Delaware Inset Panel Cabinet Door

By being a remodeling consultant and author one question I get asked a lot is what type of cabinet door style is currently the most popular. Although there are numerous answers to this question I would have to say that a more of a simpler look is the current trending kitchen cabinet door styles. There is one style that come to mind in particular and that is the Acme Delaware style cabinet door. This kitchen cabinet door style has a very contemporary look to it and is somewhat similar to the Shaker style cabinet door except that it has an inner bead detail. This inner bead detail gives it a little more interest than the standard tongue and groove dial shaker cabinet door.

Over the years, in my clients homes I have used the Acme Delaware style cabinet door numerous times. The style of cabinet door will typically get painted although I have used it on several occasions in a stain grade alder as well as a stain grade cherry.

A lot of the more recent trends have been gravitating toward a painted style cabinet door, a lot of this may have to do with the fact that a bright painted kitchen tends to look larger than even a lighter colored stained wood. Most of my clients prefer of the painted look over the stained look and in some cases this is actually a cost-saving option.

In one example I took on a remodeling project for a client of mine in the Southern California area. It was a home built in the 1950s and had seen some updating during the 1980s. During the 80s new kitchen cabinets were installed which were made of oak and my clients no longer preferred the dark look at the oak and wanted a more contemporary feel. They did like the cabinet boxes as they were well-built back then. So we decided to keep the cabinet boxes and simply change out the old doors for new custom-made Acme Delaware style cabinet doors. During this time the old tile countertops were removed and new granite was installed on the cabinets.

The original kitchen cabinets had a cabinet door hinge that mounted on top of the face frame. Since we were modernizing other parts of the home we decided to go with the Acme cabinet door hinges as well. These hinges are a 35mm European-style hinge which is becoming pretty standard in the cabinet industry. The original hinges were an antique brass style and would not go good with the new white cabinet doors.

 

Jack Herrington

Remodeling Expert/Designer