible w/ the hardware terminology too. Ugh.

Your kitchen is OUTRAGEOUS! In a good way, of course! I had a feeling it would be, just by the little bit I saw. What part of the country do you live in? Trying to picture the cool old house w/ the fireplace. Really nice - I just love it.

Theresse,
Thanks for the compliment - I'm in central VA.

Salice makes the face frame mounted hinges although I don't know about the 165. I have them in 110 on a few cabinets & I'll try to take photos later but I'm in the middle of painting while the sun shines. Never fear - invisible hinges are out there for you!

This is the face frame mounted 110 degree hinge. Like Palimpsest said they come in other degrees but I don't know about 165; maybe your hardware guy is correct in that 120 is as large as they come in face mounted.

Thank you! The following hinge looks a heck of a lot like yours...what do you think? Similar enough?

Here is a link that might be useful: BLUM 120� Clip Top 3-Way Face Frame Hinges

Looks good to me! Don't forget to let us know how they work.