Light kitchen island complements darker colored main cabinets

Glossary of Terms for Cabinetry

Adjustable shelves

Moveable shelves that can be placed in a wide range of layouts using shelf pins inserted into pre-drilled holes.

Beadboard

Decorative paneling that incorporates grooved or beaded routed detail.

Cherry

A hardwood characterized by its red undertones, but may vary in color from white to deep, rich brown. Cherry is a close-grained wood with fairly uniform texture, revealing pin knots and curly graining. All wood will age with time resulting in a darkened appearance, This is especially true for cherry and those who select it expect this evolution. In bright lighting environments, changes can begin to be noticed in a matter of days.

Corbel

An architectural or decorative element that projects from a vertical surface and supports, or appears to support a weight (i.e., Shelf)

Crown Moulding

Large decorative moulding applied to the tops of kitchen cabinets.

Decorative Laminate Veneer (DLV)

A durable resin based material that provides superior wear resistance. DLV is wrapped around door rails and panels and has a clear, oven-cured top coat finish applied for extra durability.

Distressing

An additional step or steps added to the cabinet to create the appearance of aging. It is usually characterized in two categories, physical or chemical. Physical distressing introduces dings, dents, splits, holes and worn edges into the wood. Chemical distressing comes in many forms such as but not limited to: cat tailing, spatter, wear marks and faux physical distressing.

Fixed shelves

Shelves that are constructed into the kitchen cabinet. They cannot be moved and provide added stability to the cabinet.

Flat Panel

Recessed center panel in a door or drawer design. The center panel can be a plywood or solid wood depending on design and price-point.

Framed Construction

Cabinet box that has a face frame. It resembles a flat, empty picture frame attached to the front. Doors are secured to this frame. The frame adds additional strength and rigidity to the overall cabinet.

Full Overlay

Cabinet door styles that cover most of the face frame, giving prominence to the door and drawer design.

Furniture board

Engineered board made from wood.

Glaze finish

Additional steps in the finishing process that are applied to add depth and dimension to highlight door detail, wood color and the base finish color. Due to the hand wiped nature of glazing, final appearance will range from a consistent, even appearance to varied coverage.

Hickory

A strong, heavy hardwood known for distinctive graining patterns. Contributing to its dramatic appearance is a wide variation in color and streaking, ranging from white to almost black. This contrast in color can appear in a single door panel. Hickory also contains random knots and wormholes that further contribute to the varied appearance. These exaggerated characteristics are to be expected and are considered to be part of the appeal of hickory cabinetry.

Inset Doors/Drawers

Doors and drawer fronts that fit flush with the cabinet frame when closed. Additional care and precision are required to manufacture these cabinets. Even with this added effort, environmental issues (changes in humidity in the home) can cause problems with operation. Therefore these products should be installed in homes where the relative humidity is controlled.

Light rail

Decorative moulding usually applied to the bottom of wall cabinets providing a finished look. Specifically designed to help mask the installation of under cabinet lighting.

Maple

A close-grained hardwood that is predominantly white to creamy white in color, with occasional reddish-brown tones. While maple typically features uniform graining as compared to other wood species, characteristic markings may include fine brown lines, wavy or curly graining, bird pecks or mineral streaks. These traits are natural and serve to enhance maple’s inherent beauty.

Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF)

A type of engineered wood.

Mullion doors

A style of cabinet door with glass panes used to create a more stylish appearance and the feeling of increased space. The inserts typically have vertical and horizontal dividing bars, which resemble windowpanes.

Oak

A strong, open-grained hardwood that ranges in color from white to pink and reddish tones. Streaks of green, yellow and even black may appear due to mineral deposits. Oak may also contain wormholes and wild, varying grain. The distinct graining is considered a desirable quality.

Overlay Doors/Drawers

Doors and drawer fronts that overlap the face frame when closed — either partially or fully. These are the most common style in the U.S.

Partial Overlay

Overlay is the amount of front frame covered by the door and drawer. The exposed front frame is referred to as the “reveal.” The reveal on Partial Overlay cabinets is typically 1/2” to 3/4” inch. .

Pulls, Knobs, and Handles

Pieces of hardware attached to a kitchen cabinet door or drawer front, used to open the cabinet and enhance the appearance.

Rail

The horizontal member of a door or frame that lies between the stiles.

Recessed panel

Flat panel held inside the perimeter of a door. A flat panel recesses between the stiles and rails. See Flat panel

Reveal

Amount of frame visible around a door or overlay.

Rustic Alder

Characterized by its light brown and reddish undertones and may contain a variety of pinholes, open and closed knots of various sizes and colors, small cracks bird pecks, mineral streaks, and grain variation. Some knots may have small holes through the panel. Larger holes will not be filled. In addition, the wood will contain color difference caused by variations in minerals found in the soil, creating visible mineral tracks. These variations are a desirable feature of the wood.

Shelf Pins

Pieces of hardware that the shelf sits on, usually metal or plastic.

Soffit

Enclosed area between the top of the wall cabinets and the ceiling that typically houses mechanical systems for the kitchen. It usually is one foot high and extends past the wall cabinets.

Solid wood panel

Center panel made up of boards that are joined or glued together to form the width of the center panel. Because natural woods have variations in color and grain pattern from board to board, these variations will be apparent in a solid wood door.

Stain

A finish applied to natural wood cabinets to enhance color and add protection.

Stile

The vertical member of a door or frame that extends to the full height.

Thermofoil

Doors and drawer fronts that feature a shaped MDF core with a seamless vinyl laminate on the face and edges and a melamine laminate on the back. The vinyl laminate is applied to the MDF with an adhesive using heat and pressure to create a product with excellent wear and soil resistance properties.

Veneer

A thin piece of wood usually laminated or glued onto a piece of engineered board. The benefit to veneered components is that they are more uniform in finish and color as well as more economical than solid wood cabinets.

Wood grain

pattern and texture produced in wood.

Wood species

Different types of hardwoods or softwoods. Examples are maple, oak, cherry and hickory.

from kempercabinets.com