People don’t often realize it, but kitchen cabinet doors can dramatically change the look and feel of your kitchen and add to the overall beauty. The quality of cabinets plays a major role in the way they will make your kitchen look. Cabinets of poor quality will make your kitchen look worn and unflattering, but quality cabinets can completely change that look. And it’s simple because all you have to do is change the kitchen cabinet doors to achieve your new look.

The first thing you should know about kitchen design is that cabinets can be made from a wide range of woods which include:

Oak

Maple

Pine

Cherry

Hickory

Poplar

Alder

Birch

Cherry, Birch and Maple are popular choices for cabinetry. If you are looking for a more affordable option, Alder and Poplar are great choices and also work well with glazed finishes. Pine is a soft wood that is also popular among many homeowners. Hickory and Oak are the heaviest of your choices. Keep in mind, particleboard and plywood is also used in the cabinet construction.

The style of the door is also important. The four main types of doors include inset, lipped, partial overlay and full overlay. There are five main types of cabinet door shapes which include flat slab, recessed panel, raised panel, beadboard panel and curved panel.

Common cabinet design styles include traditional, country, shaker and contemporary. Raised panel doors create a more traditional design. Full overlay doors create a more contemporary look.

When it comes time to purchase your new cabinets, there are three main types of kitchen cabinets to choose from. These include stock kitchen cabinets, semi-stock kitchen cabinets, and custom kitchen cabinets. Stock kitchen cabinets are limited in design options, but also very affordable. Custom kitchen cabinets allow you to get exactly what you want with a very high level of craftsmanship. However, be expected to pay for such customization. Semi-stock kitchen cabinets are a happy medium between stock and custom cabinets, offering a certain level of customization.

Cabinet construction types include framed and frameless. Framed cabinets consist of two components, the cabinet box and the face frame. These two components are assembled together. Frameless cabinets, also referred to as European-styled cabinets, consist of a box with no face frame. Frameless cabinets provide better accessibility and extra interior space.

The last thing to know about cabinet design includes the decorative pulls and knobs. Not only are knobs and pulls put in place for aesthetic purposes, they also protect the wood and finish of the cabinets. They are available to many shapes, sizes, and styles which include but are not limited to brushed chrome, plastic, ceramic, glass and iron.

When selling a house it is often the kitchen that is the predominant selling point with buyers. A kitchen that has a great layout, stylish cupboards and worktops will add up to creating a space that gives an element of elegance and improves the value of the property. Whenever selling a property it is normally advisable to carry out some work on the kitchen, it may seem expensive at the outset, but if you are wily about which elements to update you can create a contemporary and stylish kitchen that will add a great deal of value.

If you are going to update your kitchen affordably it is important to focus upon the small touches that can completely change the look; these small touches include the cupboards, the cupboard handles and the worktops. If you are clever about how to update these elements you can create a completely new looking kitchen at a fraction of the price. When you are doing this it is advisable to make the most of design magazines to find inspiration.

If your worktops and cabinets are made from solid wood changing their appearance can be extremely simple and cheap. Wood is an extremely versatile material in terms of design, by sanding down the existing stain you can then re-stain the wood making the most of the wood’s natural colour or even paint it in a way so that it becomes a stunning design feature. Natural stains are extremely popular in kitchen design at the moment and whether changing your worktops or cupboards you can make the most of the wood’s natural grain for a contemporary feel.

When looking at the handles for your cupboards it is important to experiment with a wide variety of options. A visit to a kitchen supplier will show that the range out there is vast. When selecting handles it is important to choose a style that matches your kitchen, while chrome may be extremely popular, if you have a wood kitchen it is unlikely that the handles will fit into that look. Ultimately you want your kitchen to be homogenous in terms of styling, this sounds easy but it is surprising how mismatched kitchens can look when people try to update them.

The area around the sink can often become dirty and even covered with mildew because of the excessive amounts of moisture. Rather than retiling the whole splash-back area a cheaper alternative is to install a board of wood, if you are doing this however make sure to use a good waterproof paint that will ensure the wood doesn’t rot. The same can be said for the worktops around the sink, a waterproof stain used on a hardwood will ensure that they are sturdy and resilient enough to cope with daily use.

While you may be put off by replacing all of the worktops in your kitchen because of the price it can be a great idea. It may be an expensive option but the look it creates will be ultimately worthwhile. With choices of wood, stone, granite or metal the options are endless if you want to replace worktops. Obviously these vary in price but quality materials can make or break a kitchen.

Hopefully this article has given some idea of how easy it is to change the look of a kitchen. This can add value you to home whether you are looking to sell or not. By using quality materials and a stylistic eye it is possible to create a contemporary and elegant kitchen that is practical and aesthetically pleasing.

Kitchen design and interior design more generally is continually evolving, 2008 will be no different with changes in the way we use and decorate our kitchens. Worktops sink units and cabinets are all set to change with wider use of curving, more organic forms. The organic feeling continues in terms of materials with a move away from the industrial steels and chromes of the past few years to more natural solid wood being used. Luxurious solid wood worktops made from oak or beech will be increasingly utilised as design experts expect a move towards more homely forms of kitchen design.

One of the reasons for the predominance of solid wood instead of stainless steel in the worktops and cabinets is due to a change in uses for the modern kitchen. The industrial look was predominant as people purely used their kitchen’s for cooking. Recent trends have moved away from this utilitarian nature to more of a friendly space for families to enjoy together, hence the resurgence of solid wood features. The kitchen has become the hub of the home and the place families like to spend most of their time. While trends cannot be wholly generalised as personalisation is still strong, the types and shapes of worktops and cupboards are definitely changing.

The cold steels and industrial materials do to lend themselves to the warm family kitchen look and hence solid wood is becoming more widely used. As kitchens nowadays must have dual or even triple purposes in terms of dining and eating this cold and rather severe look is becoming less popular. The homely feel of large solid wood worktops can bring the ‘country kitchen’ into even the most urbanised of houses. Dark wood as well as rich colours in terms of varnishes mean that solid wood is a far more versatile material for design purposes.

Dark wood for many brings images of the ‘brown furniture’ that was so popular fifteen years ago and now litters the junk shops. These nasty heavy stains could not be further removed from contemporary solid wood worktops and cabinets that are made from rich woods such as walnut. Walnut shows its grain beautifully and well made worktops can essentially be a centrepiece of design in their own right; such is the beauty of these natural materials.

In terms of design, worktops and forms this year will be much softer than the metal surfaces of the past few years. Curves will be the big thing in kitchen design, ensuring organic design elements that will add to the old world elegance. Not only do curves in worktops and cupboards make a stunning design element, the practical uses are also there. Naturally solid wood curved worktops have softer edges and hence present less of a risk with small children in the house, many have even stated that these new forms are far more feminine in essence.

Solid wood will not be the only material to make a comeback during 2008, the combination of fitted glass and granite floors will enhance the natural look incredibly. The name of the game this year in kitchen design is to produce a kitchen that contains classic looks with contemporary styling, creating an eclectic mix of form and function. Lighting will be as important as ever to create mood and atmosphere effectively in all kitchens, whilst also providing practicality in work areas.

This year is set to see some big changes in kitchen design trends, ultimately however it is down to personal preference rather than idyllic design. Combining form and function is essential as the kitchen has to be useful as well as aesthetically pleasing, as one of the busiest rooms in any house, ensuring you get the balance right is essential.