I like simple styles too, and we plan on a shaker style for our contemporary/transitional home. But I do not like slab doors for some reason. Maybe it's just too modern for my tastes. But I think shaker transcends many styles, so if you plan to sell soon, I agree with your cabinet store.

I think people like or don't like slab doors - no neutral feelings. For that reason, I would do shaker.

i have shaker style. Love them!

Cabinets doors still need to be put in place.

Here is a link that might be useful: shaker doors

I had slab in my old kitchen - shaker in the new. Shaker definitely collect dust in the corners - not a big deal for me but it is different than the old slabs. I think slab can look very, very nice but the ones I like are in pretty contemporary looking kitchens - where they are just perfect with everything else in the kitchen. Slabs in a different style kitchen don't do much of anything for me. I think it really has to be just right or they just look blah and cheap.

I think slab doors can look wonderful - my friend has some dark wood ones that are just gorgeous - BUT they are a very distinct style that doesn't lend itself easily to other interpretations. If resell is an issue, I'd definitely go with the Shaker.

We used slab doors. Our kitchen is contemporary, but with warmth.

I have slabs doors in my new kitchen and in my last kitchen and love them, but both were/are quite modern kitchens. If you're selling in less than five years you might want to play it safe and go shaker (or reverse shaker). That said, I sold my last house with dark cherry slabs in less than a day for asking price, in no small part because everyone who saw the kitchen loved it! You need to know your market/neighbourhood as preferences vary regionally.

I have bone Shaker and I love the look, but they do show the dust and dirt more than I expected. But not enough to make me sorry I have them.

My existing kitchen has spare, plain plywood doors with oak veneer. Family have absolutely loved them since cupboards were created in 1973. At the time the style was almost avant garde. Everybody else had new dark walnut cupboardry or the equivalent. Then came "Mediterranean." With ornate handles.

Subsequently, lighter oak became much more common, but still, the plain stuff was more rare than the fancy routed out versions of oak doors, with details that conflicted with the amazing lively grain of the oak. Meanwhile, our kitchen just floated above the fray, an island of wonderful restrained design.

Our new kitchen will have "shaker" doors on cabinets. Why? Because they're cheaper, more do-able in this new world of craftspeople who have very low horizons of creative vision (We're using a custom shop which cannot seem to create anything more distinctive than "shaker" when working on the plain style side of things. I lost the battle with DH for the slab ones.)

If you go for slab-front cabinet doors, just remember that most cupboard makers today will put a thick batten across the back of the doors to prevent warping. This will affect the amount of stuff you can jam into the shelf at the front.

It is my perception that "modern" or "contemporary" style is not a strong favorite today. You will find that you are in the minority, but it's a wonderful distinguished group of buyers and the style will free you up for lots of other kinds of decisions. But be aware that the "modern" hardware and lighting and etc. will be generally more expensive. As will everything else that is off the cusp of everyday fashion.

Frankly, knowing what I know now, I wish I could re-do our order and make it a slab cupboard front. But then, I'm not making a house for the current market.

Our doors are cherry veneer--so no battens needed.

I have Shaker and had Shaker in the last house. I'm getting a little older and after crawling around recently, trying to clean out the corners and crevices of the cabinet doors, I became convinced that I'm more interested in ease than look. While on my knees digging shmutz out of the inner corners of the door panels, I decided that if I do another kitchen, I'm going to a more austere, strongly functional look. I think it might take more effort to give a slab kitchen some character (something different than the golden oak slabs of the 70s and 80s with the large roundover edges), but I think it's possible. Several contemporary kitchens here have done that successfully, but I don't think it's the only look that can be done with slabs...I'm thinking of a more loft/rustic/industrial look. For resale in a few years, however (after all my opinionated rambling), the Shaker style is likely the safest bet. :-D

I have Shaker style and love them. I do clean out the grooves every couple of weeks where flour, etc. has dropped, but it is worth it for me. Takes 3 minutes to do.

I have Shaker, but in your case I'd warmly recommend slab style. It fits the era of your house perfectly and will be less maintenance for you. The Shaker style works very well for my 1923 bungalow, but I don't like the small pockets of dust that get into the bottom corners (my shakers are classic sharp recessed, no bead or trim) that I sometimes have to use a Q-tip to remove.

I don't see how slab doors could ever be wrong in a 1950's/60's house - they will fit the rest of your trim.

So my vote is for slab. As a recent buyer and someone picky about continuity of style, I certainly wouldn't reject a late 1950's house for slab doors in the kitchen -- done well, they would be a bonus for me. (I hunted in vain for an Eames-era house in my area, but there are maybe 3 of them in the entire city of Portland ME!)

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I have to agree with most everyone that I'd do shaker... (except circuspeanut! Hey- I think you and I were hunting for the same elusive MCM house in Portland! The only ones I found were waaaay out of my price range, or not for sale.)

We had sleek birch slab doors in our previous kitchen. Loved them. Loved the ease of cleaning, loved the juxtaposition of the modern kitchen in the 1926 detailed house. BUT for this new kitchen, resale was the big factor in decision-making. We felt that if we did the kitchen too modern (even though it would fit in the 1956 house and WE would love it), it would alienate too large of a chunk of potential buyers. If someone really had traditional tastes, they'd say, "Well we MUST replace those cabinets..." Whereas with the cherry shaker doors we chose, simply changing the accessories and knobs -and maybe the crown trim- could make the kitchen work for either a more traditional OR more minimalist taste.

