Basic Styles of Cabinet Construction

There are 2 basic styles of cabinet construction in the U.S. – frameless and framed

Frameless

A frameless cabinet has the sides of the cabinet also forming the front edge and is often described as a “European” style of cabinet. The door is mounted to the material that forms the side and is typically full overlay. These cabinets are less expensive to manufacture and have the advantage that the whole inside is exposed when the door is open, giving you full access to the contents, and a larger drawer. This is because there’s no inside edge of a frame that’s partially blocking the perimeter of the cabinet opening. A frameless cabinet doesn’t have the stability of a framed cabinet and has extra installation requirements to keep the boxes square and plumb.

Framed

A framed cabinet has a front frame applied to the box, usually of solid wood, which gives the box stability. The door is attached to the frame and either slightly larger than the opening (partial overlay) or almost completely covering the frame (full overlay door). In more traditional construction, the door can be inside the frame (inset door), putting it on the same plane as the frame. Inset construction is the most expensive and difficult of all because the tolerance of the door size requires precision construction. Wood reacts to both heat and humidity and, as seasons change, the door may need to be adjusted to fit correctly inside the frame.