The shaker doors are clean-lined and simple enough to appeal to our more modern sensibilities, but also classic and detailed enough to go the other way. Like pale neutral paint colors and white subway tile, shaker style cabinets are classy, classic, pretty universally appealing and "safe"....

If you're planning for resale and you like both types of doors equally well, go for Shaker and forego any extra beading/detail. I have plain Shaker cabs in my current kitchen which is pretty modern/contemporary, but I've also had it in my traditional Craftsman home as well. It can go either direction.

I think that slab doors are a contemporary feature in a kitchen; those samples that circuspeanut has here look very sleek and contemporary to me. Shaker is just a little more traditional and there are so many different kinds of wood and finishes!
Good Luck!

I did shaker style doors in my kitchen, and I love how they look. Yes, they do collect flour and dust, but it doesn't take that long to clean them off.

I really like the fourth picture that circuspeanut posted, though-that style would be an option that I would consider in my next kitchen...

Our house was also built in the 60's and is a ranch. We are going with bamboo slabs on the bottom and glass w/ aluminum frames @ the top. My house is very eclectic. I have many antiques from my grandmother and mix it with very modern. The overall feel is warmth.

So, I vote for slabs - no dusting or nooks and crannies - yeah!!!!

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful responses. After reading them, I am leaning toward shaker, because as a few of you said, a potential buyer could be modernist or traditional, and shaker would fit for both types.

One problem we saw with shaker was that we were liking a natural cherry (i.e. no stain). We are not buying high-end cabinets, more middle-of-the-road. The natural cherry shaker cabinets we saw mostly had quite varying colors among the pieces on the doors. If we want consistent coloration in cherry shaker, it seems we have to get a stain.

Ciruspeanut - those pics are awesome. I love the slab door cabinets in the first 3 in particular. Do you know what wood those are?

Circuspeanut's Picture #4 is what I almost went with...I love those!! But we changed houseplans and this one called for a more traditional kitchen style.

The stain will still show the variation in the cherry? The lighter streaks/variation you're seeing is the sap wood, which is quite a bit lighter and will still be that much lighter than the rest when stained, won't it? I, though, am a natural cherry fanatic, and think staining just takes something from the gorgeous wood.

Here are the natural cherry Shaker door cabs we put in our last house...an early 60's ranch with no real style to any of the doors or woodwork. The backsplash and other details date it a bit, but just so you can see. We had a little sapwood in ours, too.

Staceyneil: didja happen to snag a viewing of that MCM beaut up in the West End on Vaughan St? With all the period Selig furniture and orb lighting? *sigh*

Alwaysfixin: the cabinets in the first photo are maple, from Armstrong of all things. The second I don't know, and the third are Beech, from an English maker. All of them are great examples of how you can have traditional modern styling that isn't cold.

Here is a link that might be useful: Armstrong cabinets

circuspeanut- I missed that one!!!

alwaysfixin- We specified with out cabinet manufacturer that we wanted the least amount of sapwood possible in our cherry cabs.. the most consistent coloring and least variation. Our cabinets were mid-range priced (but considered rather a great value by architects and designers, so maybe we were lucky...) so I am not sure that's possible with other companies. We also got natural cherry, no stain. Ours are by Glenwood out of Canada.

My husband and I are currently renovating the kitchen in our 1959 ranch. I was adamant that there would be slab cabinet doors. I feel that shaker is just too much of a country look for the era of our house, plus I wanted something that I could easily wipe clean. Also, our kitchen is very small and shaker would have made it look too busy. We decided on mid-tone cherry veneer cabinets with a dark uba tuba granite counter top. We chose a simple light gray backsplash with elongated hex-shaped tiles. The result is classic and neutral, but warm due to the cherry. I wish I had a photo to post, but we're still mid-reno.

I prefer slab for the same reason. It's easier to clean. I was raised by a mom who was always modern/contemporary. She could immediately point to ANY piece of furniture and tell you how much time would be wasted on dusting/cleaning. Shaker would be as far as it goes and never, ever white in the kitchen lol. I lean toward modern/contemporary. I think that has a lot to do with preferring slab cabinets. However, as an artist and someone tuned into aesthetics with literally EVERYTHING, I think it also depends on the amount of cabinets and whether they will be in an open vs enclosed space. The more ornate, the bigger the space should be I would think. And for a super clean look not only slab fronts but drawers instead of cabinets for which I'm inclined also. Just be sure to have longer, more visible but varied hardware or suffer a sea of white or almond or wood. I'm seeing more kitchens with mostley drawers and am soooo happy. The convenience of pulling out a 4 ft deep drawer to see ALL of my pots and pans at once. Stand back and scan your home as you walk into or face your kitchen and picture what color, and what pattern. I know what I'd do with a big kitchen. I'd split the difference. I'd do a different color and slab front bottoms with lots of drawers and have shaker uppers. Or if I had a flush wall of cabinets that houses a fridge and ovens. If there are a lot of uppers, make sure some have patterned glass to break it up or just open shelves (dusting always).